WORLD / Asia-Pacific
US, N.Korean envoys to meet again in Beijing
(AP)
Updated: 2006-11-29 08:49
The top US and North Korean nuclear negotiators were expected to hold a
second round of meetings Wednesday, the US State Department said, amid a
diplomatic push to resume six-nation talks on Pyongyang's atomic weapons
program.
US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill met Tuesday in Beijing
with North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan and Chinese Vice
Foreign Minister Wu Dawai.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Tuesday in Washington
that Hill and Kim plan to hold talks again Wednesday.
"You want to make sure that everybody, at least, has a good, solid
understanding of what might happen" when six-nation talks aimed at
persuading the North to abandon its nuclear weapons reconvene, McCormack
said.
"What Chris did today (Tuesday) was to start to provide information on
how we might be able to define what is an effective round of the
six-party talks that produces concrete results," he said.
According to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, Hill "stressed that the
North needs to report all of its nuclear programs before seeking economic
incentives."
On his part, Kim insisted that Washington lift its financial sanctions on
Pyongyang and "take steps to help normalize relations between the two
enemies," Yonhap said.
North Korea agreed in September 2005 to abandon its nuclear program in
exchange for security guarantees and aid. But Washington imposed the
financial sanctions against a Macau-based bank on suspicions it was
laundering counterfeit money for the North Koreans. Angered by the move,
Pyongyang withdrew from the talks two months later.
Kim said before Tuesday's meetings got started that the timing of the
next round of six-party talks on his country's nuclear program "depends
on the United States."
"There are too many outstanding issues" and both parties should narrow
their differences, Kim told reporters.
Officials have yet to determine an exact date for the next round of
negotiations. The China-hosted talks involve the United States, North
Korea, Japan, South Korea and Russia, which has not sent an envoy to
Beijing.
"We hope all sides can grasp this opportunity and take a flexible,
pragmatic, and constructive approach in order to realize the early
resumption of six-party talks," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman
Jiang Yu said at a regular briefing.
Kim's trip to Beijing - a rare overseas visit - and the presence of other
negotiators added to prospects of compromises to give new life to the
talks.
An unannounced meeting between Hill and Kim last month in Beijing led to
Pyongyang agreeing to return to the arms negotiations amid heightened
tensions after its first nuclear test on October 9.
Hill told reporters when he arrived Monday that the US anticipated that
the talks would "get going at some point very soon."
Hill also met separately with South Korea's nuclear envoy, Chun Yung-woo,
and Wu earlier Tuesday, said Susan Stevenson, the spokeswoman for the US
Embassy in Beijing. She did not have any details on the talks.
Japan's representative Kenichiro Sasae told Japanese reporters that he
also had bilateral talks with Wu and Hill.
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