ID :
88736
Mon, 11/09/2009 - 20:19
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/88736
The shortlink copeid
U.S., N.K. may hold talks after Thanksgiving holiday: source
SEOUL, Nov. 9 (Yonhap) -- The United States and North Korea will likely hold
bilateral dialogue to make a breakthrough in the stalled six-party
denuclearization talks in early December after the American Thanksgiving holiday,
a diplomatic official here said Monday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il extended an invitation to Stephen 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 on ending the
North's nuclear programs when he met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao last month
in Pyongyang.
"The bilateral meeting appears most likely to be held after the Thanksgiving
holiday, which falls on Nov. 25-29," said a senior Seoul government official,
requesting to be unnamed.
The U.S. State Department in Washington was reportedly expected to make either an
official or unofficial announcement of the date of the bilateral talks late
Monday or early Tuesday (local time) at the earliest.
Bosworth said last week that he expects the U.S. government will make a decision
on his trip to Pyongyang "soon", possibly "within a few weeks."
Washington was reportedly eyeing holding the bilateral dialogue soon after
President Barack Obama's scheduled Asian tour and before the Thanksgiving holiday
but readjusted the date after a group of private U.S. experts on North Korea
booked a visit to Pyongyang from Nov. 21-24.
Jack Pritchard, president of the Korea Economic Institute (KEI), and Scott
Snyder, director of the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy at the Asia Foundation, are
expected to visit North Korea on those dates.
Another government official, requesting to be unnamed, agreed on the need to
reschedule the meeting, as the U.S. State Department "had to review North Korea's
reaction towards the South Korea-U.S. summit" set to be held on Nov. 19.
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
has effectively cut off revenue from arms sales, the main source of hard
currency for the impoverished communist state.
odissy@yna.co.kr
(END)
bilateral dialogue to make a breakthrough in the stalled six-party
denuclearization talks in early December after the American Thanksgiving holiday,
a diplomatic official here said Monday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il extended an invitation to Stephen 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 on ending the
North's nuclear programs when he met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao last month
in Pyongyang.
"The bilateral meeting appears most likely to be held after the Thanksgiving
holiday, which falls on Nov. 25-29," said a senior Seoul government official,
requesting to be unnamed.
The U.S. State Department in Washington was reportedly expected to make either an
official or unofficial announcement of the date of the bilateral talks late
Monday or early Tuesday (local time) at the earliest.
Bosworth said last week that he expects the U.S. government will make a decision
on his trip to Pyongyang "soon", possibly "within a few weeks."
Washington was reportedly eyeing holding the bilateral dialogue soon after
President Barack Obama's scheduled Asian tour and before the Thanksgiving holiday
but readjusted the date after a group of private U.S. experts on North Korea
booked a visit to Pyongyang from Nov. 21-24.
Jack Pritchard, president of the Korea Economic Institute (KEI), and Scott
Snyder, director of the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy at the Asia Foundation, are
expected to visit North Korea on those dates.
Another government official, requesting to be unnamed, agreed on the need to
reschedule the meeting, as the U.S. State Department "had to review North Korea's
reaction towards the South Korea-U.S. summit" set to be held on Nov. 19.
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
has effectively cut off revenue from arms sales, the main source of hard
currency for the impoverished communist state.
odissy@yna.co.kr
(END)
