Rice Describes Meeting with N. Korean Counterpart as 'Good'
By VOA News
23 July 2008
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says parties to the six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear program have "a sense of urgency" about moving the process forward.
She spoke Wednesday after meeting in Singapore with foreign ministers of the other five nations taking part in the nuclear disarmament talks.
The meeting, held on the sidelines of the Association of South East Asian Nations forum, included the first face-to-face talks between Rice and her North Korean counterpart, Pak Ui-chun.
Rice described it as "a good meeting," with officials committed to moving ahead rather than having another hiatus of several months.
The six foreign ministers, including those from Japan, China, South Korea, and Russia, were expected to focus on a draft proposal to verify Pyongyang's declaration of its nuclear activities. That declaration was submitted last month.
A Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman said his country hoped the meeting would provide "a new impetus" among the six nations to verify Pyongyang's declaration. But a North Korean spokesman, Ri Tong Il, says it is also important for the U.S. to drop what he describes as a "hostile policy" towards his country.
During talks held earlier this month, Pyongyang agreed to disable its main plutonium-producing facilities by the end of October, and allow on-site inspections to verify its declaration.
Christopher Hill, the chief U.S. negotiator for the talks, says he hopes there can be an agreement on the verification issue by mid-August.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
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