U.S. has not made decision yet on bilateral talks with N. Korea: Official

(ATTN: ADDS State Dept. spokesman's remarks, more details, background throughout)
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 (Yonhap) -- The United States has yet to decide what to do
with Pyongyang's proposal for bilateral talks to address North Korea's nuclear
weapons programs, a senior U.S. official said Thursday.
"I think we're still in the process of making some decisions about what the
appropriate steps are, the next steps with Pyongyang," Kurt Campbell, assistant
secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, told reporters upon
arriving at Narita Airport in Japan earlier in the day, according to a transcript
released by the State Department.
Campbell flew to Tokyo to discuss North Korea and other policy issues with the
Yukio Hatoyama government, launched the previous day.
The remarks came amid reports that Stephen Bosworth, special representative for
North Korea policy, will visit Pyongyang in late October or early November to
persuade the North to return to the six-party talks, which Pyongyang has vowed to
boycott permanently due to international sanctions for its nuclear and missile
tests earlier this year.
Pyongyang insists on bilateral talks with the U.S. for a breakthrough.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il extended an invitation to Bosworth early last
month, when former U.S. President Bill Clinton visited Pyongyang to meet him over
the release of two American journalists held for illegal entry.
U.S. officials have said they will hold a bilateral dialogue only within the
six-party talks that also involve South Korea, China, Japan and Russia.
In a daily news briefing, Philip Crowley, assistant secretary of state for public
affairs, underscored that position.
"We're willing to engage in a bilateral discussion if that will help get North
Korea back to the process," Crowley said. "We have made no decisions to do that.
We'll continue our consultations with our regional partners and then make some
judgments in the very near future."
President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will discuss the
matter with their partners on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly meeting in
New York next week, he said.
"During the course of UNGA, for example, between the president and the secretary,
we'll have a chance to talk individually to all of these countries that share our
interest in a denuclearized North Korea," Crowley said. "And then once we get
through UNGA, I think we'll make some decisions."
Clinton hinted Tuesday she may send Bosworth to Pyongyang sooner or later.
"We are in the process of exploring that with our partners, but we are totally
unified," she said. "The United States is not acting in any way that is not part
of an agreed-upon process that has been worked out with the six-party members.
But they also recognize that one of the ways we perhaps can get North Korea to
engage is by explaining, directly and clearly, what the purpose is and what the
possible consequences and incentives could be."
Campbell repeated Clinton's points.
"I must say, however, though what is absolutely essential is to have solidarity
among all the players that there must be a nuclear free Korean Peninsula and that
any diplomatic process must be in a six-party context," he said. "So we're very
firm on that. We very much appreciate the guidance and advice from our partner in
Tokyo, and I look forward over the course of the next two days to the closest
possible discussions with our Japanese friends."
Crowley said that the Obama administration expects the center-left Japanese
government, which ended the nearly six decades of conservative rule in Japan, to
"continue to play an integral and constructive role in the six-party process."
The previous Japanese government had often served as a stumbling block in the
six-party talks by demanding the talks address North Korea's kidnapping of
Japanese citizens decades ago, although other parties want the issue to be dealt
with bilaterally and separately from the nuclear talks.
Hatoyama has called on better ties with North Korea as well as other Asian
neighbors, such as South Korea and China.
"Let's have the discussions first, and then we can figure out whether any
adaptations in our current thinking are necessary," Crowley said.
hdh@yna.co.kr
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