U.S. to wait for N.K. response to overtures : Seoul official

By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, May 10 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. administration of President Barack Obama does
not intend to send a high-level envoy to North Korea or take any other steps to
revive the six-way talks on the communist nation's nuclear program, a senior
South Korean government official said Sunday.
The U.S. believes that it has done enough to convey its willingness to engage in
both bilateral and multilateral talks with the defiant North and that it is time
for Pyongyang to give an answer, according to the official.
"There can be progress in dialogue only when a partner responds (to proposals for
talks) and shows interest," the official said in a background briefing for
reporters on the results of consultations with Stephen Bosworth, Obama's special
envoy on North Korea. Bosworth arrived in Seoul on Friday for a series of
meetings with top South Korean officials, including Foreign Minister Yu
Myung-hwan, Unification Minister Hyun In-taek and top nuclear negotiator Wi
Sung-lac.
As North Korea is aware of Washington's willingness for dialogue, the official
added, it would be "rational" to take a wait and see approach.
"If North Korea is interested in dialogue, it will respond," he said.
Bosworth, on a tour of Northeast Asia to discuss ways to resume the
denuclearization process, openly acknowledged that Washington is willing to talk
with Pyongyang. State Department spokesman Robert Wood also said in a press
briefing on Friday that the United States "is prepared to deal with North Korea
bilaterally in a way that reinforces the multilateral process."
The U.S. has also delivered its intention for talks with North Korea on several
occasions through its diplomatic mission at the United Nations, known as the "New
York" channel. But the North remains unresponsive.
The official said Bosworth and South Korean officials reviewed the current
situation but did not discuss any new specific initiative to persuade the North
to return to the bargaining table.
He said the current stalemate will continue unless Pyongyang changes its attitude.
North Korea has threatened to conduct a second nuclear test and pursue a uranium
enrichment program in anger over the U.N. Security Council's condemnation of its
April 5 rocket launch.
"With regard to the nuclear test issue, we have no information on any concrete
move," the official said.
South Korea and the U.S. made clear that the North will face "consequences" if it
presses ahead with additional provocative steps including another nuclear test.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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