President Roh Moo-hyun's chief security advisor will visit the United States next week to discuss ways of resolving the crisis over North Korea's alleged missile launch preparations and resuming the six-way talks on the communist state's nuclear weapons program, the presidential office said Thursday.
During his trip to Washington starting on Tuesday, Song Min-soon, Roh's chief secretary for security policy, plans to meet with his American counterpart Stephen Hadley and several other officials, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Jung Tae-ho said.
Jung said Song will have "in-depth" discussions with the U.S.
officials on a wide range of bilateral concerns, including the potential North Korean launch of a missile launch, the nuclear weapons stand-off and the Seoul-Washington alliance.
Song is also expected to use his trip to fine-tune the agenda for the summit between Roh and U.S. President George W. Bush to be held in the U.S. capital in September.
Speaking at a local radio program earlier in the day, Song called for North Korea to rejoin the six-party talks that have been stalled for more than half a year. He said that the resumption of the nuclear weapons talks is the best way for North Korea to achieve its short-term goal of having bilateral negotiations.
"If the six-way talks are held, North Korea and the U.S. will have no choice but to hold bilateral talks, and in the process U.S.
delegates will be able to visit North Korea and North Korean delegates will also be able to travel the U.S.," Song said. "In fact, they will have to do so."
Song, formerly Seoul's chief envoy to the nuclear weapons talks, was referring to North Koreans' overt eagerness for one-on-one discussions with U.S. officials outside of the six-party talks.
North Korean Foreign Ministry earlier this month invited U.S.
Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill to visit Pyongyang, but he rejected the offer.
North Korea insists bilateral talks would be more effective in dealing with such urgent issues as its missile program and Washington's crackdown on its alleged financial crimes.
U.S. officials continue to reject one-on-one dialogue, merely reiterating their call for the North to return to the six-way talks that have been stalled for several months.
Song also criticized media reports that North was intending to soon conduct a test of a long-range missile.
"A rocket vehicle is set up on a launching pad, but it is not understood if it is being prepared for an imminent launch," he said. "There is no intelligence on whether it (the vehicle) has been fueled or not. It is difficult to figure out the situation until North Korea discloses it."
Song was cautious in selecting a word to describe exactly what kind of vehicle North Korea was reportedly preparing to fire, saying Pyongyang's intentions are not yet clear. South Korean officials do not rule out the possibility that North Korea is seeking to send a satellite into space.
The official reaffirmed Seoul's threat that Pyongyang would have to choose between missile and food aid.
"If North Korea fires a missile, I don't think the South Korean people will continue to support economic cooperation with the North, and the international community will not side with it," he said.
South Korea provided more than 500,000 tons of rice and 350,000 tons of fertilizer to the impoverished North through direct channels last year alone.
The two Koreas also operate joint ventures including an industrial complex in Kaesong and a tourism business to Mount Geumgang.
Song said the government has various contingency plans, which take into account inter-Korean ties and international relations, but he declined to elaborate.
Seoul, June 29 (Yonhap News)
Top S. Korean security official to visit Washington next week |
