N. Korea unresponsive on Bosworth visit: Seoul official

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, March 10 (Yonhap) -- The top U.S. envoy on North Korea left the door open
to visiting Pyongyang during his recent Asian tour, but authorities in the North
were unresponsive, a senior Seoul official said Tuesday.
Stephen Bosworth could have traveled to the North if it had "responded
positively" to the plan, said the official, speaking to reporters on customary
condition of anonymity in a background briefing.
"I think North Korea was aware of the U.S.'s intention but it gave no response,"
he said. The official refused to clarify whether Bosworth delivered his intention
to visit North Korea directly.
Bosworth returned to Washington earlier Tuesday after a four-day stay in Seoul,
during which he openly said he wants dialogue with the North. He also visited
Beijing and Tokyo.
The envoy was guarded about when or if he would initiate face-to-face talks with
North Korean officials, saying only that the Obama administration is in the
process of reviewing its North Korea policy.
The South Korean official said it is still too early to predict when the
six-nation talks on North Korea's atomic weapons program will resume. The
negotiations involve the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan.
"South Korea and the U.S. agree on the need for the early resumption of the talks
but there is no concrete plan for it yet," he said.
Emerging from his meeting on Monday with Wi Sung-lac, South Korea's chief nuclear
negotiator, Bosworth said he expects the Beijing-based talks to restart "in the
relatively near future."
lcd@yna.co.kr
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