U.S. team to speak more about N. Korea than listen: Seoul officials

SEOUL, June 1 (Yonhap) -- An inter-agency team of ranking U.S. officials, on a
rare tour of Northeast Asia, is expected to "talk" more about the Barack Obama
administration's stance on North Korea than "listen to" those of other regional
players, officials here said Monday.

The delegation, led by Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, arrived in
Tokyo on the weekend before visiting South Korea, China, and Russia. It also
includes Stephen Bosworth, special representative for North Korea policy,
Treasury Undersecretary Stuart Levy, Wallace Gregson, assistant secretary of
defense for Asian Pacific affairs, and Jeffrey Bader, senior director for Asian
Affairs at the National Security Council (NSC).
It is unusual for the U.S. to dispatch such a top-level delegation to the other
members of the six-way talks on the North Korean nuclear issue.
"It shows that the U.S. government is taking the situation seriously, trying to
map out countermeasures against North Korea," a South Korean foreign ministry
official said. "The U.S. officials will focus on consulting on how to deal with
North Korea's second nuclear test and other provocative steps."
South Korean and U.S. intelligence sources said that they detected signs of North
Korea's preparations for another long-range rocket launch. They said a train
carrying an intercontinental ballistic missile moved to the North's new
Dongchang-ri launch site along its northwestern coast.
As the North continues to worsen the situation, the official said, the U.S. seems
to be moving beyond its initial low-key approach toward the communist nation.
The U.S. team is expected to provide some details on the Obama administration's
strategy on North Korea, unlike during the previous trips by the U.S. delegation
headed by Bosworth, he added.
Bosworth has toured Northeast Asia twice since he was appointed Obama's point man
on Pyongyang early this year, mainly seeking to gather other countries'
opinions.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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