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181887
Fri, 05/13/2011 - 07:52
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https://oananews.org//node/181887
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Bosworth due in Seoul on N. Korean nukes, food aid: sources
WASHINGTON, May 12 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. point man on North Korea will visit Seoul next week to discuss ways to resume international talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions and other issues related to the reclusive communist state, informed sources here said Thursday.
Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, will tour Seoul for three days from Monday, the second of its kind since January, to meet with South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, South Korea's chief nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac and other officials handling North Korea's nuclear programs, possible food aid to the North and other issues, the sources said, asking for anonymity.
Also high on the agenda will be the proposal by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to invite North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul next year on condition that the North makes a firm pledge to denuclearize.
North Korea on Wednesday denounced Lee for not trying to engage and for conditioning the demand for apology and denuclearization on any resumption of the six-party talks that have been stalled for more than two years over the North's missile and nuclear tests and other provocations.
Lee made the offer in a response to Kim Jong-il's proposal for an inter-Korean summit made through former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who visited Pyongyang late last month in an apparent effort to help revive the denuclearization-for-aid talks and get some aid to help curb the North's chronic economic hardship and severe food shortages.
U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner has welcomed inter-Korean dialogue and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also called for inter-Korean rapprochement ahead of the six-party talks' resumption.
A senior Obama administration official, who asked not to be named, however, appeared to be a bit cautious, saying, "The international community should judge the status of North Korea's actions as we approach the Seoul Summit in 2012."
Clinton said she discussed North Korea "at length" during the annual high-level Sino-U.S. dialogue in Washington early this week, noting the talks were "focused on working with China to prevent further provocation and nuclear weapon development in North Korea."
In an incremental approach toward the nuclear talks' resumption, chief nuclear envoys of South Korea and China recently got together and called on North Korea to have a bilateral nuclear dialogue with South Korea and then another bilateral discussion with the U.S. ahead of any plenary session of the six-party talks. The North has not yet responded to the proposal.
Possible food aid to the North will also be among topics up for discussion when Bosworth meets South Korean officials.
North Korea recently appealed for the U.S. to resume food aid, suspended two years ago over a lack of transparency in the distribution and mounting tensions after the North's nuclear and missile tests.
Seoul and Washington, the two biggest food donors to the impoverished North, have discussed possible food aid to North Korea, which is suffering from severe food shortages due to flooding and a harsh winter, but have yet to reach a conclusion.
Robert King, U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, recently said that the U.S. will consult with South Korea closely in making any decision on the food aid to North Korea, but added, "I think the United States can make an independent decision" from South Korea.
Washington is reportedly more positive on the food aid than reluctant South Korea.
South Korean conservatives say North Korea is exaggerating its food shortages to hoard food in preparation for its distribution on the 100th anniversary of the birth of its late leader, Kim Il-sung, the father of current leader, Kim Jong-il, on April 15 next year.
The United Nations last month appealed for the provision of 430,000 tons of food to North Korea to feed 6 million people stricken by floods and severe winter weather. A U.N. monitoring team concluded a fact-finding mission in North Korea early last month.
Toner, meanwhile, denied reports that King will soon visit Pyongyang.
King has not yet been admitted into the reclusive North since his appointment in early 2009.
"I don't have any announcement in terms of Ambassador King's travel," Toner said.
Neither King's predecessor, Jay Lefkowitz, nor Marzuki Darusman, the U.N.'s special rapporteur on North Korean human rights, or his predecessor, Vitit Muntarbhorn, were admitted to North Korea.
King said last month that Washington has not yet made any decision on food aid to North Korea, repeating the U.S. position: "Humanitarian assistance is provided on the basis of need and available resources and the ability to monitor. Our decision on food aid is based on humanitarian needs, not on political considerations."
Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, will tour Seoul for three days from Monday, the second of its kind since January, to meet with South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, South Korea's chief nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac and other officials handling North Korea's nuclear programs, possible food aid to the North and other issues, the sources said, asking for anonymity.
Also high on the agenda will be the proposal by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to invite North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul next year on condition that the North makes a firm pledge to denuclearize.
North Korea on Wednesday denounced Lee for not trying to engage and for conditioning the demand for apology and denuclearization on any resumption of the six-party talks that have been stalled for more than two years over the North's missile and nuclear tests and other provocations.
Lee made the offer in a response to Kim Jong-il's proposal for an inter-Korean summit made through former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who visited Pyongyang late last month in an apparent effort to help revive the denuclearization-for-aid talks and get some aid to help curb the North's chronic economic hardship and severe food shortages.
U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner has welcomed inter-Korean dialogue and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also called for inter-Korean rapprochement ahead of the six-party talks' resumption.
A senior Obama administration official, who asked not to be named, however, appeared to be a bit cautious, saying, "The international community should judge the status of North Korea's actions as we approach the Seoul Summit in 2012."
Clinton said she discussed North Korea "at length" during the annual high-level Sino-U.S. dialogue in Washington early this week, noting the talks were "focused on working with China to prevent further provocation and nuclear weapon development in North Korea."
In an incremental approach toward the nuclear talks' resumption, chief nuclear envoys of South Korea and China recently got together and called on North Korea to have a bilateral nuclear dialogue with South Korea and then another bilateral discussion with the U.S. ahead of any plenary session of the six-party talks. The North has not yet responded to the proposal.
Possible food aid to the North will also be among topics up for discussion when Bosworth meets South Korean officials.
North Korea recently appealed for the U.S. to resume food aid, suspended two years ago over a lack of transparency in the distribution and mounting tensions after the North's nuclear and missile tests.
Seoul and Washington, the two biggest food donors to the impoverished North, have discussed possible food aid to North Korea, which is suffering from severe food shortages due to flooding and a harsh winter, but have yet to reach a conclusion.
Robert King, U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, recently said that the U.S. will consult with South Korea closely in making any decision on the food aid to North Korea, but added, "I think the United States can make an independent decision" from South Korea.
Washington is reportedly more positive on the food aid than reluctant South Korea.
South Korean conservatives say North Korea is exaggerating its food shortages to hoard food in preparation for its distribution on the 100th anniversary of the birth of its late leader, Kim Il-sung, the father of current leader, Kim Jong-il, on April 15 next year.
The United Nations last month appealed for the provision of 430,000 tons of food to North Korea to feed 6 million people stricken by floods and severe winter weather. A U.N. monitoring team concluded a fact-finding mission in North Korea early last month.
Toner, meanwhile, denied reports that King will soon visit Pyongyang.
King has not yet been admitted into the reclusive North since his appointment in early 2009.
"I don't have any announcement in terms of Ambassador King's travel," Toner said.
Neither King's predecessor, Jay Lefkowitz, nor Marzuki Darusman, the U.N.'s special rapporteur on North Korean human rights, or his predecessor, Vitit Muntarbhorn, were admitted to North Korea.
King said last month that Washington has not yet made any decision on food aid to North Korea, repeating the U.S. position: "Humanitarian assistance is provided on the basis of need and available resources and the ability to monitor. Our decision on food aid is based on humanitarian needs, not on political considerations."
