North and South Korea Fail to Narrow Their Differences on Atomic Weapons

Faced with international worries about North Korea’s nuclear potential, the two Koreas on Monday discussed demands to ban atomic weapons but failed to narrow their differences, a source close to the talks said.

It was the first time the hostile nations had discussed the issue since President Roh Tae Woo pledged last week to eliminate nuclear weapons from his country and challenged North Korea to open its nuclear facilities to inspections.

The meeting at the truce village of Panmunjom was called to prepare an agreement on rapprochement for talks between the two Koreas’ prime ministers in Seoul in December.

North Korea’s refusal to allow international inspections of its nuclear facilities worries analysts who fear the hard-line Communist holdout is rapidly moving toward the production of nuclear arms. Among those concerned is U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker III, who is due in Seoul on Wednesday for meetings on the nuclear issue and others.

“The very real threat of nuclear proliferation on the Korean Peninsula is now the No. 1 threat to security in Northeast Asia,” Baker said Monday in Tokyo.