ID :
72773
Wed, 07/29/2009 - 16:00
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/72773
The shortlink copeid
S. Korean nuclear envoy likely to meet Bosworth in Hawaii next week
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, July 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top nuclear negotiator Wi Sung-lac may meet key U.S. officials, including Washington's point man on North Korea, at an international seminar he will likely attend in Hawaii next week, a diplomatic source here said Wednesday.
Wi received an invitation from the East-West Center, an established education and
research organization focused on the Asia-Pacific region, to attend the
closed-door forum slated for Aug. 4-5, according to the source.
"He is positively considering attending it," the source said, requesting anonymity.
The "1.5-track" seminar will draw dozens of Asia-Pacific scholars and government
officials, including Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North
Korea policy, and Keith Luse, senior professional staff member with the U.S.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Frank Jannuzi, senior East Asia specialist
with the Foreign Relations Committee, James Kelly, former assistant secretary of
state who handled negotiations with North Korea, and Marcus Noland, senior
researcher at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, are also
expected to attend, according to organizers.
If Wi meets Bosworth there, the two are expected to discuss details of the
proposed 'comprehensive package' of incentives for North Korea should the
communist nation dismantle its nuclear program in a complete and irreversible
way, Wi's aides said.
Next week's forum in Hawaii follows signs that North Korea may shift course after
months of provocations. While rejecting six-way disarmament talks with South
Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan, North Korea's foreign ministry said
Monday that Pyongyang was open to a new "form" for discussions over the nuclear
issue, apparently referring to direct talks with Washington.
Earlier this week, meanwhile, Chinese customs authorities reportedly seized a
stash of vanadium, a strategic metal that can be used in the development of
missile and nuclear programs, supposedly headed to North Korea. The confiscation
is mandated under a U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution adopted after the
North's second nuclear test in May.
SEOUL, July 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top nuclear negotiator Wi Sung-lac may meet key U.S. officials, including Washington's point man on North Korea, at an international seminar he will likely attend in Hawaii next week, a diplomatic source here said Wednesday.
Wi received an invitation from the East-West Center, an established education and
research organization focused on the Asia-Pacific region, to attend the
closed-door forum slated for Aug. 4-5, according to the source.
"He is positively considering attending it," the source said, requesting anonymity.
The "1.5-track" seminar will draw dozens of Asia-Pacific scholars and government
officials, including Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North
Korea policy, and Keith Luse, senior professional staff member with the U.S.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Frank Jannuzi, senior East Asia specialist
with the Foreign Relations Committee, James Kelly, former assistant secretary of
state who handled negotiations with North Korea, and Marcus Noland, senior
researcher at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, are also
expected to attend, according to organizers.
If Wi meets Bosworth there, the two are expected to discuss details of the
proposed 'comprehensive package' of incentives for North Korea should the
communist nation dismantle its nuclear program in a complete and irreversible
way, Wi's aides said.
Next week's forum in Hawaii follows signs that North Korea may shift course after
months of provocations. While rejecting six-way disarmament talks with South
Korea, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan, North Korea's foreign ministry said
Monday that Pyongyang was open to a new "form" for discussions over the nuclear
issue, apparently referring to direct talks with Washington.
Earlier this week, meanwhile, Chinese customs authorities reportedly seized a
stash of vanadium, a strategic metal that can be used in the development of
missile and nuclear programs, supposedly headed to North Korea. The confiscation
is mandated under a U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution adopted after the
North's second nuclear test in May.
