S. Korea leader sees more obstacles ahead to disarm N. Korea

SEOUL, (AP):

South Korea's president said yesterday that many "critical moments" still lie ahead to end the nuclear crisis despite North Korea's recent outreach to Seoul and Washington.

Moon Jae-in spoke before two senior Seoul officials left for the United States to brief officials about the outcome of their recent visit to North Korea.

The Seoul officials said North Korea offered talks with the United States over normalizing ties and denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. Seoul said the North also agreed to suspend nuclear and missile tests during such future talks.

Some experts question how sincere North Korea is about its reported offers, citing what they call its track record of using past disarmament talks to wrest aid and concessions while covertly continuing its bomb programme.

According to the South Korean officials, North Korea said it has no reason to possess nuclear weapons if military threats against the country are removed and its security is guaranteed. That's the same position North Korea has long maintained to justify its nuclear programme or call for the withdrawal of 28,500 US troops in South Korea and a halt to annual US-South Korean military drills as conditions for scrapping its nuclear programme. The North sees the allies' drills as an invasion rehearsal.

Choi Hyunsoo, spokeswoman for Seoul's Defense Ministry, said the military will announce the schedule for the joint drills after the Pyeongchang Paralympics, which starts today and run through to March 18.