(2nd LD) N. Korea demands direct talks with the U.S.

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with KCNA's English report, S. Korean foreign ministry's
position, other background)
By Lee Chi-dong

SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Monday appealed again for the United
States to engage in one-on-one nuclear talks with Pyongyang and warned that it
will "go its own way" if Washington remains unresponsive.
The North's foreign ministry said it is time for the U.S. to make a decision on
dialogue, as Pyongyang has already expressed its position on the precondition for
the resumption of the six-party talks, which also involve South Korea, China,
Russia, and Japan.
"As the DPRK (North Korea) was magnanimous enough to clarify the stand that it is
possible to hold multilateral talks including the six-party talks depending on
the talks with the U.S., now is the U.S. turn," an unidentified ministry
spokesperson told the country's KCNA news agency.
The North will "go its own way" if the U.S. is still not ready for talks, the
spokesperson added.
After months of provocations, highlighted by long-range rocket and nuclear tests,
the communist regime has sought to reach out to the outside world and invited
Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, to
visit Pyongyang.
The U.S. has been cautious, however, pressing the North to return to the
six-party talks. U.S. officials said if Bosworth travels to Pyongyang, it would
be aimed solely at restarting the multilateral nuclear talks, not for any
substantial negotiations on North Korea's denuclearization.
A rare meeting last week between Ri Gun, the North's deputy nuclear envoy, and
Sung Kim, the U.S. special envoy on the six-way talks, in New York and San Diego
raised media speculation that the two sides were fine-tuning conditions for
Bosworth's visit to North Korea. Some newspapers have said Bosworth is likely to
visit Pyongyang within this month.
But the North's foreign ministry played down the first official contact between
the two sides under the Obama administration.
"This contact was not a preliminary one for the DPRK-U.S. talks and, accordingly,
no discussion has been made there on any substantial issue concerning the
bilateral dialogue," the spokesman said, hinting that the North might have failed
to gain what it wanted in the working-level meeting. Both North Korea and the
U.S. have not released details of the outcome of the meeting.
Ri is scheduled to head back home on Monday after more than a week in the U.S.,
during which he attended academic forums in New York and San Diego.
The North also reiterated its negative view on the six-party talks.
"The past six year-long course of the six-party talks proved that no matter how
frequently the six parties meet, it is nothing but an armchair argument unless
the hostile relations between the DPRK and the U.S. are settled and confidence is
built between them," the spokesman said, adding the Sept. 19, 2005 agreement has
become a "dead document."
Under the six-way deal of 2005, the North agreed to abandon its nuclear program
in return for political and economic reward from its dialogue partners.
South Korea's foreign ministry reaffirmed that it respects the Sept. 19 agreement
and that any North Korea-U.S. dialogue should be held for the sole purpose of
facilitating the six-way talks.
"Substantial negotiations on the North Korean nuclear issue should be handled at
the six-way talks," ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said at a press briefing.
Meanwhile, South Korea's top nuclear envoy, Wi Sung-lac, is considering visiting
Washington later this week to meet senior U.S. officials including Deputy
Secretary of State James Steinberg and Bosworth, according to diplomatic
sources.
"The two sides are in consultations to schedule his trip. South Korea has been
debriefed through diplomatic channels on the results of the meeting between Ri
Gun and Sung Kim," one source said. Wi wants to find out more details by having
face-to-face meetings with U.S. officials, added the source.
Officials here expect Bosworth to visit Pyongyang within this month, probably
after President Barack Obama's Asia tour to begin next week. They say the timing
of his trip is a matter of a political decision and the U.S. is unlikely to
further delay it.
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)