8- The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, September 20, 2005 NEWS North Korea will not dismantle nuclear program Pyongyang says it will abandon its weapons program if the U.S. provides a light-water reactor for civilian nuclear power, a request Washington has consistently refused SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea said today it would not dismantle its nuclear weapons program until the United States first provides an atomic energy reac- tor, casting doubt on its commitment to a breakthrough agreement reached at interna- tional arms talks. The North had insisted since arms talks began last week in Beijing that it be given a light-water reactor, a type less easily divert- ed for weapons use, in exchange for aban- doning nuclear weapons. The agreement reached at the talks' end yesterday - the first since the negotiations began in August 2003 - says the six countries in the nego- tiations will discuss the reactor issue "at an appropriate time." The surprise announcement came just a day after the North agreed to give up its arms efforts and accept inspections by the Inter- national Atomic Energy Agency in exchange for energy, economic and security aid. "We will return to the NPT and sign the safeguards agreement with the IAEA and comply with it immediately upon the U.S. provision of LWRs, a basis of confidence- building to us," the North's Foreign Ministry said in the statement, carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. "The U.S. should not even dream of the issue of (North Korea's) dismantlement of its nuclear deterrent before providing LWRs," the North said. The impact of the North's statement today on the Beijing agreement wasn't immedi- ately clear. During the years of debate over its weapons program, the communist nation has sometimes given confusing or dramat- The surprise announcement came just a day after the North agreed to give up its arms efforts and accept inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency in exchange for energy, economic and security aid. ic statements as it publicly maneuvers for negotiating leverage. Other countries at the talks made clear that the reactor could only be discussed after the North rejoins the Nuclear Non- proliferation Treaty and accepts inspec- tions from the International Atomic Energy Agency - which North Korea pledged to do in yesterday's agreement. U.S. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli emphasized earlier in Washington that the "appropriate time" for discussing the reactor means only after the North comes in compliance with those conditions. "It's a theoretical proposition in the future, contingent on dismantling having taken place, resigning up to the NPT and having IAEA safeguards in place," he said yesterday in Washington. However, the North's interpretation of that agreement was decidedly different, saying in today's statement said that its most serious dif- ferences with the U.S. were the North's "right to nuclear activity for a peaceful purpose, to be specific, the issue of the U.S. provision of light water reactors (LWR) to the former." The North's position is likely to be a major sticking point in talks slated to begin in early November on implementing yester- day's agreement. The North had demanded during the six- nation talks in Beijing - which include China, Japan, Russia, the United States and the two Koreas - that it be allowed to keep a civilian nuclear program for power gen- eration after it disarms. But the United States strongly opposed the demand, and yesterday's agreement only acknowledged that the North had "stated" its claim to that right. The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has opposed anything resembling a 1994 U.S.-North Korea agree- ment, which promised the North two light- water reactors for power. That project stalled amid the current crisis that broke out in late 2002 over the North's resumed nuclear weapons program. U 6 German party leaders seek majority bloc after elections Neither Schroeder's Social Democrats nor Merkel's Christian Democrats win clear victory in elections BERLIN (AP) - Conservative leader Angela Merkel and the chairman of Chan- cellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Demo- crats said yesterday they both had initiated contacts with potential coalition partners as they wrestled over what government will emerge from Germany's inconclusive parlia- mentary election. Merkel urged her rival's party to "accept that they are not the strongest party" after Sunday's election and enter talks on a broad right-left alliance under her leadership. But within minutes, the chairman of the Social Democrats, Franz Muentefering, said he had written to other party leaders to invite them to hold talks on a new coalition. "I have initiated contact with the offices" of the other parties, Merkel said. She added that she, like Schroeder, would refuse to hold talks with the Left Party - an alliance of ex-communists and former Social Democrats angered by the chancellor's efforts to trim the welfare state. Muentefering said any linkup between his party and Merkel's would be without Merkel as chancellor. "The message was clear: This country does not want Mrs. Merkel as chancel- lor," he said. Voters denied a majority to both Schroed- er's outgoing government of Social Demo- crats and Greens and Merkel's preferred combination of her Christian Democrats and the pro-business Free Democrats. As Germany's benchmark stock market and the euro dropped amid gloom over the muddled outcome, leaders of the main par- ties met in Berlin to plan their next move. Official results showed Merkel's party and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, winning 225 seats, three more than the Social Democrats. The Free Demo- crats got 61, the Greens 51 and the new Left Party, an alliance of ex-communists and for- mer Social Democrats alienated by Schroed- er's efforts to trim the welfare state, 54. Those results were based on counting from 298 of 299 districts; voting in the final district, in the eastern city of Dresden, has been delayed until Oct. 2 because of a can- didate's death. Schroeder refused to back off his claim to form a new coalition, saying that his party "has made clear its will to lead this country in government." "Our task is to implement this declared will of our whole party, and we will do that," he told cheering supporters in a brief appear- ance at the Social Democrats' headquarters. He did not elaborate. "I do not rule out anybody revising their position," Merkel said of Schroeder. She said a new government should be formed quickly, adding that "we are not playing for time." A "grand coalition" of the two main par- ties appeared a likely outcome. Conservative leaders said they also would seek talks with the Greens on a three-way combination that would include the Free Democrats. Foreign Minister Joschka Fisch- er, who led the Greens' campaign, said he would not serve in a Merkel Cabinet. "We are interested in content," Greens co- leader Claudia Roth said on ARD television. "We are not interested just in governing, we are interested in politics." Merkel likely will have to water down plans to shake up Germany's labor market and reform its tax system to gain a majority with a party to her left. To woo the Greens, she likely would have to soften plans to halt the outgoing government's program of shut- ting down nuclear power plants. Her opposi- tion to Turkish membership in the European Union also is up in the air. German share prices dropped following Merkel's failure to gain a clear mandate to deepen reform of Europe's biggest economy, which suffers from an 11.4 percent jobless rate. Frankfurt's DAX index of blue chip stocks was down 1.1 percent in early after- noon trading. Schroeder, who described the conser- vatives' result as "disastrous," taunted Merkel in a joint television appearance Sunday night, saying she would not receive the post of chancellor in any deal with the Social Democrats. AP PHUtO Angela Merkel, chancellor candidate for Germany's Christian Democratic Union, speaks at the "Eve- ning of the Automotive Industry" during the 61st International Auto Show in Frankfurt, Germany yes- terday. Merkel made her first contacts with potential coalition partners yesterday. Life of an Investment Banking Analyst Please come meet Investment Banking Analysts at our interactive discussion panel for undergraduates at the University of Michigan. " Learn about the Investment Banking industry and the daily responsibilities of an Analyst " Gain insight into the role of an Analyst working on a UBS transaction " Find out how a deal team operates " Open forum - ask any and all questions Date: September 15, 2005 Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM Venue: Campus Inn, Regency Ballroom Students from all majors and years are welcome - casual attire! I I