North Korea will give up its missiles if the United States establishes diplomatic ties, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told a South Korean minister last week, an official in the South said on Monday.Unification Minister Chung Dong-young met Kim in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, last Friday and the Communist leader told him the North was ready to end its year-long boycott of talks on its nuclear weapons if the US showed it respect.Chung briefed the South Korean cabinet on Monday.‘‘If North Korea normalises diplomatic ties with the US and Washington becomes an ally with Pyongyang, then North Korea would give up all of its missiles,’’ a senior government official quoted Chung as telling ministers.The official, who asked not to be identified, said Kim had been referring to long-, medium- and short-range missiles, some of which can reach Japan as well as South Korea. Washington looks unlikely to respond favourably to Kim’s latest reported remarks. Diplomatic relations with the North would be all but impossible before a nuclear deal and before Washington detected improved human rights in the Communist state.US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday that North Korea’s earlier statement that it would only return to six-party talks if shown respect, was an excuse. —Reuters
