The United States can have one-on-one talks with North Korea if the communist country returns to nuclear disarmament talks, but the talks will be "discussions," not "negotiations," U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Friday. The North has persistently demanded bilateral talks with Washington to solve issues involving its nuclear weapons program and U.S. financial sanctions against it, while the U.S. has refused, insisting such dialogue take place only within the framework of the six-party talks.
"We have said from the very beginning that in the context of the six-party talks, in and around the six-party talks, we're willing to have discussions with North Korea," McCormack said in a press briefing.
His remarks were in response to a question about the U.S. ambassador to Japan's earlier remark that the U.S. would be ready to have one-on-one talks with North Korea if they returned to the nuclear talks.
But McCormack said that Washington will not negotiate with Pyongyang bilaterally, and negotiations can take place among the six parties.
"We have said we're not going to negotiate with them one-on-one, but of course we'll have discussions with them," he said.
"You can have a bilateral discussion in the context of the six-party talks. It doesn't mean you're negotiating bilaterally with North Korea. It means that you are having a discussion, just the two parties in the context of the six-party talks, and you can also have a discussion in a multilateral forum," he said.
The North has refused for a year to return to the talks aimed at ending its nuclear ambitions in return for security guarantees and economic benefits, citing U.S. financial sanctions against it.
The multilateral talks involve the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia.
Washington, Oct. 27 (Yonhap News)
U.S. will not negotiate with N.K. bilaterally. even within 6-way talks: spokesman |
