(LEAD) U.S. urges N. Korea to return to 6-way talks to discuss peace regime: White

(ATTN: ADDS State Dept. spokesman's remarks, other details throughout)
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Jan. 11 (Yonhap) -- The United States Monday urged North Korea to
return to the six-party talks in order to discuss the establishment of a peace
regime to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War.

"The North Koreans are well aware of what they need to do, to come back to
six-party talks, in dealing with this issue," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs
said. "And that is, give up the idea of a nuclear state on the peninsula, just as
it agreed to do several years ago. If they're willing to live up to those
obligations, then we will make progress in those talks."
Gibbs was responding to North Korea's statement earlier in the day calling for a
peace treaty on the Korean Peninsula and the removal of U.N. sanctions before it
returns to the six-party nuclear talks. Pyongyang has boycotted the negotiations
due to international sanctions imposed after its nuclear and missile tests early
last year.
"But this isn't a step for us to take," Gibbs said. "This is a step for the North
Koreans to take in living up to those obligations."
At issue is which comes first, denuclearization or a peace regime.
The six-party nuclear deal signed in 2005 calls for the North's nuclear
dismantlement in return for massive economic aid, diplomatic recognition and
establishment of a peace regime in lieu of the armistice that left the Korean
Peninsula technically still at war.
This is the second major statement by the North in less than two weeks. Pyongyang
said in its New Year's message that it is ready to establish a peace regime and
achieve denuclearization through dialogue and negotiations.
In the first high-level bilateral contact since U.S. President Obama's
inauguration last January, Stephen Bosworth, special representative for North
Korea policy, visited Pyongyang early last month, but failed to get the North's
commitment to reopen the talks, although he said Pyongyang has "indicated they
would like to resume the six-party process."
Philip Crowley, assistant secretary of state for public affairs, also called on
the North to come back to the six-party talks before discussing a peace treaty or
any other issues.
"If it comes back to the six-party process, if it makes affirmative steps towards
denuclearization, then a wide range of other opportunities open up," Crowley
said. "But the first -- the key here is that North Korea has to come back to us,
say, 'Yes,' come back to the six-party process, start working on its obligations
under the joint communique, joint statement. And then we are perfectly willing to
have other kinds of discussions."
Upon returning from his trip to Pyongyang last month, Bosworth said the U.S. will
not negotiate the peace treaty until resumption of the multilateral nuclear
talks.
"We're not going to negotiate on any of these issues until we're back at the
table in the six-party framework," he said. "Obviously, only four of the
countries would be directly involved in a peace treaty negotiation, and that's
well understood by all parties."
The U.S. fought alongside South Korea in the 1950-53 Korean War against North
Korea, reinforced by its Chinese communist ally.
About 28,500 American troops remain in South Korea as a legacy of the war, which
ended in an armistice to leave the Koreas still at war, and North Korea hopes a
peace treaty will eventually lead to the pullout of U.S. troops.
Crowley did not preclude the possibility of another high-level, face-to-face
contact with North Korea to facilitate reopening the talks.
"We'd like to see a six-party meeting take place," he said, but added, "I won't
predict at this point -- there are a number of ways of getting that done."
Crowley, meanwhile, echoed Robert King, special envoy for North Korean human
rights issues, who said in Seoul earlier in the day that the U.S. will raise the
human rights record in North Korea in future six-party talks.
"This is not an either/or situation," he said. "We want to see denuclearization
in North Korea. But we also want to see North Korea improve its dreadful human
rights record. And that is expressly the reason why we have an envoy."
"To the extent that, at some point in time, once North Korea's taken steps that
we've outlined, if there is a serious discussion about normalization with the
United States, we would expect that human rights will continue to be part of that
discussion," he said.
hdh@yna.co.kr
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