[USFK Forums] U.S., South Korea to Discuss North Korea [AP]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Thursday, January 19, 2006

U.S., South Korea to Discuss North Korea

By FOSTER KLUG, Associated Press
Writer 14 minutes ago

Thursday, January 19, 2006

When North Korea pledged on Sept. 19 to scrap its nuclear programs in return for aid and security assurances, it was hailed as a breakthrough in the Korean peninsula's long nuclear saga. The optimism hasn't lasted: Four months later, six-nation nuclear talks are deadlocked as the communist-led North backtracks and tension escalates between Washington and Pyongyang.

Those strained nuclear talks were likely to dominate the conversation between South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the State Department on Thursday.

Diplomats from the Koreas, China, the United States, Russia and Japan ended the latest round of negotiations in November. The prospect of a resumption of the talks, which began in 2003, is uncertain.

The North has said it won't set a return date unless the United States ends financial sanctions meant to halt alleged weapons proliferation and counterfeit currency distribution by North Korea. U.S. officials say the sanctions are a criminal issue unrelated to the nuclear talks.

Despite the squabbling, there have been some hopeful signs recently.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il reportedly told China's president this week, during a rare trip outside the North, that he was committed to a peaceful resolution of the nuclear standoff. South Korean news reports said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the lead American envoy to the talks, met Wednesday in Beijing with his North Korean counterpart, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye Gwan, to discuss reviving their efforts.

China said Thursday that it has set up a meeting between U.S. and North Korean officials this week in Beijing to try to restart six-nation talks on the North's nuclear programs.

Few details were provided, and Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan didn't identify the U.S. or North Korean officials. But he added, "I won't deny the name you said," when a reporter mentioned U.S. envoy Christopher Hill, who South Korean media had said met with his North Korean counterpart in Beijing.

Rep. James Leach, R-Iowa, who chairs the House International Relations Asia and the Pacific subcommittee, said Kim Jong Il's trip to China was a positive development.

"The more that he sees the world and sees what change can bring to North Korea, the greater the odds North Korea might change direction," Leach said in an interview.

In September, the North pledged at the nuclear talks in Beijing to give up its atomic programs in return for aid and security assurances. But no progress was made on implementing the agreement after North Korea placed new conditions — which the U.S. said were unacceptable — on its disarmament.

During an appearance Wednesday at the United Nations, Ban agreed that Kim's meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao should have "very positive implications" for resumption of the stalled talks.

Since the last round, the State Department has called repeatedly for the parties to meet again, but recent comments from U.S. officials also have signaled what appears to be a growing frustration with Kim's communist government.

Last month, Alexander Vershbow, the new U.S. ambassador to Seoul, called the North a "criminal regime," part of a string of comments that led South Korea's leading journalist organization on Wednesday to demand an apology for what it called Vershbow's "problematic remarks" about North Korea.

Early this month, Rice called the North a "dangerous regime."

Jonathan Pollack, a North Korea analyst at the U.S. Naval War College, said, "Throwaway lines may make us feel good, but they're not going to advance the ball."

"Even if we find this a reprehensible regime with no redeeming values whatsoever, it is the regime that we have to deal with," he said.

Leach said that while "there's always a case for accuracy and frankness" in describing North Korea, "we should always be aware that words matter."

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On the Net:

CIA World Factbook on North Korea: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/...k/geos/kn.html