FM Yoon to Meet Powell on NK Nuke Issue
2003-03-26
Foreign Affairs-Trade Minister Yoon Young-kwan will leave for the United States on Wednesday (March 26) to discuss ways to resolve the standoff over the North Korean nuclear program with U.S. Secretary of States Colin Powell.
The Yoon-Powell meeting, scheduled for March 28, will be the first of its kind since the inauguration of President Roh Moo-hyun on Feb. 25, and is regarded as crucial as it is expected to determine the fate of the North Korean nuclear issue and future relations between the two allies.
Other major agendas for the meeting will include the controversial relocation of U.S. forces stationed here and the planned visit of President Roh to the United States, tentatively slated for sometime in early May.
Yoon and Powell will also focus on cooperation in the U.S.-led war on Iraq, a Foreign Affairs-Trade Ministry official said.
Yoon, who will be in the United States until Saturday, is set to have a series of meetings with ranking U.S. officials, including National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, to seek their support for President Roh's “policy of peace and prosperity” toward North Korea.
The official said Yoon and Powell will coordinate ways to induce North Korea to the U.S.-led multilateral dialogue setting.
Seoul has been urging the North to accept the U.S. initiative as a means for the reclusive nation to have direct talks with the U.S. within the multilateral format.
“After coming to the multinational table, the North will be able to talk directly to the U.S. to obtain what it wants, including economic assistance and guarantee of its survival,” the official said.
Another official indicated that Seoul would submit a device for realizing dialogue between the U.S. and the North, by saying the ministry has “been working out means that will reflect the stances of related parties.”
Seoul is also maintaining that the debate on the realignment of the U.S. troops should be postponed until after the North Korean nuclear issue has settled down.
After wrapping up his visit to the U.S., Yoon will visit Tokyo to hold talks with his Japanese counterpart Yoriko Kawaguchi to coordinate policy toward North Korea March 30, and pay a courtesy call on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. He will return to Seoul April 1.
Source : www.korea.net
