U.S.-N.K direct talks expected in late October at earliest: source

SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- The U.S.-North Korea bilateral talks, aimed at
bringing the communist country back to the multilateral nuclear negotiations,
could be held as early as late October, a senior diplomatic source said
Wednesday, adding the two countries were negotiating the time frame.
The source said Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. special special representative on
North Korea policy, will most likely visit Pyongyang, accepting the invitation
from the North. The U.S. is expecting Bosworth to talk with the North's Vice
Foreign Minister Kang Sok-ju, he said.
The U.S. announced last week that it will soon undertake bilateral negotiations
with North Korea to persuade it to return to the suspended six-party talks which
Pyongyang boycotted, claiming the forum was being used to infringe upon its
sovereign right to develop nuclear and space technology.
Pyongyang had demanded one-on-one dealings with Washington in seeking a
breakthrough, while Washington insisted on sticking to the six-party process that
also involves South Korea, China, Japan and Russia.
"We expect the talks to happen between late October and early November," the
source said, requesting to be unnamed.
The source said he was aware that the two countries were communicating through
diplomatic channels in New York to hammer out the details and the formalities of
the pending meeting.
Not having normalized relations, Washington and Pyongyang commonly use their
missions to the United Nations as a contact point.
"The U.S. is currently conducting an internal review on ways to bring back the
North to the six-party talks without losing face while avoiding direct nuclear
negotiations," the source said.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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