Clinton not to meet N. Korean officials in New York: State Dept.

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will not
meet with North Korean officials in New York on the sidelines of the opening of
the U.N. General Assembly this week, the State Department said Monday.

"There are no plans to meet with any officials from North Korea up in New York,"
spokesman Ian Kelly said in a daily news briefing, adding "There's been no
decision on whether or not Ambassador Bosworth will accept the invitation."
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il extended the invitation to Bosworth, special
representative for North Korea policy, when former U.S. President Bill Clinton
visited Pyongyang early last month to win the release of two American journalists
held for illegal entry.
U.S. officials have said a decision on Bosworth's possible trip to Pyongyang will
be made after U.S. President Barack Obama and Clinton meet in New York with their
counterparts from the other parties to the six-party talks on ending the North's
denuclearization.
Kelly said that Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Sung Kim, special envoy for the
six-party talks, will meet with their counterparts from the other nations in the
talks, other than North Korea, in New York this week.
In an apparent policy shift, Kim Jong-il said Friday that North Korea will
welcome both bilateral and multilateral talks to resolve the standoff over its
nuclear programs.
The reclusive North Korean leader made the remarks when he met with a senior
Chinese official, Dai Bingguo. North Korea has for months threatened to abandon
the six-party talks permanently due to international sanctions for its nuclear
and missile tests.
Hardliners believe the sanctions persuaded Kim to make conciliatory overtures
after months of provocations.
Analysts say Obama has not yet made a decision on a possible trip to Pyongyang by
Bosworth due to conflicting opinions within his administration, with some
supporting active engagement and others calling for more time to press the North
harder.
Officials in Washington have said the North Korean nuclear issue should be
resolved through the six-party talks, involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China,
Japan and Russia, but recently softened its stance by saying it can have
bilateral talks as part of the six-way forum.
Some analysts believe Bosworth may visit Pyongyang in late October or early
November after Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao attends a ceremony in Pyongyang
in early October to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of
diplomatic ties between the two communist allies.
Kim Jong-il is expected to meet with Wen to give his opinion on the six-party
talks, which China has been hosting since their inception in 2003.
In a response to Kim Jong-il's remarks, Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of
state for East Asia and Pacific affairs, said Friday, "It sounds as if North
Korea is underscoring that it will accept those conditions."
Campbell was talking about the U.S. position that any bilateral contact between
the U.S. and North Korea should be held only within the framework of six-party
talks.
U.S. officials have for months discussed a possible collapse of the North Korean
regime amid rumors of Kim's health failure after he apparently suffered a stroke
and began preparing to transfer power to his third and youngest son, Jong-un.
Kim Jong-il's three-hour meeting with former President Clinton in Pyongyang early
last month, however, quelled suspicions about the regime's viability.
Obama said Sunday that Kim is healthy and in firm control of state affairs.
"I think President Clinton's assessment was that (Kim Jong-il is) pretty healthy
and in control," Obama said in an interview with CNN. "There's no doubt that this
is somebody who, you know, I think for a while people thought was slipping away.
He's reasserted himself. It does appear ... He was more concerned about
succession when he was sick, maybe less so now that he's well."
hdh@yna.co.kr
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