U.S. still mulling Bosworth's Pyongyang trip: State Dept.

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 (Yonhap) -- The United States is still considering sending a
key diplomat to North Korea for a breakthrough in the stalled six-party talks on
ending the North's nuclear weapons programs, the State Department said Monday.

Media reports said Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North Korea
policy, will visit Pyongyang late this month to discuss resumption of the nuclear
negotiations.
"We know that there is an invitation to Ambassador Bosworth to come to North
Korea," spokesman Ian Kelly said. "We are still considering that invitation. Once
a decision has been made, we will let you know."
Another State Department official, asking anonymity, said a visit to Pyongyang by
Bosworth remains a possibility. "Sure there is a chance, although we still
haven't decided on it."
Another diplomatic source said that chances are high that Bosworth will fly to
the North Korean capital before Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, noting that U.S.
President Barack Obama would be winding up his tour of Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo
in mid-November to discuss North Korea and other issues.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il extended the invitation to Bosworth, the U.S.
point man on North Korea, in August after months of provocations, and expressed
his willingness to come back to the six-party talks when he met with Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao last month in Pyongyang.
However, the North Korean leader said bilateral talks with the U.S. should
precede any resumption of the multiparty forum.
North Korea's foreign ministry reiterated Kim's position earlier in the day,
saying Pyongyang was ready to rejoin the six-party talks depending on the outcome
of one-on-one talks with the U.S. and that it is time for the U.S. to make a
decision.
Pyongyang has boycotted the six-party talks over U.N. sanctions for the North's
nuclear and missile tests earlier this year.
Kelly, for his part, said, "We are willing to sit down with North Korea ... as
long as it is understood that this meeting is done in complete consultations with
our partners, if it is done in the context of the six-party talks. We haven't
changed that policy at all. We haven't made a final decision whether or not
Ambassador Bosworth will go to North Korea."
The spokesman described as "very useful" the discussions Sung Kim, special envoy
for the six-party talks, had with Ri Gun, director general of the North American
bureau of the North's foreign ministry, in New York and San Diego last week on
the margins of academic seminars.
The discussions "were designed to move us closer to our immediate goal of
resumption of the six-party talks," he said, adding, "Ambassador Kim did talk to
Ambassador Ri Gun about resuming the six-party talks."
It is not clear whether a visit by Bosworth to Pyongyang would lead to a
resumption of six-party talks and ensuing dismantlement of the North's nuclear
weapons. While Washington is focusing on the North's nuclear disarmament,
Pyongyang is seeking an end to what it calls a hostile U.S. attitude.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently said, "We are prepared to meet
bilaterally with North Korea within the framework of the six-party talks," but
she added the U.S. will not lift sanctions on North Korea or normalize ties
unless Pyongyang takes irreversible steps toward denuclearization.
hdh@yna.co.kr
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