(3rd LD) Bosworth says he will visit Pyongyang by year-end

(ATTN: CHANGES lead, headline; ADDS Bosworth's remarks at top)
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. point man on North Korea said Thursday he
will visit Pyongyang before the end of the year to persuade the communist country
to come back to the stalled six-party negotiations on ending its nuclear
ambitions.

"Nothing will happen before President Obama's Asian trip," said Stephen Bosworth,
special representative for North Korea policy, during a meeting with reporters at
a forum held at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Obama heads to Asia late next week.
Bosworth's comments were in response to questions on when he would visit the
North Korean capital.
He added that the U.S. government would make a decision "soon," suggesting that
he could visit Pyongyang "within a few weeks."
South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan also said in Seoul earlier in the day
that North Korea and the U.S. are expected to meet face-to-face late this year or
early next year to make a breakthrough on the six-party talks, deadlocked over
U.N. sanctions for Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests early this year.
After months of provocations, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in August extended
an invitation to Bosworth and recently agreed to return to the six-party talks
pending the outcome of bilateral talks with the U.S.
U.S. officials see the North's recent conciliatory overtures as the result of
international financial sanctions and an overall arms embargo, which they said
effectively cut off revenues from arms sales, the only source of hard currency
for the impoverished communist state.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said recently, "We are prepared to meet
bilaterally with North Korea within the framework of the six-party talks,"
warning the U.S. will not lift sanctions or normalize ties unless North Korea
takes irreversible steps toward denuclearization.
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly, meanwhile, told a daily news briefing that
"We are now deliberating on whether or not to accept the invitation on Ambassador
Bosworth's bilateral talks, which would lead to the resumption of six-party
talks. We have made no decision on about when and where."
Kelly was responding to reports that Sung Kim, U.S. special envoy for the
six-party talks, and Ri Gun, director general of the North American affairs
bureau of North Korea's foreign ministry, agreed on an imminent visit to
Pyongyang by Bosworth and at least another bilateral meeting before North Korea
comes back to the six-party forum.
Kim and Ri met in New York and San Diego on the sidelines of academic seminars
last week.
Speaking to a forum at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Bonnie
Glaser, senior fellow at CSIS, said, "I think that there is a willingness on the
part of the Obama administration to send Steve Bosworth, our special
representative, to Pyongyang. The word is there will be no more than two
meetings, and my expectation is that this will happen after President Obama's
visit to the region."
Her comments buttressed media speculation that Bosworth will be visiting
Pyongyang later this month, but she was skeptical of any outcome from the
imminent bilateral or six-party talks.
"But the North Koreans continue to avoid making any clear statements on whether
they will return to their commitments under the six-party talks," she said. "And
that includes the September 2005 agreement, the February 2007 agreement and their
commitments to, of course, denuclearization."
The six-party deal signed in 2005 calls for North Korea's nuclear dismantlement
in return for hefty economic aid, diplomatic recognition and the establishment of
a peace regime to replace an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
Kelly said he knew nothing about the allegation that the U.S. had agreed to have
at least two bilateral talks before resumption of the six-party dialogue.
"I don't know anything about any kind of stipulation for two talks before we have
multilateral talks," the spokesman said.
In a related move, South Korea's chief nuclear envoy, Wi Sung-lack, met with
Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and Bosworth to coordinate their North
Korea policy ahead of Obama's trip to Seoul later this month.
"The atmosphere of the meeting was very good, and I can confirm to you that South
Korea and the U.S. are on the same page on almost all issues," Wi told reporters
after the meeting. "We've always supported bilateral dialogue between North Korea
and the U.S. if they are helpful to the restarting of the six-party talks."
Wi would not elaborate on when Bosworth will fly to Pyongyang, saying, "I am not
aware of it. It's up to the U.S."
hdh@yna.co.kr
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