-- A North Korean diplomat confirmed Tuesday his country's decision to rejoin long-stalled six-nation talks on its nuclear weapons program next week but presented a cautious outlook for the outcome.
"Yes, the talks will be held next week, but it is the moment to watch (the development of the talks)," Kim Myong-gil, deputy chief of North Korea's mission to the United Nations, told Yonhap News Agency by phone.
Kim was reticent about details, including the specific topics and prospect of the talks, saying only that it was "inappropriate to mention what should be discussed at the negotiating table."
After weeks of intense diplomacy with the U.S. that was brokered by China, North Korea agreed to attend a new round of six-nation talks set to open in Beijing on Dec. 18. The talks will also involve South Korea, the U.S., Japan and Russia.
South Korean officials said the open-ended round, the first since November last year, may break for Christmas and resume in January.
The U.S. is equally cautious but has held out the prospect of headway.
"I would expect the negotiations to be intense, and I don't think anybody's going to be giving away anything at these discussions, certainly not the United States," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a press briefing.
The upcoming meeting comes amid a new geo-political environment being shaped by North Korea's Oct. 9 nuclear test and U.S.
President George W. Bush's loss of control over Congress to the Democrats in mid-term elections.
Bush is under increasing domestic pressure to end the North's nuclear crisis through direct negotiations with the communist regime. Bush has so far shunned any direct dealings with North Korea which he has labeled part of "an axis of evil."
The U.S. nuclear envoy, Christopher Hill, said he had laid down the basic agenda for the upcoming round in lengthy behind-the-scene negotiations with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye-gwan, in Beijing late last month.
Hill did not elaborate but some details that have transpired in Seoul, Washington and elsewhere indicated that the U.S. asked North Korea to show some "good-faith moves" in this round of talks.
North Korea, for its part, asked the U.S. to end its "hostile" policy toward it and said it was prepared to make a deal of the U.S. makes clear concessions, according various diplomatic sources.
The U.S., the sources said, specifically asked the North to suspend the operation of its main nuclear complex at Yongbyon, declare all its nuclear-related programs, re-allow U.N. nuclear inspections and shut down the underground site of its recent nuclear test.
North Korea must respond to those U.S. demands in this round of talks, they said.
Another knotty problem is North Korea's demand for the lifting of U.S. financial sanctions imposed in September, last year, over its alleged currency counterfeiting, drug trafficking and other illegal activities.
The U.S. has promised to discuss the issue in bilateral contacts within the context of the six-nation talks. Analysts believe that a lack progress in this matter could affect the overall progress of the nuclear dialogue.
Seoul, Dec. 12 (Yonhap News)
N. Korea cautious over prospect for nuclear talks |
