hankyoreh

South Korea's main opposition party said Sunday that it opposes Seoul taking a leading role in supplying heavy fuel oil to North Korea in exchange for the communist country scrapping its nuclear program.

The largest party in the National Assembly said it is ludicrous for South Korea to take on the majority of the burden of relieving Pyongyang's energy needs. The Grand National Party (GNP) has 127 lawmakers in the 299 seat parliament. The ruling Uri Party has 109 seats.

The announcement by the GNP comes after reports from the current round of six-party talks in Beijing indicated that Pyongyang has offered to dismantle its nuclear weapons program if its receives massive energy assistance. There has been discussion about setting up a working group to manage a fuel assistance program.

With the exception of South Korea, the other countries in the six-party talks have expressed reluctance to give aid to the North.

The six-party talks are aimed at getting North Korea to dismantle its nuclear program and are attended by the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia. Recent negotiations have taken on an added urgency after the North tested a nuclear device on Oct. 9.

"The issue of providing North Korea with heavy oil should be shared fairly among the participants of the six-party talks and the government should do its utmost to achieve this arrangement," said GNP spokeswoman Na Kyung-won.

She said the party welcomes any action that could resolve North Korea's nuclear ambitions, but made it clear South Korea must not be made to solely pick up the tab.

The GNP has been critical of the government assistance programs to the North, claiming this only helped prolong the life of the totalitarian regime that oppresses its people and endangers the stability of Northeast Asia.
Seoul, Feb. 11 (Yonhap News)