ID :
29128
Sat, 11/08/2008 - 15:43
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/29128
The shortlink copeid
N. Korea expresses interest in continued dialogue with U.S.: scholar
NEW YORK, Nov. 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korea signaled Friday it wishes to "continue the momentum" of diplomacy with the United States and hold dialogue with Washington's incoming Barack Obama administration, according to a U.S. scholar.
Donald Zagoria, a professor of international politics at New York's Hunter
College, told reporters after sitting in on a closed-door seminar attended by a
North Korean delegation that the North Koreans "were interested in continuity" in
talks with the Obama government.
Ri Gun, director general for North American affairs at North Korea's foreign
ministry, headed Pyongyang's delegation at the seminar, which was held at the
National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP).
Also attending the seminar were Frank Jannuzi, a senior foreign policy adviser to
U.S. President-elect Obama, and Sung Kim, U.S. special envoy to the six-party
talks on North Korea's denuclearization.
The seminar marked the first contact between Obama's foreign policy team and
North Korea since his election Tuesday. Recent reports have speculated that
Obama may send a special envoy to Pyongyang to make a breakthrough in the
six-way talks, which have frequently stalled since first being held in 2003.
Obama has said on several occasions that he is ready to meet with North Korean
leader Kim Jong-il, and has been critical of the George W. Bush administration's
refusal to engage Pyongyang. The president-elect has said such failed policies
led to the North's detonation of a nuclear device in 2006 and the buildup of its
nuclear arsenal.
Ri left the venue without responding to questions from reporters. Sung Kim would
not elaborate on the contents of the meeting, saying only, "It was a good
discussion to improve relations between the U.S. and North Korea."
Jannuzi also refused to comment on the meeting, saying participants from the
NCAFP will respond to reporters' questions.
An NCAFP official said the annual meeting was kept closed so that North Korea and
the U.S. could discuss bilateral relations freely.
Zagoria said the meeting not only addressed the verification of North Korea's
nuclear facilities, which has been a major stumbling block to the disabling of
North Korea's nuclear programs, but also served as a venue for North Korean
officials to meet with key foreign policy advisers of the Obama administration.
The professor, who is also a trustee of the NCAFP, dismissed concerns that
U.S.-North Korea relations will suffer a setback in the transition period. He
noted the Bush administration has been engaging North Korea over the past couple
of years, despite its refusal to do so during the first six years of Bush's
tenure.
Bush's predecessor, Bill Clinton, signed an agreement with North Korea in late
2000 to visit Pyongyang and discuss North Korea's nuclear weapons and long-range
missiles, but bailed on plans to fly to the North Korean capital at the last
minute, concerned it might set a burdensome precedent for his successor.
Not long after taking office, Bush labeled North Korea as part of an "axis of
evil" with which he would not negotiate.
Under the six-party framework -- which also involves South Korea, China, Japan
and Russia -- the U.S. dealt directly with North Korea and developed an agreement
to denuclearize the communist state in return for economic and energy assistance.
Verification issues, however, stalled the process, as North Korea refused to
allow international monitors unfettered access to key nuclear facilities.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill flew to Pyongyang in early
October, achieving a breakthrough in which Pyongyang agreed to allow outside
inspectors to visit undeclared nuclear sites on the basis of "mutual consent."
The U.S. lifted Pyongyang from a terrorism blacklist in return.
U.S. hardliners have criticized the deal as being weak and accused the wildly
unpopular Bush administration of trying to pull off a foreign policy achievement
in its waning months.
Hill also met with North Korea's Ri in New York on Thursday and held
"substantive, serious" talks, according to Robert Wood, spokesman for the State
Department.
"They discussed the verification protocol, you know, energy assistance, and
disablement of the North's nuclear facilities," Wood said, adding the U.S. is
waiting for China to announce a date for the resumption of the six-party talks.
Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Ri, Hill said he expected a fresh
round of six-party talks will be held by the end of this month.
Ri said on Friday that Pyongyang is ready to handle any U.S. government,
apparently in reference to Obama's election on Tuesday.
"We are ready to respond to any U.S. administration whatever its North Korea
policy may be," Ri said. "We've handled many U.S. administrations, some seeking
dialogue with us and others trying to isolate and oppress us."
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
Donald Zagoria, a professor of international politics at New York's Hunter
College, told reporters after sitting in on a closed-door seminar attended by a
North Korean delegation that the North Koreans "were interested in continuity" in
talks with the Obama government.
Ri Gun, director general for North American affairs at North Korea's foreign
ministry, headed Pyongyang's delegation at the seminar, which was held at the
National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP).
Also attending the seminar were Frank Jannuzi, a senior foreign policy adviser to
U.S. President-elect Obama, and Sung Kim, U.S. special envoy to the six-party
talks on North Korea's denuclearization.
The seminar marked the first contact between Obama's foreign policy team and
North Korea since his election Tuesday. Recent reports have speculated that
Obama may send a special envoy to Pyongyang to make a breakthrough in the
six-way talks, which have frequently stalled since first being held in 2003.
Obama has said on several occasions that he is ready to meet with North Korean
leader Kim Jong-il, and has been critical of the George W. Bush administration's
refusal to engage Pyongyang. The president-elect has said such failed policies
led to the North's detonation of a nuclear device in 2006 and the buildup of its
nuclear arsenal.
Ri left the venue without responding to questions from reporters. Sung Kim would
not elaborate on the contents of the meeting, saying only, "It was a good
discussion to improve relations between the U.S. and North Korea."
Jannuzi also refused to comment on the meeting, saying participants from the
NCAFP will respond to reporters' questions.
An NCAFP official said the annual meeting was kept closed so that North Korea and
the U.S. could discuss bilateral relations freely.
Zagoria said the meeting not only addressed the verification of North Korea's
nuclear facilities, which has been a major stumbling block to the disabling of
North Korea's nuclear programs, but also served as a venue for North Korean
officials to meet with key foreign policy advisers of the Obama administration.
The professor, who is also a trustee of the NCAFP, dismissed concerns that
U.S.-North Korea relations will suffer a setback in the transition period. He
noted the Bush administration has been engaging North Korea over the past couple
of years, despite its refusal to do so during the first six years of Bush's
tenure.
Bush's predecessor, Bill Clinton, signed an agreement with North Korea in late
2000 to visit Pyongyang and discuss North Korea's nuclear weapons and long-range
missiles, but bailed on plans to fly to the North Korean capital at the last
minute, concerned it might set a burdensome precedent for his successor.
Not long after taking office, Bush labeled North Korea as part of an "axis of
evil" with which he would not negotiate.
Under the six-party framework -- which also involves South Korea, China, Japan
and Russia -- the U.S. dealt directly with North Korea and developed an agreement
to denuclearize the communist state in return for economic and energy assistance.
Verification issues, however, stalled the process, as North Korea refused to
allow international monitors unfettered access to key nuclear facilities.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill flew to Pyongyang in early
October, achieving a breakthrough in which Pyongyang agreed to allow outside
inspectors to visit undeclared nuclear sites on the basis of "mutual consent."
The U.S. lifted Pyongyang from a terrorism blacklist in return.
U.S. hardliners have criticized the deal as being weak and accused the wildly
unpopular Bush administration of trying to pull off a foreign policy achievement
in its waning months.
Hill also met with North Korea's Ri in New York on Thursday and held
"substantive, serious" talks, according to Robert Wood, spokesman for the State
Department.
"They discussed the verification protocol, you know, energy assistance, and
disablement of the North's nuclear facilities," Wood said, adding the U.S. is
waiting for China to announce a date for the resumption of the six-party talks.
Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Ri, Hill said he expected a fresh
round of six-party talks will be held by the end of this month.
Ri said on Friday that Pyongyang is ready to handle any U.S. government,
apparently in reference to Obama's election on Tuesday.
"We are ready to respond to any U.S. administration whatever its North Korea
policy may be," Ri said. "We've handled many U.S. administrations, some seeking
dialogue with us and others trying to isolate and oppress us."
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
