U.S. envoy arrives in S. Korea for discussions on N.K. denuclearization

By Tony Chang
YEONGJONG ISLAND, South Korea, Sept. 4 (Yonhap) -- Stephen Bosworth, the U.S.
special envoy on North Korea, arrived in Seoul on Friday to discuss ways to bring
Pyongyang back to talks on its denuclearization.
"I have no comment now. I'll comment on Sunday," Bosworth said upon arriving at
an airport west of Seoul, sidestepping questions from a crowd of reporters.
Bosworth heads to Tokyo on Sunday, the final stop of his three-nation tour that
began in Beijing.
Just hours before his arrival, North Korea announced it has nearly completed
uranium enrichment, overturning weeks of conciliatory gestures from Pyongyang.
Analysts see the provocative behavior as a sign of the North's growing impatience
with the Obama administration's reluctance to hold bilateral talks.
The six-way talks -- involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia
-- have been stalled since Pyongyang boycotted them after international sanctions
were imposed on it for its recent nuclear and missile tests.
Sung Kim, the top U.S. delegate to the talks accompanying Bosworth on the trip,
indicated the consultations will focus on reviving the multilateral forum.
"We talk about the same thing (luring Pyongyang back to the six-party talks) with
everybody," Kim said.
Bosworth will meet with Wi Sung-lac, the South Korean envoy to the six-nation
talks, Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan, and other senior officials handling the
North Korean issue on Saturday, according to the foreign ministry.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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