South Korean Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun (2nd L) shakes hands with his North Korean counterpart Kim Ryung-sung

SEOUL, April 28 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – North Korea had offered, during China-hosted talks with the U.S., to scrap its nuclear weapons program in swap for some political and economic "rewards" including normalization of ties with Washington, South Korean newspapers said Monday, April 28.

The offer was part of "bold" measures North Korea tabled at talks with the United States and China last week in Beijing.

At talks in Beijing, North Korea reportedly suggested that Pyongyang and Washington act simultaneously and equally to resolve the six-month-old nuclear crisis, , Agence France-Presse (AFP).

North Korea dropped a bombshell at three-way talks with the United States and China in Beijing last week by reportedly claiming that it has nuclear weapons

But South Korea has positively assessed North Korea's "package deal" of matching the dismantling of any nuclear arsenal with the normalization of ties between Washington and Pyongyang, the Munhwa Ilbo, a daily in Seoul, said.

Munhwa and other newspapers quoted unnamed government sources here as saying North Korea had urged the United States not to hinder Pyongyang's ties with Seoul and Tokyo.

The North's ruling Workers Party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, indicated Sunday, April 27, that North Korea wanted economic and political "rewards" from the United States in return for the elimination of its nuclear program.

Rodong called for a "fair and equal" footing in talks with the United States, blasting Washington for insisting that there would be "no security of the system nor provision of rewards" even if Pyongyang gave up its nuclear program.

It insisted North Korea could do "everything" to defend itself if the United States "legally guarantees no use of arms including nukes".

"The U.S. statement that there will be no provision of rewards even after the settlement of the 'nuclear issue' is, in essence, little short of opposing the conclusion of a non-aggression treaty between the two countries," Rodong said.

Ra Jong-Yil, South Korea's senior presidential advisor, said Monday that Washington and its allies should look at "bright aspects" of the Beijing meeting.

But Mohamed ElBaradei, the U.N.'s chief nuclear monitor, urged the international community to send North Korea a zero-tolerance message on nuclear weapons.

"The situation in North Korea is a very worrying situation. Here is a country who has the capability, who probably has the nuclear material to make a weapon, and we need to make sure that that situation comes under control as soon as we can," he told CNN.

ElBaradei said he could not guess how many nuclear weapons North Korea might have, but that intelligence reports indicated the reclusive state had one or two.

"What we know for sure is that they have produced plutonium that they have not declared to us," he said.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has urged a calm response to the escalating crisis.

During talks with British counterpart Tony Blair Sunday in London, Koizumi stressed that North Korea's sometimes bellicose public utterances should not always be taken at face value.

"He said that one should not be agitated by North Korea's provocations, and that the countries concerned must respond calmly," a Japanese official said.

National Unity

North Korea has called for national unity at the latest cabinet-level talks with South Korea in the face of U.S. pressure over the North's alleged nuclear weapons, state media said Monday.

The appeals from North Korean top negotiator Kim Ryong-Song came at the start of the three-day negotiations, which began in Pyongyang on Sunday, the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

Kim told the South's delegation "that the United States has escalated the moves to isolate and stifle the DPRK (North Korea) over the nuclear issue while seriously threatening the Korean nation's sovereignty," KCNA said.

"Under the present situation, there is no more urgent task than to reject the unilateral strong-arm action of foreign forces, defend the dignity and sovereignty of the nation and prevent the danger of war and protect the peace of the country by the united efforts of all the Koreans," Kim said.

The North has been locked in a stand-off with the United States over the past six months over its nuclear ambitions.

South Korea, a U.S. ally, has sought to use the inter-Korean talks to help clarify North Korea's alleged admission of having atomic bombs during talks in Beijing with U.S. negotiators last week.

The South's delegation reportedly repeated its demand Monday that North Korea abandon its nuclear ambitions, but details were not disclosed.

According to KCNA, the North urged the South to continue the ongoing or planned inter-Korean economic cooperation projects, including the reconnecting of cross-border roads and railways, during the latest cabinet-level talks.

The two Koreas have been technically at war since the 1950-53 conflict, which ended in a fragile armistice instead of a permanent peace treaty.