U.S. reaching out to N. Korea: Bosworth

(ATTN: RECASTS lead; UPDATES throughout with meeting with Russian envoy, backgrounds)
By Lee Chi-dong
INCHEON, March 7 (Yonhap) -- A high-level U.S. nuclear envoy held out an olive
branch to North Korea Saturday, offering a dialogue but warning the communist
country not to test-fire a long-range missile.
"We are reaching out (to North Korea) now. We want dialogue," Stephen Bosworth
told reporters upon arrival at Incheon International Airport outside Seoul,
adding that he has no plan to visit North Korea on this trip.
South Korea is Bosworth's final stop on his three-day Asian tour which also took
him to Japan and China. It is his first trip to the region since being appointed
President Barrack Obama's special representative for North Korea policy.
Later Saturday, Bosworth met with the top Russian nuclear envoy, Alexei
Borodavkin, who briefly visited Seoul to discuss North Korea and other mattes,
U.S. embassy officials said.
Regional tension has gone up significantly in recent weeks, with North Korea
moving to fire what it clams is a satellite, although U.S. and South Korean
officials believe it will likely be a long-range missile.
"I don't at this time have plans to travel to North Korea on this trip. I don't
really want to get into preconditions," Bosworth said when asked he still would
visit North Korea if the communist country test-fires a menacing missile.
"That is a complicated subject," he said. "We've indicated our position to them
on the question of a missile launch or satellite launch, or whatever they call
it. We think it's very ill-advised."
Bosworth said the North's latest threat against South Korean commercial jets
flying near its territory is "unhelpful."
"I don't think that warning is very helpful, and I think that everyone would be
much happier if they would drop that line of rhetoric," he said.
Citing a joint South Korea-U.S. military exercise scheduled to start on Monday
for a 12-day run, North Korea warned Thursday it can't ensure the safety of South
Korean passenger jets using its air space. That has prompted all South Korean
flights to take detours.
On the resumption of the stalled six-way talks on Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions,
he said it is premature to talk about the timing.
On Monday, Bosworth is scheduled to pay a courtesy call on President Lee
Myung-bak and meet South Korea's new nuclear negotiator, Wi Sung-lac.
The latest round of six-way talks also involving China and Japan ended in
deadlock last December over ways to inspect the North's nuclear facilities.
Sung Kim, special envoy for the six-way talks who has been promoted to lead the
U.S. delegation, told Yonhap News Agency that Bosworth will be "very closely
involved" in the Beijing-based negotiations.
"He will oversee all aspects of the six-way talks," Kim said, walking out of the
airport.
Bosworth is widely expected to pursue direct talks with North Korea at the level
higher than its current nuclear envoy Kim Kye-gwan.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)