Diplomatic efforts on N. Korea gain pace, refreshed by new envoys

SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) -- After a hiatus of several months, regional powers are moving to get North Korea back to nuclear disarmament talks amid its reported preparations for a long-range missile launch.

The new U.S. point man on North Korea Stephen Bosworth will travel to South
Korea, Japan, China and Russia next week to coordinate a strategy on Pyongyang,
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced in Washington. All the nations are
members of the Beijing-based six-way talks.
A senior department official later said Bosworth may visit Pyongyang "at an early
date."
South Korean government officials on Friday confirmed Bosworth's plan to make a
trip here but said that his arrival date has not been set yet.
Bosworth, former U.S. ambassador to Seoul, wants to meet Foreign Minister Yu
Myung-hwan but Yu will be out of the country throughout next week. they said. Yu
will accompany President Lee Myung-bak on a tour of Indonesia, Australia, and New
Zealand from March 2-8.
"We are still in consultation with the U.S. to fix a date for Ambassador
Bosworth's trip here," a foreign ministry official said.
On his trip to Seoul, former U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill usually had
face-to-face consultations with his South Korean counterpart. But Bosworth is
seeking a higher-level meeting, apparently due to his status as the top U.S.
official in charge of the overall North Korea policy. Sung Kim, special envoy for
the six-way talks, will serve as his assistant by leading the U.S. delegation to
the negotiations.
The official said Bosworth's regional trip will herald a full-fledged process to
restart the nuclear talks whose latest round in December ended in a stalemate
over how to inspect Pyongyang's nuclear sites.
North Korea has since ratcheted up its verbal threats against South Korea's
conservative government and announced it is briskly preparing to fire a rocket
carrying what it says is a communication satellite. Neighbors suspect it will be
a long-range ballistic missile.
China, the closest ally of North Korea and host of the six-way talks, took the
first initiative to ease tensions by sending its top nuclear envoy Wu Dawei to
Pyongyang last week, according to diplomatic sources.
Wu's North Korean counterpart Kim Kye-gwan reportedly said his government will
return to the negotiating table, although Pyongyang's response to calls to stop
its missile activity is still unknown.
Making a trip to Atalanta to attend an academic seminar on Thursday, the North's
deputy chief of mission to the United Nations in New York, Kim Myong-kil, told
reporters that his country will "go ahead with a satellite launch as scheduled."
"It is only a matter of time," he said, indicating that Wu's efforts on the
missile launch might have been futile.
Meanwhile, South Korea will soon be replacing its top nuclear envoy Kim Sook. Kim
was named Friday to be deputy head of the state intelligence agency after 10
months of service as the nuclear negotiator. He will oversee international
intelligence in his new post.
With regard to choosing Kim, the presidential office only said that he is
qualified for the vice-minister-level post at the National Intelligence Service.
Kim's successor is expected to be announced this weekend. Wi Sung-lac, special
assistant to Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan, is almost certain to become a new
envoy, a foreign ministry source said.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)