(2nd LD) U.S. envoy in S. Korea after N. Korea`s fresh warnings

(ATTN: UPDATES with N. Korea's statement, Bosworth's comments; CHANGES headline)
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, May 8 (Yonhap) -- Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North
Korea policy, began a trip here Friday for talks on how to deal with the
nuclear-armed communist nation's sabre-rattling, a few hours after Pyongyang
issued a new statement critical of the Obama administration.
"I am not going to react to every statement coming out of North Korea. I am here
to have talks with the South Korean government," Bosworth told reporters upon
arriving at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, following a two-day
trip to Beijing, where he met Chinese officials for discussions on the North.
He was responding to a question about Pyongyang's statement that it would not
have talks with the U.S. as there has been no policy change between the Obama
government and its predecessor.
"The study of the policy pursued by the Obama administration for the past 100
days since its emergence made it clear that the U.S. hostile policy toward the
DPRK remains unchanged," an unnamed ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by
the country's official news agency. The spokesman said the North will bolster
its nuclear arsenal as it announced earlier.
The North's position was understood to be an answer to Bosworth's overtures he
made in Beijing, the first stop in his nine-day tour of Northeast Asia and
Russia.
"The United States reiterates its desire to engage both multilaterally and
bilaterally with North Korea and we believe very strongly that the solution to
the tensions and problems of the area now lies best in dialogue and negotiation,"
he said after meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Vice Foreign
Minister Wu Dawei on Thursday night. Wu chairs the six-way talks on the North
Korean nuclear program. The talks also involve South Korea, Russia and Japan.
Bosworth refused to give more comments despite a barrage of questions from
reporters at the South Korean airport, only reiterating that he will be able to
provide details after his meetings with South Korean officials.
He was to meet with South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan, Unification
Minister Hyun In-taek, and Seoul's top nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac later in the
day. It is Bosworth's first trip to the region since the North fired a long-range
rocket on April 5, prompting the U.N. Security Council to issue a document
condemning it.
Skepticism is running high over the future of the often-troubled disarmament
talks as Pyongyang said it was quitting the negotiations. The North said it has
resumed activity at its Yongbyon reactor to produce weapons-grade plutonium. The
facility was being disabled under a landmark six-party deal.
North Korea also threatened to conduct a second nuclear test and build a
light-water reactor, which requires developing a uranium enrichment program.
South Korean officials said their consultations with Bosworth will focus on
discussing how to convince the North to return to the negotiating table.
"His trip is the first opportunity since the rocket launch for face-to-face
consultations among related nations on the current situation and to exchange
opinions on a strategy to deal with it," a senior South Korean foreign ministry
official said, asking not to be named.
He forecast that no immediate breakthrough is expected in the impasse, saying the
North seems to be trying to abandon the six-way talks.
The official emphasized, however, that it is premature to talk about an
alternative to the six-year-old format.
"We are in a difficult phase. But it is time to concentrate on reviving the
six-way talks rather than thinking about an alternative," he said.
In Washington, meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for patience
in dealing with North Korea.
"We have to try to get the North Koreans back into the Six-Party Talk framework
and continue the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. We may have to show
some patience before that is achieved. But we agree on the goal that we are
aiming for," she said Thursday in a joint press briefing with her Russian
counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)