U.S. to seek N. Korea's denuclearization through 6-way talks: Stephens

By Hwang Doo-hyong

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 (Yonhap) -- The United States will seek North Korea's denuclearization through the six-party talks rather than bilateral negotiations, and continue sanctioning Pyongyang unless it returns to the multilateral table, a senior U.S. diplomat said Monday.

The U.S. ambassador to South Korea, Kathleen Stephens, made the point at a forum
here after winding up an annual weeklong speaking tour of several U.S. cities,
along with the South Korean ambassador to the U.S., Han duck-soo, to discuss
North Korea's nuclear ambitions, the U.S. alliance and other issues of mutual
concern.
"Six parties seem to be the right party given their obvious interest and we think
it's important that the international community speaks in one voice," Stephens
told the forum at the Korea Economic Institute, which has sponsored the
ambassadorial tour since 1992.
The envoy said that any bilateral dialogue with North Korea should be within the
six-party framework.
She was echoing remarks by Philip Crowley, assistant secretary of state for
public affairs, who said Friday, "We are prepared to enter into a bilateral
discussion with North Korea ... If a bilateral discussion can lead us back to a
six-party process, we think that is a legitimate means to a desirable end."
Crowley also said the White House will make a decision on whether to hold
bilateral talks with North Korea within the next couple of weeks.
Analysts said that Stephen Bosworth, special representative for North Korea
policy, may fly to Pyongyang next month in what Washington calls a trip to woo
the reluctant North back to the six-party talks. There are concerns that
Pyongyang might want to use the trip as the beginning of continued bilateral
negotiations.
North Korea declared it will boycott the six-party talks for good after being
sanctioned by the international community for its nuclear and missile tests
earlier this year. North Korea insists on dealing bilaterally with Washington for
a breakthrough.
Talk of a bilateral dialogue follows North Korea's announcement last week that it
has entered the final stages of enriching uranium, another path to making nuclear
weapons, aside from processing plutonium.
A 2005 agreement aimed at shutting down the North's plutonium-producing reactor.
The deal was signed by members of the six-party talks -- the two Koreas, the
U.S., China, Japan and Russia -- and promised North Korea a package of incentives
in return for dismantling its nuclear program. Included in that package were
guarantees of massive economic aid, normalization of ties with Washington and
Tokyo, and a permanent peace treaty to replace the fragile armistice that ended
the 1950-53 Korean War.
Stephens said Washington will continue sanctioning the North until it returns to
the multilateral negotiations and takes steps toward its denuclearization.
"U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874, on top of 1718, does give us some robust
tools to underscore to the DPRK the consequences," she said, adding that the U.S.
will not "look for talks for talks' sake." DPRK is North Korea's official name.
On the pending free trade agreement with South Korea, Stephens said she "could
not predict a timeframe" for the FTA's ratification, but expressed hope the two
sides will "come up with a way forward."
The Korea FTA has been awaiting congressional approval since its signing in June
2007, but the atmosphere has not been favorable due to the struggling U.S. auto
industry and restricted shipments of U.S. beef amid the worst recession in
decades.
U.S. President Barack Obama has expressed concerns about the auto and beef
issues, but recently agreed with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to make
efforts to "chart a way forward."
While meeting with Lee in June, Obama also said he will seek the appropriate
"political timing" for submission of the KORUS FTA to Congress "once we have
resolved some of the substantive issues."
Officials in both Korea and the U.S. have said they favor side agreements to
address thorny issues, rather than revising the text of the deal itself.
"President Obama was very clear in talking to President Lee that this is a very
important agreement and has a great potential economically and in terms of
strengthening our economic and overall presence in Asia and great potential
benefits for both countries," Stephens said. "U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk
has committed to a careful review of the agreement. We know their concerns,
particularly in the auto industry."
Turning to bilateral alliance issues, Stephens said the U.S. has been working
diligently to assure that South Korea retrieve wartime operational control of its
forces, or OPCON, as scheduled.
The sides have agreed to the transfer of the operational control of South Korean
troops back to Seoul in April 2012, although some conservatives called for a
delay in the transfer, citing a lack of military capability in South Korea to
deter possible aggression from nuclear-armed North Korea. Peacetime operational
control was transferred in 1992.
The ambassador also said that the sides have been working closely to expedite the
relocation of U.S. troops to Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, from Yongsan in central
Seoul, as soon as possible.
"We continue to work together to make that happen as quickly as possible," she
said. "Everything comes with the price tag and the recession impacted the
governments as well. But the joint effort is to try to move along."
hdh@yna.co.kr
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