ID :
47993
Fri, 02/27/2009 - 19:26
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/47993
The shortlink copeid
(3rd LD) Bosworth to begin work on N. Korea's denuclearization with Asian tour:
WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 (Yonhap) -- The new U.S. point man on North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, will travel to South Korea, China, Japan and Russia next week to discuss resuming the six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday.
Clinton also told a news conference at the State Department that Sung Kim,
special envoy to the six-party talks, will head the U.S. delegation to the
multilateral talks in close cooperation with Bosworth.
Kim has been deputy to Christopher Hill, assistant secretary of state for East
Asia and the Pacific and concurrently head of the U.S. delegation to the
six-party talks, for years.
"Ambassador Sung Kim will be our special envoy for the six-party talks," Clinton
said. "He will closely work with Ambassador Bosworth and continue to lead our
day-to-day efforts, including heading our six-party delegation and maintaining
constant contact with our allies and our six-party partners."
On Bosworth's role, the secretary said that he will serve as a senior emissary
"who will lead our efforts to address the full range of concerns with respect to
North Korea, including its nuclear ambition and its proliferation of sensitive
weapons technology, as well as its human-rights and humanitarian problems."
She expressed hope that Bosworth "will facilitate high-level engagement with
North Korea and our other partners, and enhance our efforts to move forward in
the six-party process and to realize our goal of the complete and verifiable
denuclearization of the Korean peninsula in a peaceful manner."
Talks have abounded that Sung Kim may represent the U.S. in future rounds of the
six-party talks while Bosworth will try to engage higher-level North Korean
officials to upgrade the forum, which has been on and off since its inception in
2003.
It is not clear at the moment if Bosworth will be able to meet with superiors of
Kim Kye-gwan, North Korea's vice foreign minister who doubles as North Korea's
chief representative to the six-party talks, in consideration of the opaque North
Korean system.
Any establishment of a new dialogue channel between Bosworth and higher-level
North Korean officials may also undermine the six-party talks, shifting the focus
to bilateral talks between Pyongyang and Washington.
In a separate news conference at the National Press Building, Hill dismissed such
a concern, saying "From our point of view, I don't think we have any problem with
keeping the momentum in terms of having direct contacts with all the relevant
parties."
The outgoing chief nuclear envoy expected that North Koreans will receive
ambassador Bosworth "appropriately in the high level" when Bosworth visits
Pyongyang, saying "At some point, obviously, he would be going to North Korea."
Hill would not discuss if Bosworth will meet with North Korean officials during
next week's trip to Asia. "I'm not in a position to say that now, to say either
of those things now, except to say that, you know, the immediate task for him is
to go and talk to some of our partners, namely the Japanese, South Koreans,
Chinese. And we're looking forward, I think, as well, to meeting with the
Russians."
"I don't think any decisions have been made at this point on that," he said.
U.S. President Barack Obama has said he will continue the six-party talks, but
also engage North Korea more directly, including a possible summit with North
Korean leader Kim Jong-il, although he said preparations would be needed.
In Seoul last week, Clinton said that she had no immediate plans to meet with
North Korean leader Kim, which would be seen as a prelude to a possible summit.
Bosworth, who appeared at the news conference along with Clinton, said, "I'm
leaving with Ambassador Sung Kim early next week for the region. As the secretary
indicated, we will be having extensive conversations there. I look forward to
seeing old friends and meeting new friends."
Bosworth was U.S. ambassador to South Korea in the late 1990s and headed the
Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, an international consortium
building two light-water nuclear reactors for North Korea in return for the
North's freezing of its plutonium-producing reactor under a 1994 nuclear deal
with the U.S.
Bosworth stressed the need for closer cooperation with partners at the nuclear
talks.
"Obviously, this is an enterprise in which the United States has a major role,
but it is an enterprise which will not succeed unless we have the strong support
of all of our allies and friends in the region," he said.
He said he found the North Koreans "quite inclined toward continued dialogue with
the United States and a continued commitment with the people of the region in the
six-party talks ... in my judgment, they see the benefits to them of engagement
with the outside world and are prepared to move ahead."
Bosworth, who maintains his job as a dean at Tufts University, was speaking about
his impressions when he met with North Korean officials in Pyongyang early this
month as a member of a group of U.S. scholars.
North Korea has reportedly expressed willingness to attend a fresh round of the
six-party talks. That word came when Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei
visited Pyongyang last week to discuss the multilateral nuclear talks and
concerns over North Korea's imminent test-launch of a ballistic missile.
The latest round of the six-party talks was stalled in December as North Korea
refused to allow inspectors to take samples from its nuclear facilities to
effectively verify its current and past nuclear activities.
While in Seoul, Clinton urged North Korea to return to the multilateral talks
that involve the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia, and warned the
North against the missile test. North Korea insists that it is launching a
communications satellite, not a missile.
Clinton proposed that the U.S. normalize ties, provide massive economic aid, and
establish a permanent peace regime to replace the armistice that ended the
1950-53 Korean War in return for North Korea abandoning its nuclear weapons
programs.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
Clinton also told a news conference at the State Department that Sung Kim,
special envoy to the six-party talks, will head the U.S. delegation to the
multilateral talks in close cooperation with Bosworth.
Kim has been deputy to Christopher Hill, assistant secretary of state for East
Asia and the Pacific and concurrently head of the U.S. delegation to the
six-party talks, for years.
"Ambassador Sung Kim will be our special envoy for the six-party talks," Clinton
said. "He will closely work with Ambassador Bosworth and continue to lead our
day-to-day efforts, including heading our six-party delegation and maintaining
constant contact with our allies and our six-party partners."
On Bosworth's role, the secretary said that he will serve as a senior emissary
"who will lead our efforts to address the full range of concerns with respect to
North Korea, including its nuclear ambition and its proliferation of sensitive
weapons technology, as well as its human-rights and humanitarian problems."
She expressed hope that Bosworth "will facilitate high-level engagement with
North Korea and our other partners, and enhance our efforts to move forward in
the six-party process and to realize our goal of the complete and verifiable
denuclearization of the Korean peninsula in a peaceful manner."
Talks have abounded that Sung Kim may represent the U.S. in future rounds of the
six-party talks while Bosworth will try to engage higher-level North Korean
officials to upgrade the forum, which has been on and off since its inception in
2003.
It is not clear at the moment if Bosworth will be able to meet with superiors of
Kim Kye-gwan, North Korea's vice foreign minister who doubles as North Korea's
chief representative to the six-party talks, in consideration of the opaque North
Korean system.
Any establishment of a new dialogue channel between Bosworth and higher-level
North Korean officials may also undermine the six-party talks, shifting the focus
to bilateral talks between Pyongyang and Washington.
In a separate news conference at the National Press Building, Hill dismissed such
a concern, saying "From our point of view, I don't think we have any problem with
keeping the momentum in terms of having direct contacts with all the relevant
parties."
The outgoing chief nuclear envoy expected that North Koreans will receive
ambassador Bosworth "appropriately in the high level" when Bosworth visits
Pyongyang, saying "At some point, obviously, he would be going to North Korea."
Hill would not discuss if Bosworth will meet with North Korean officials during
next week's trip to Asia. "I'm not in a position to say that now, to say either
of those things now, except to say that, you know, the immediate task for him is
to go and talk to some of our partners, namely the Japanese, South Koreans,
Chinese. And we're looking forward, I think, as well, to meeting with the
Russians."
"I don't think any decisions have been made at this point on that," he said.
U.S. President Barack Obama has said he will continue the six-party talks, but
also engage North Korea more directly, including a possible summit with North
Korean leader Kim Jong-il, although he said preparations would be needed.
In Seoul last week, Clinton said that she had no immediate plans to meet with
North Korean leader Kim, which would be seen as a prelude to a possible summit.
Bosworth, who appeared at the news conference along with Clinton, said, "I'm
leaving with Ambassador Sung Kim early next week for the region. As the secretary
indicated, we will be having extensive conversations there. I look forward to
seeing old friends and meeting new friends."
Bosworth was U.S. ambassador to South Korea in the late 1990s and headed the
Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, an international consortium
building two light-water nuclear reactors for North Korea in return for the
North's freezing of its plutonium-producing reactor under a 1994 nuclear deal
with the U.S.
Bosworth stressed the need for closer cooperation with partners at the nuclear
talks.
"Obviously, this is an enterprise in which the United States has a major role,
but it is an enterprise which will not succeed unless we have the strong support
of all of our allies and friends in the region," he said.
He said he found the North Koreans "quite inclined toward continued dialogue with
the United States and a continued commitment with the people of the region in the
six-party talks ... in my judgment, they see the benefits to them of engagement
with the outside world and are prepared to move ahead."
Bosworth, who maintains his job as a dean at Tufts University, was speaking about
his impressions when he met with North Korean officials in Pyongyang early this
month as a member of a group of U.S. scholars.
North Korea has reportedly expressed willingness to attend a fresh round of the
six-party talks. That word came when Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei
visited Pyongyang last week to discuss the multilateral nuclear talks and
concerns over North Korea's imminent test-launch of a ballistic missile.
The latest round of the six-party talks was stalled in December as North Korea
refused to allow inspectors to take samples from its nuclear facilities to
effectively verify its current and past nuclear activities.
While in Seoul, Clinton urged North Korea to return to the multilateral talks
that involve the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia, and warned the
North against the missile test. North Korea insists that it is launching a
communications satellite, not a missile.
Clinton proposed that the U.S. normalize ties, provide massive economic aid, and
establish a permanent peace regime to replace the armistice that ended the
1950-53 Korean War in return for North Korea abandoning its nuclear weapons
programs.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
