ID :
29364
Mon, 11/10/2008 - 09:43
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/29364
The shortlink copeid
S. Korean official meets key Obama aide on N. Korean nuke, other issues: source
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (Yonhap) -- A senior South Korean official met with Frank Jannuzi, a key foreign policy adviser of President-elect Barack Obama last week to discuss North Korea's nuclear ambitions and other issues of bilateral concern, diplomatic sources here said Sunday.
The meeting, the first of its kind since Obama's election last Tuesday, was held
in New York Friday soon after Jannuzi attended a seminar organized by the
National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP) where Ri Gun, director
general of the North American Affairs Bureau of North Korea's Foreign Ministry
also appeared, a source said.
"I understand Hwang Joon-kook, head of the (South Korean Foreign Ministry's)
bureau dealing with the North Korean nuclear issue, met with Frank Jannuzi Friday
to discuss the North Korean nuclear and other issues," the source said without
elaborating on what they discussed.
Hwang also met with Sung Kim, the U.S. special envoy for six-party talks on
ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions, but did not meet with Ri Gun, the source
said, noting Hwang was not invited to the seminar which both Ri, Jannuzi and Kim
attended for in-depth discussions on the North Korean nuclear and other bilateral
issues in the first direct contact between North Korean officials and Obama aides
since Tuesday's election.
Hwang visited New York for four days from Wednesday to meet with Kim, Jannuzi and
other U.S. officials to coordinate their positions on the Noth Korean nuclear
issue prior to and after Ri's meeting with Jannuzi and Kim at the seminar.
Another source said he had no idea of whether Jannuzi proposed a visit to
Pyongyang to discuss preparations for another higher-level visit to the North
Korean capital to pave the way for Obama's possible visit to Pyongyang.
"I think it's a bit early because President-elect Obama has not yet been
inaugurated," the source said. "After Obama's inauguration on Jan. 20, there
should be dialogue between the sides, although I am not sure the president-level
dialogue will actually take place."
Allegations are that Obama may soon send former Secretary of State Colin Powell
or another prominent figure as his special envoy to Pyongyang to prepare for a
possible visit there by himself to make a breakthrough in the on-and-off
multilateral nuclear talks that began in 2003.
While facing his Republican rival John McCain in a presidential debate last
month, Obama dismissed McCain's criticism that it is naive to meet with North
Korean leader Kim Jong-il without preconditions, saying he is not meeting the
North Korean leader in the first place and that any summit meeting should be
followed by due preparations.
The President-elect has said the Bush administration's reluctance to deal
directly with North Korea resulted in the North's detonation of its first nuclear
device in 2006 and the quadrupling of its nuclear weapons to eight by the end of
Bush's eight-year term.
Bush's predecessor Bill Clinton signed an agreement with North Korea in 2000 to
visit Pyongyang for talks on the North's nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.
Clinton, however, shelved his plan for a tour of the North, which would have been
the first of its kind since the end of the Korean War in 1953 where the two
fought fiercely, citing lack of time in his waning months.
Bush, upon inauguration in 2001, disregarded the agreement and spent six years
without directly engaging the North, which he described as part of an axis of
evil, until 2006 when the North conducted a nuclear detonation, shocking the
world as well as the U.S.
Since then, Bush hurredly engaged the North and produced an agreement for the
North's disablement of its nuclear facilities in return for energy aid, and took
Pyongyang from a U.S. terorism blacklist.
Hardliners, however, denounce Bush for accepting the incomplete agreement, which
allows access to the North's undeclared nuclear sites by international inspectors
only on "mutual consent."
Obama has evaluated Bush's engagement of the North for the past couple of years,
saying that proved engagement produces results.
North Korea's Ri, meanwhile, told reporters in New York over the past weekend
that Pyongyang was ready to handle any U.S. government, saying "We are ready to
respond to any U.S. administration whatever its North Korea policy may be. We've
handled many U.S. administrations, some seeking dialogue with us and others
trying to isolate and oppress us."
Participants in the NCAFP seminar said Ri and other North Korean attendees
expressed interest in "continuity" of dialogue between the North and U.S. after
Obama's inauguration.
Christopher Hill, the chief U.S. nuclear envoy, also met with Ri in New York
Thursday and said they had "substantive, serious" talks on "verification
protocol, energy assistance and disablement of the North's nuclear facilities."
Hill said China, host of the six-party talks, will soon announce the date for a
fresh round of six-party talks which he expected will be no later than the end of
this month.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (Yonhap) -- A senior South Korean official met with Frank Jannuzi, a key foreign policy adviser of President-elect Barack Obama last week to discuss North Korea's nuclear ambitions and other issues of bilateral concern, diplomatic sources here said Sunday.
The meeting, the first of its kind since Obama's election last Tuesday, was held
in New York Friday soon after Jannuzi attended a seminar organized by the
National Committee on American Foreign Policy (NCAFP) where Ri Gun, director
general of the North American Affairs Bureau of North Korea's Foreign Ministry
also appeared, a source said.
"I understand Hwang Joon-kook, head of the (South Korean Foreign Ministry's)
bureau dealing with the North Korean nuclear issue, met with Frank Jannuzi Friday
to discuss the North Korean nuclear and other issues," the source said without
elaborating on what they discussed.
Hwang also met with Sung Kim, the U.S. special envoy for six-party talks on
ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions, but did not meet with Ri Gun, the source
said, noting Hwang was not invited to the seminar which both Ri, Jannuzi and Kim
attended for in-depth discussions on the North Korean nuclear and other bilateral
issues in the first direct contact between North Korean officials and Obama aides
since Tuesday's election.
Hwang visited New York for four days from Wednesday to meet with Kim, Jannuzi and
other U.S. officials to coordinate their positions on the Noth Korean nuclear
issue prior to and after Ri's meeting with Jannuzi and Kim at the seminar.
Another source said he had no idea of whether Jannuzi proposed a visit to
Pyongyang to discuss preparations for another higher-level visit to the North
Korean capital to pave the way for Obama's possible visit to Pyongyang.
"I think it's a bit early because President-elect Obama has not yet been
inaugurated," the source said. "After Obama's inauguration on Jan. 20, there
should be dialogue between the sides, although I am not sure the president-level
dialogue will actually take place."
Allegations are that Obama may soon send former Secretary of State Colin Powell
or another prominent figure as his special envoy to Pyongyang to prepare for a
possible visit there by himself to make a breakthrough in the on-and-off
multilateral nuclear talks that began in 2003.
While facing his Republican rival John McCain in a presidential debate last
month, Obama dismissed McCain's criticism that it is naive to meet with North
Korean leader Kim Jong-il without preconditions, saying he is not meeting the
North Korean leader in the first place and that any summit meeting should be
followed by due preparations.
The President-elect has said the Bush administration's reluctance to deal
directly with North Korea resulted in the North's detonation of its first nuclear
device in 2006 and the quadrupling of its nuclear weapons to eight by the end of
Bush's eight-year term.
Bush's predecessor Bill Clinton signed an agreement with North Korea in 2000 to
visit Pyongyang for talks on the North's nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.
Clinton, however, shelved his plan for a tour of the North, which would have been
the first of its kind since the end of the Korean War in 1953 where the two
fought fiercely, citing lack of time in his waning months.
Bush, upon inauguration in 2001, disregarded the agreement and spent six years
without directly engaging the North, which he described as part of an axis of
evil, until 2006 when the North conducted a nuclear detonation, shocking the
world as well as the U.S.
Since then, Bush hurredly engaged the North and produced an agreement for the
North's disablement of its nuclear facilities in return for energy aid, and took
Pyongyang from a U.S. terorism blacklist.
Hardliners, however, denounce Bush for accepting the incomplete agreement, which
allows access to the North's undeclared nuclear sites by international inspectors
only on "mutual consent."
Obama has evaluated Bush's engagement of the North for the past couple of years,
saying that proved engagement produces results.
North Korea's Ri, meanwhile, told reporters in New York over the past weekend
that Pyongyang was ready to handle any U.S. government, saying "We are ready to
respond to any U.S. administration whatever its North Korea policy may be. We've
handled many U.S. administrations, some seeking dialogue with us and others
trying to isolate and oppress us."
Participants in the NCAFP seminar said Ri and other North Korean attendees
expressed interest in "continuity" of dialogue between the North and U.S. after
Obama's inauguration.
Christopher Hill, the chief U.S. nuclear envoy, also met with Ri in New York
Thursday and said they had "substantive, serious" talks on "verification
protocol, energy assistance and disablement of the North's nuclear facilities."
Hill said China, host of the six-party talks, will soon announce the date for a
fresh round of six-party talks which he expected will be no later than the end of
this month.
