Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 20, 1994 TAG: 9403200047
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA LENGTH: Medium
In response, the United States decided to reschedule joint military exercises with South Korea to try to push the North toward "a resolution that doesn't end in conflict," a Clinton administration official said in Washington. A new date for the exercises has not been set.
The breakdown also brought closer the possibility of the U.N. Security Council ordering sanctions against North Korea for barring U.N. inspectors from a nuclear facility.
North and South Korean negotiators met at the border village of Panmunjom to discuss exchanging envoys who would lead efforts to denuclearize the Korean peninsula. But after only 55 minutes, North Korean delegate Park Young Su stalked out.
"Seoul is not very far from here. Seoul will turn into a sea of fire," Park was quoted by South Korean negotiator Song Young-dae as saying.
The South Korean capital is about 30 miles from the North Korean border, on the other side of which stands a million-man army and a formidable battery of ballistic missiles and long-range artillery.
The United States has about 36,000 troops in South Korea and a substantial diplomatic stake in resolving the crisis.
Washington is proceeding with plans to send Patriot air-defense missiles to South Korea, with U.S. officials consulting with South Korea on when they might be deployed, the official said.
Secretary of State Warren Christopher had said the results of Saturday's North-South Korea meeting would determine whether a U.S.-North Korean meeting would go ahead on Monday in Geneva as scheduled.
That meeting, which North Korea had sought, was to discuss final resolution of the nuclear weapons dispute as well as improved economic and political relations.
by CNB