US, N.Korea agree on need to resume nuke talks: Bosworth
SEOUL (AFP) – The United States and North Korea agree on the need to resume stalled six-party nuclear disarmament negotiations but have not set a date, a senior US envoy said Thursday after visiting Pyongyang.
Stephen Bosworth said it was unclear when the North would return to the six-party forum which it quit in April, a month before its second nuclear test.
His visit was nonetheless described as "quite positive" by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said the US approach was one of "strategic patience".
The three-day visit was the first official contact between Washington and Pyongyang since President Barack Obama took office in January pledging direct diplomacy with the United States' adversaries.
"There was a common understanding with the DPRK (North Korea) on the need to implement the 2005 joint statement and resume the six-party process," Bosworth told a press conference in South Korea after the talks in Pyongyang.
"It remains to be seen when and how the DPRK will return to the six-party talks. This is something that will require further consultations among all six of us."
"It is certainly our hope based on these discussions in Pyongyang that the six-party talks can resume expeditiously and that we can get back to the important work of denuclearisation," Bosworth said.
The six-party talks group the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia.
In September 2005 the North vowed in a six-party joint statement to scrap its nuclear weaponry in exchange for aid, diplomatic benefits and talks on a permanent peace pact for the peninsula.
But in April, angry at international censure of its long-range rocket launch, the North declared the six-party talks "dead". It later said it had resumed making weapons-grade plutonium.
In May it staged its second nuclear test since 2006 and followed up with missile launches in July, attracting tougher UN sanctions.
Bosworth termed this week's visit "very useful" and said the two sides exchanged views "in a candid and businesslike fashion".
He said there were no discussions on follow-up bilateral talks. "It is important to point out that these were exploratory talks, not negotiations.
He said he had discussions with Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok-Ju and top nuclear envoy Kim Kye-Gwan, but did not seek a meeting with leader Kim Jong-Il or deliver any message from Obama.
The envoy said he told the North the United States remained committed to full implementation of the joint statement, including the establishment of a peace pact to replace the armistice which ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
Analysts believe Pyongyang's main goal is to negotiate a peace treaty with Washington, which says this must be discussed within the six-party format.
"As President Obama has made clear, the United States is prepared to work with our allies and partners in the region to offer North Korea a different future" in return for denuclearisation, Bosworth said.
In Washington, Clinton voiced satisfaction with the visit.
"For a preliminary meeting, it was quite positive.... The approach that our administration is taking is of strategic patience in close coordination with our six-party allies," she told reporters.
"And I think that making it clear to the North Koreans what we had expected and how we were moving forward is exactly what was called for."
Later this year the North began striking a softer note in what some analysts saw as a bid to soften the sanctions.
In October it told key ally China it was ready to return to the six-nation talks, but only if direct dialogue with the United States proved satisfactory.
Obama has offered the isolated and impoverished nation security and prosperity if it honours its commitment to give up nuclear weapons.
But a senior US official warned this week it could expect "very strong enforcement" of sanctions if it continues shunning the six-party forum.
Yang Moo-Jin, of Seoul's University of North Korean Studies, said Bosworth made "meaningful progress" despite failing to set a date for the resumption of six-party negotiations.
"Both sides have reached a common understanding of the usefulness of the six-party process," he told AFP. "I'm positive that the six-party talks will eventually resume."
Bosworth goes on to Beijing on Friday, Tokyo on Saturday and Moscow on Sunday
SEOUL (AFP) – The United States and North Korea agree on the need to resume stalled six-party nuclear disarmament negotiations but have not set a date, a senior US envoy said Thursday after visiting Pyongyang.
Stephen Bosworth said it was unclear when the North would return to the six-party forum which it quit in April, a month before its second nuclear test.
His visit was nonetheless described as "quite positive" by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said the US approach was one of "strategic patience".
The three-day visit was the first official contact between Washington and Pyongyang since President Barack Obama took office in January pledging direct diplomacy with the United States' adversaries.
"There was a common understanding with the DPRK (North Korea) on the need to implement the 2005 joint statement and resume the six-party process," Bosworth told a press conference in South Korea after the talks in Pyongyang.
"It remains to be seen when and how the DPRK will return to the six-party talks. This is something that will require further consultations among all six of us."
"It is certainly our hope based on these discussions in Pyongyang that the six-party talks can resume expeditiously and that we can get back to the important work of denuclearisation," Bosworth said.
The six-party talks group the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia.
In September 2005 the North vowed in a six-party joint statement to scrap its nuclear weaponry in exchange for aid, diplomatic benefits and talks on a permanent peace pact for the peninsula.
But in April, angry at international censure of its long-range rocket launch, the North declared the six-party talks "dead". It later said it had resumed making weapons-grade plutonium.
In May it staged its second nuclear test since 2006 and followed up with missile launches in July, attracting tougher UN sanctions.
Bosworth termed this week's visit "very useful" and said the two sides exchanged views "in a candid and businesslike fashion".
He said there were no discussions on follow-up bilateral talks. "It is important to point out that these were exploratory talks, not negotiations.
He said he had discussions with Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok-Ju and top nuclear envoy Kim Kye-Gwan, but did not seek a meeting with leader Kim Jong-Il or deliver any message from Obama.
The envoy said he told the North the United States remained committed to full implementation of the joint statement, including the establishment of a peace pact to replace the armistice which ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
Analysts believe Pyongyang's main goal is to negotiate a peace treaty with Washington, which says this must be discussed within the six-party format.
"As President Obama has made clear, the United States is prepared to work with our allies and partners in the region to offer North Korea a different future" in return for denuclearisation, Bosworth said.
In Washington, Clinton voiced satisfaction with the visit.
"For a preliminary meeting, it was quite positive.... The approach that our administration is taking is of strategic patience in close coordination with our six-party allies," she told reporters.
"And I think that making it clear to the North Koreans what we had expected and how we were moving forward is exactly what was called for."
Later this year the North began striking a softer note in what some analysts saw as a bid to soften the sanctions.
In October it told key ally China it was ready to return to the six-nation talks, but only if direct dialogue with the United States proved satisfactory.
Obama has offered the isolated and impoverished nation security and prosperity if it honours its commitment to give up nuclear weapons.
But a senior US official warned this week it could expect "very strong enforcement" of sanctions if it continues shunning the six-party forum.
Yang Moo-Jin, of Seoul's University of North Korean Studies, said Bosworth made "meaningful progress" despite failing to set a date for the resumption of six-party negotiations.
"Both sides have reached a common understanding of the usefulness of the six-party process," he told AFP. "I'm positive that the six-party talks will eventually resume."
Bosworth goes on to Beijing on Friday, Tokyo on Saturday and Moscow on Sunday
