US to Push Inclusion of ROK, Japan in Nuke Talks
2003-04-22
The tripartite meeting between North Korea, China and the United States to discuss the resolution of the North Korean nuclear weapons program will be held in Beijing, China, on April 23 as planned, a senior Foreign Affairs-Trade Ministry official said on Monday (April 21).
"Despite ongoing disputes, the trilateral meeting will proceed as scheduled," the official said on condition of anonymity.
The official said the U.S. delegation will raise the issue of ensuring participation by South Korea and Japan during the Beijing talks to lead to a multilateral dialogue setting.
U.S. President George Bush indicated the U.S. will take part in the meeting by giving diplomatic approach a "good chance" of succeeding in persuading North Korea to stop its bid to develop nuclear weapons.
"I believe that all four of us working together have a good chance of convincing North Korea to abandon her ambitions to develop nuclear arsenals," Bush told reporters Sunday. "The key thing in the North Korea agenda is that China is assuming a very important responsibility."
Sources said officials of North Korea, China and the U.S. have begun contacts in Beijing to prepare for the crucial trilateral talks, which the official said the ministry had yet to confirm.
The prospect for the first substantive three-way meeting aimed at solving the six-month standoff since Pyongyang confessed to having a secret nuclear arms program became uncertain when the North took another step in its brinkmanship, saying it was successfully reprocessing weapons-grade nuclear fuel rods.
Controversy rose over whether the North had actually taken the step or whether the translation of the announcement was inaccurate. South Korean and U.S. officials said they could not find any evidence that reprocessing of spent nuclear materials was under way.
Sources said the prospects for the Beijing talks were unclear due to Pyongyang's and Washington's different stances over pending issues.
"The U.S., dubbing the talks a preliminary meeting, will urge the North to discuss ways of allowing South Korea and Japan to take part to make it multilateral dialogue," the official said.
But the North is expected stick to three-way talks as it has been regarding the talks as virtually bilateral negotiation with the U.S.
Another ministry official said the U.S. side would also focus on the North's announcement about the nuclear reprocessing activities.
"Should the North reconfirm its nuclear activities, the meeting atmosphere will be strained to the point of facing a serious setback," he said.
A top presidential aide said Seoul will be able to join future rounds of multilateral dialogue dealing with the North Korean nuclear crisis, although it has been excluded from the first round of talks to be held in Beijing.
"North Korea's objective in the upcoming talks is to secure guarantees for its national survival and acquire economic assistance," Moon Hee-sang, President Roh Moo-hyun's chief of staff said. "It is inevitable that South Korea will be allowed to join the dialogue at an appropriate time because Seoul's support and that of other neighboring countries is indispensable to the North."
"Our government has been informed of all developments leading to the arrangement of the Beijing talks and these developments were reported to President Roh," Moon told reporters. "It was something that was decided all of sudden without our knowledge."
On April 4, U.S. President George W. Bush called up President Roh to ask for the latter's consent for the Beijing talks with Seoul's absence and Roh agreed after Bush's promise that Washington will do its best to ensure Seoul's early participation. A week before the telephone conversation, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Don Keyser was sent to Seoul to consult Roh's aides.
"Our objective is to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue peacefully through dialogue," the presidential chief of staff said. "Irrespective of formula, dialogue should not be discontinued and Washington will certainly attend it."
In connection, a senior presidential aide said President Bush repeated his intention to go ahead with the Beijing talks so "the talks will take place as scheduled with the U.S. attending."
He said Seoul was notified of who will lead the North Korean delegation but declined to reveal the name. Reports have it that North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye-gwan will be the North Korean leader of the talks.
Source : www.korea.net
