US, North Korea hold direct nuclear contact ( 2003-08-28 09:42) (Agencies)
Trading the cold shoulder for careful conversation, the United States and
North Korea made their first direct contact in four months on Wednesday,
huddling on the sidelines of a multinational summit to work through a venomous
stalemate over Pyongyang's nuclear program.
The heads of the
delegations for the six-party talks in Beijing shake hands before the
start of the three-day talks at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse August 27,
2003. They are (left to right) Mitoji Yabunaka, director general of the
Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of Japan's Foreign Ministry; James
Kelly, United States assistant secretary of state for East Asian and
Pacific affairs; DPRK Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Yong-il; Chinese
Vice-Foreign Minister Wang Yi; Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander
Losiukov and Lee Soo-hyuck, ROK deputy minister of foreign affairs and
trade.[newsphoto.com.cn]
China, South Korea, Japan and Russia joined them in formal discussions, eager
to apply delicate diplomacy to East Asia's most alarming security problem.
Later, US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly and North Korean Deputy
Foreign Minister Kim Yong Il sat in chairs off to the side and conferred.
"The US side made comments about easing North Korea's security concerns,"
said Wie Sung-rak, director-general of the South Korean Foreign Ministry's North
American Affairs Bureau. "From what North Koreans said during the meeting, we
could read that North Korea is willing to resolve the nuclear issue through
dialogue."
State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said the US-North Korea meeting
lasted about 35 to 40 minutes, but he gave no other details.
White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan downplayed the fact that the United
States and North Korea held direct talks.
"What we always indicated is that these will be multilateral discussions. But
nothing precludes a conversation across the table between two parties," Buchan
said. "But there are not separate, individual, bilateral discussions going on."
North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kim
Yong Il listens during the six nation talks on North Korea's nuclear issue
at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, Aug 27,
2003. [Xinhua]
The extraordinary
three-day, six-country summit, the result of months of political maneuvering,
convened on the grounds of China's state guest house.
The contact between the North Korean and American delegations ended a
diplomatic drought between their two nations, whose envoys have not met formally
since April.
Tensions and hostilities have been escalating since October, when Pyongyang
acknowledged - to Kelly himself - that it restarted a nuclear program it had
supposedly shut down. The United States has demanded that North Korea stop the
program immediately, while the impoverished North has refused to budge without
security and economic aid guarantees.
Both sides would benefit if a sturdy channel of communication were
reestablished - even if it didn't lead to an immediate resolution of the nuclear
dispute. Mere agreement this week to keep talking regularly would constitute
some degree of success.
The six-party talks are a continuation of discussions from April, when U.S.,
Chinese and North Korean officials met in Beijing. The North's government had
long demanded one-on-one talks with the United States, but dropped its
objections to the multilateral arrangement after Beijing agreed to host it.
A congenial air prevailed as the six countries' chief envoys posed for
cameras, shaking hands firmly and smiling broadly before adjourning to an
chandelier-lit chamber and snapping to work around a specially assembled hexagon
negotiating table.
At Wednesday's talks, the two countries remained firm in their positions,
participants said. Shin Bong-kil, a spokesman for the South Korean delegation,
said there were "no big deviations" from the expected agenda.
Later in the afternoon, after the official meeting ended for the day, Kelly,
Kim and their delegations met informally, officials said.
"The bilateral contact between the United States and North Korea came
naturally as part of sideline activities," Wie said.
Alexander Losyukov, the Russian deputy foreign minister and head of his
country's delegation, told the ITAR-Tass news agency that he wouldn't
necessarily predict immediate progress as a result of the meeting.
"The sides have advanced a number of preliminary conditions which block the
development of the talks," Losyukov said without elaborating. He said North
Korea declared it wishes to be nuclear-free but expressed concern about "menaces
from the U.S."
Later, at a dinner hosted by Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, Kelly and
Kim sat side by side and talked for an hour accompanied by translators, Shin
said.
The U.S.-North Korean meeting came hours after Pyongyang repeated its demand
for a non-aggression pact, saying it would not give up its "nuclear deterrent
force" for anything less than that.
The United States should "clarify its will to make a switchover in its
hostile policy toward (North Korea) and conclude a non-aggression treaty with
it," Rodong Sinmun, the North's official newspaper, said in a commentary carried
by KCNA, the North's official news agency.
U.S. officials say they believe North Korea has one or two nuclear weapons,
and experts believe it could produce five to six more in a few months.
"The mistrust between the U.S. and North Korea will not disappear soon," said
Li Dunqiu, secretary-general of the Chinese Society for the Study of Korean
History. "But the coordination among the six parties will help in this regard."
