N. Korean delegation due in New York Saturday for talks with U.S.: sources

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 (Yonhap) -- A North Korean delegation will likely arrive in
New York Saturday to meet with U.S. officials on bilateral talks in Pyongyang for
a breakthrough on stalled six-party nuclear talks, sources here said Friday.

"A North Korean delegation will likely arrive in New York today or tomorrow," a
U.S. official said, asking anonymity.
The head of the delegation Ri Gun, director general of the North American affairs
bureau of North Korea's Foreign Ministry, is expected to meet with Sung Kim, U.S.
special envoy for six-party talks, in San Diego and New York on the sidelines of
seminars there.
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said that his department has not yet made a
decision on who will represent the U.S. side in the seminars.
"It hasn't been decided yet," he said. "As soon as it's determined who's going to
go to participate in these meetings, we'll let you know."
Asked if the North Korean delegation will meet with U.S. officials in New York
over the weekend, Kelly said, "I don't have anything to announce about that. But
I certainly wouldn't exclude it."
Another official, who asked not to be identified, said that he expected Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton will approve the plans by Sung Kim to travel to New York
and San Diego for talks with Ri, although more urgent work on Afghanistan and
Pakistan have prevented her from signing the plans for talks with the North.
Ri, North Korea's deputy chief to the six-nation nuclear talks, was expected to
depart for New York Friday from Beijing, where he led a North Korean delegation
earlier this week on his way to the United States.
Ri and Kim are expected to discuss preparations for a visit to Pyongyang by
Stephen Bosworth, special representative for North Korea policy, for a
breakthrough on the stalled nuclear negotiations.
North Korea extended the invitation to Bosworth in August when former U.S.
President Bill Clinton visited the North Korean capital to win the release of two
American journalists.
Ri has been invited to participate in the Northeast Asia Cooperative Dialogue
(NEACD) at the University of California, San Diego, and also in a seminar in New
York hosted by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy and the Korea
Society.
The event in San Diego, set for Oct. 26-27 and organized by the Institute on
Global Conflict and Cooperation, is intended to bring together academics as well
as government officials from all members of the six-way talks ending the North
Korean nuclear program, including the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and
Japan.
North Korea has boycotted the six-party talks due to U.N. sanctions for its
nuclear and missile tests, but North Korean leader Kim Jong-il expressed his
intention to come back to the six-party talks earlier this month when he met with
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Pyongyang.
Kim, however, linked the North's participation to the outcome of bilateral talks
with the U.S., which has yet to make a decision on whether to send Bosworth to
Pyongyang.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that the U.S. will not
lift sanctions on North Korea nor normalize ties unless Pyongyang takes
irreversible steps toward its denuclearization.
The top U.S. diplomat also said, "Within the framework of the six-party talks, we
are prepared to meet bilaterally with North Korea. But North Korea's return to
the negotiating table is not enough."
hdh@yna.co.kr
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