New Zealand FM: N. Korea committed to denuclearization

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
New Zealand's foreign minister said Saturday that North Korean leaders told him they will stick to pledges to scrap their nuclear program but insist other nations must provide promised aid and political concessions in exchange. Foreign Minister Winston Peters was the highest-level Western official to visit the North since it conducted a nuclear test in October 2006. "Their officials reaffirmed their full commitment in implementing current agreements," Foreign Minister Winston Peters told reporters in Beijing after a two-day trip to Pyongyang. "They also made it clear that this was contingent on all other six-party participants fulfilling their obligations on the agreed schedule." Peters was the highest-level Western official to visit the North since the government of leader Kim Jong Il exploded a nuclear device in October, prompting an international outcry. He said he met with Kim Yong Nam, the country's No. 2 official who serves as head of state, and the North's foreign affairs, trade and agriculture ministers.