Chun Yung-woo, South Korea's chief nuclear envoy, left Wednesday for New York, a trip he described as a "valuable opportunity" to generate a breakthrough in the struggle to resume the six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear arms program.
During his open-ended trip there, Chun plans to meet with his U.S. counterpart Christopher Hill to discuss ways to jump-start the six-party talks.
Chun said he and Hill will strive to follow up on a related agreement at last week's summit between presidents Roh Moo-hyun and George W. Bush.
Roh and Bush agreed to take a "common and broad approach" to resume the stalled disarmament talks, which critics play down as mere diplomatic rhetoric intended to paper over differences between the two allies over how to deal with Pyongyang.
"I think it (the New York meeting) is a valuable opportunity to pave the way for a breakthrough on the North Korean nuclear issue," Chun told Yonhap News Agency.
He said he feels a sense of great responsibility and stressed the importance of making a road map and concrete action plan to carry out the agreement at the summit.
Chun said he may also have a tripartite meeting with Hill and Japanese nuclear envoy Kenichiro Sasae as early as this weekend in New York, where the annual general assembly of the United Nations is under way.
Chun's meeting with Hill is not unusual, but this time they are expected to discuss a more detailed strategy to persuade North Korea back to the negotiating table.
South Korean officials said that the compromise between Roh and Bush gave Hill a bigger say in the six-party process, the efficacy of which has been questioned by his hard-line colleagues.
Chun and Hill are also likely to touch on disputes over the U.S. drive to squeeze the North, a policy South Korea wants to be used carefully.
Attention has turned again to the Seoul-Washington gap since South Korean Ambassador to Washington Lee Tae-sik told reporters Tuesday that President Roh called for a speedy end to Washington's ongoing investigation into the Banco Delta Asia bank in his meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. A year ago, the U.S. Treasury blacklisted the Macau bank, accusing it of serving as a base for the North's illicit financial activities, and an investigation is still under way.
North Korea's No. 2 leader Kim Yong-nam made it clear in Havana on the weekend that his country will never rejoin the six-way talks with the U.S. sanctions. He was in the Cuban capital to attend Non-Aligned Movement summit talks. Some media here construed Kim's comments as Pyongyang's first official response to the agreement at the Roh-Bush summit, but it is unclear whether Kim made the remarks after reviewing the summit results.
Seoul, Sept. 20 (Yonhap News)
S. Korean, U.S. nuclear envoys to meet in New York this week |
