U.S. envoy in N. Korea for crucial talks on denuclearization

(ATTN: UPDATES with Choson Sinbo's article in last 3 paras)
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, Dec. 8 (Yonhap) -- The top U.S. envoy to North Korea started his
high-stakes trip to Pyongyang Tuesday, which analysts said will set the tone for
relations between the two sides under the administration of President Barack
Obama, who dreams of a nuclear-free world and seeks to engage America's
traditional adversaries.

"Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, and his
party arrived here by air on Tuesday," the Korean Central News Agency and the
Korean Central Broadcasting Station reported in their respective one-sentence
dispatches.
The broadcaster, monitored by Yonhap News Agency in Seoul, cut off music abruptly
to announce Bosworth's arrival. But no details were given on who greeted the
delegation, which could provide a clue to the North's stance on his trip. The
North's press have not released any follow-up report.
Later in the day, however, a South Korean diplomatic source said the U.S. envoy
was welcomed at the airport by Jung Tae-yang, vice director general of the
American bureau of the North Korean Foreign Ministry.
Earlier in the day, the inter-agency team led by Bosworth left Osan Air Base
south of Seoul on a U.S. military plane, leading an inter-agency delegation that
also includes Sung Kim, special envoy on the dormant six-party nuclear talks,
three other government officials, a note-taker and a translator, according to
diplomatic sources here.
No media have been allowed to accompany the delegation, and foreign news agencies
such as China's Xinhua and Russia's Itar-Tass that have offices in the North have
limited access to information there.
That leaves the outside world dependent on Pyongyang's state-run news outlets to
report on Bosworth's activity in the reclusive communist nation until his
scheduled return to Seoul on Thursday. U.S. officials have not ruled out the
possibility that he will extend his trip.
The veteran diplomat's mission in what would be the first formal dialogue between
the two sides since Obama took office in January is straightforward: probe the
North's willingness to rejoin the six-party nuclear talks and confirm its
commitment to the Sept. 19, 2005 Joint Statement agreed upon at the Beijing-based
forum. The document calls for the North to abandon its nuclear program in
exchange for political and economic incentives.
The prospects for his trip's success are less clear. The U.S. has stressed that
Bosworth will not offer any new inducements for North Korea to lure it back to
the multilateral negotiations. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on various
occasions that Washington is prepared to provide a comprehensive package of
incentives, including security guarantees, only if the North dismantles its
nuclear program "verifiably and irreversibly."
Clinton said Monday to reporters in Washington, "We obviously hope that
Ambassador Bosworth's visit is successful in persuading the North Koreans to
return to the six-party talks and work toward the denuclearization of the Korean
Peninsula and a new set of relationships with us and our partners."
Bosworth's dialogue partner remains unconfirmed. He is widely expected to sit
down with Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok-ju, who is known as Pyongyang's main
diplomatic policymaker. Kang negotiated the 1994 Agreed Framework with the U.S.
to freeze the North's nuclear facilities in return for a shipment of heavy oil
and two light-water reactors.
Bosworth and Kang met in Pyongyang in 1996 for the implementation of the deal,
which was scrapped in 2002 when then Assistant U.S. Secretary of State James
Kelly visited the North and was told about its uranium enrichment ambitions.
It is also unclear whether Bosworth will meet Kim Jong-il, the North's leader,
who rarely receives foreign guests. Media have speculated Bosworth may be
carrying a letter from Obama for Kim.
When he first toured Asia in March after being appointed as U.S. special
representative for North Korea, Bosworth reportedly carried such a letter
reaffirming the U.S. position on improving bilateral relations. Bosworth had
wanted to visit Pyongyang, but the North did not invite him, apparently
preoccupied with preparations for its long-range rocket launch.
"The situation has changed as North Korea conducted a nuclear test in May," a
South Korean foreign ministry official said.
Experts said Bosworth faces a daunting task.
It will be a "difficult conversation," as North Korea wants to be recognized as a
nuclear power as India and Pakistan are, Scott Snyder, director of the Centre for
US-North Korea Policy at the Asia Foundation, said.
"North Korean foreign ministry officials seem to have moved on from nuclear
talks, although they make it clear their outrage at United Nations condemnation
of their April multi-stage rocket launch as an affront to their sovereignty," he
said in e-mailed comments after his trip to Pyongyang last month.
Choi Kang, researcher at South Korea's state-funded Institute of Foreign Affairs
and Security, said Pyongyang would not make "big concessions" ahead of the
world's nuclear summit and the review of the Non-Proliferation Treaty session
next spring.
On the other hand, Lee Sang-hyun, an analyst at the private Sejong Institute in
Seoul, said, "The U.S may seek a compromise with North Korea for much-needed
diplomatic accomplishments on the nuclear front before the events and the
mid-term election."
Meanwhile, the Choson Sinbo, a Japan-based pro-Pyongyang newspaper, said it is
North Korea's position that the hostile relationship between itself and the U.S.
should be changed into a peaceful one through bilateral talks.
"The (upcoming) talks draw attention at home and abroad as they make it possible
to predict developments of the situation (surrounding the Korean Peninsula) down
the road," the paper said in its report on Bosworth's arrival in Pyongyang.
The paper also hinted at the possibility of the communist country going back to
the six-party nuclear dialogue if the talks in Pyongyang are successful by
saying, "The North's efforts to realize the denucleraization of the Korean
Peninsula are unchanged."
lcd@yna.co.kr
(END)