South Korean special envoy Lim Dong-won arrived in Pyongyang in a new diplomatic move to end the nuclear crisis

SEOUL, January 27 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - North Korea on Monday, January 27, told Japan, the United Nations and the rest of the world to stay out of a nuclear crisis it said could only be resolved by Washington and Pyongyang alone.

"There is no reason and justification for a third party to meddle" in the standoff, said Rodong Shinmun, the official mouthpiece of North Korea's ruling Workers Party.

However, in what seems to be a new reconciliatory move, North Korea made a concession on railway and road links by recognizing the authority of the U.S.-led United Nations command over the transportation routes, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.

The paper, in a commentary published by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), said International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei was dreaming if he thought his organization could play a role.

The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is currently handling the standoff, postponed a meeting which was set for last Friday at which it was expected to refer North Korea’s nuclear violations to the Security Council.

On January 10, North Korea abandoned the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the newspaper said from that date on, the nuclear watchdog had no further relations with North Korea.

"It is, therefore, an objective reality that the secretariat of the IAEA is not in a position to discuss the DPRK's issue and the days are gone never to return when it could unreasonably handle it," Rodong said.

The newspaper said separately that Japan, too, had no role to play in the crisis. By calling for North Korea to scrap its nuclear ambitions, Japan "is putting its nose into other's affair instead of minding its own business," Rodong said.

KCNA also reiterated that the only way to resolve the nuclear issue was through direct Washington-Pyongyang talks and not with mediation by third parties.

‘Concession’

In what seems to be a new reconciliatory move, North Korea made a concession on railway and road links by recognizing the authority of the U.S.-led United Nations command over the transportation routes.

"North Korea made concessions today and signed a tentative accord on cross-border passages," a South Korean defence ministry spokesman told Agence France-Presse (AFP) after four hours of inter-Korean military talks.

Plans to open road and rail links up the east and west sides of the peninsula have been held up by North Korea's refusal to recognise the authority of the United Nations Command (UNC) which has supervised the tense mine-strewn buffer zone between the two Korea's known as the demilitarized zone (DMZ).

Make-or-Break Diplomacy

Unidentified North Korea asylum seekers arrive at Manila international airport on their way to South Korea after seeking asylum at Seoul's embassy in Beijing

In an new diplomatic move to defuse the crisis peacefully and avert any possibility for military confrontations, South Korea President Kim Dae-Jung's top advisor on North Korea arrived in Pyongyang

South Korean envoy Lim Dong-Wan, leading an eight-strong delegation to Pyongyang, said his mission was to reduce security fears and avert war.

"My visit to Pyongyang is designed to lay the ground for dialogue on the peaceful settlement of the North Korean nuclear issue that will help avoid war," he said before departing. He is expected to meet with North Korea leader and other top officials.

"It's not a give-and-take basis in which the South will provide economic aid to the North if the North settles the nuclear issue," he said before departure.

Washington argues that economic aid should flow once the nuclear issue has been settled.

In another area of disagreement with Washington, South Korea has stressed the need for time to allow diplomacy to work to resolve the crisis while the United States has been pushing for the crisis to be referred to the UN Security Council.

For South Korea, that step would be premature and pave the way for possible sanctions, a move North Korea frequently refers to as tantamount to a declaration of war.

Washington has repeatedly stressed it has no intention of attacking the Stalinist state branded part of an "axis of evil" by President George W. Bush last year.

But Washington refuses North Korean demands for a formal non-aggression treaty, saying Pyongyang must dismantle its nuclear threat prior to negotiations.

More Refugees

Meanwhile, a group of 28 North Korean refugees, including 19 women, arrived in this South Korean city on Monday, January 27, after fleeing their hunger-stricken homeland, AFP said.

The defectors took refuge at the South Korean Embassy in Beijing between October and November 2002. They left Beijing last week and were flown to South Korea and were sent to a government-run refugee camp where they will be given jobs and a cash hand-out to help them settle in South Korea.

The new batch of defectors arrived while a diplomatic dispute raged over the arrest last week of 78 North Korean refugees and two South Korean helpers including a freelance photojournalist. The two South Koreans were detained for trying to help the North Koreans escape China by boat.

The number of North Koreans fleeing their impoverished homeland and defecting to the South nearly doubled to 1,141 last year, according to the Unification Ministry.

The figure has almost doubled every year for the last five years: 72 people arrived in 1998 and 148 in 1999. In 2000 there were 312 while 583 arrived in 2001.