WORLD / United States
US ambassador: No hurry to set date for NKorea talks
(AP)
Updated: 2006-11-28 16:26
SEOUL, South Korea -- The US ambassador to South Korea said Tuesday that
negotiators in Beijing were patiently working to set a date soon for
resumed six-nation nuclear talks with North Korea.
The lead US and North Korean envoys were meeting Tuesday in China, joined
there by the Chinese, Japanese and South Korean representatives to the
nuclear negotiations that have been on hold for more than a year.
"It's more important that we have a serious chance of success rather than
hurrying to set a date for these talks," Alexander Vershbow told
university students during a lecture. He added that the revived
six-nation talks, which also include Russia, would likely be held in
mid-December.
Vershbow said US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill was
meeting his North Korean counterpart, Kim Kye Gwan, on Tuesday "to try to
define some areas where we can make early progress."
Among the inducements to convince the North to disarm, Vershbow mentioned
negotiating a peace regime on the peninsula to replace the cease-fire
that has held since the 1953 end of the Korean War.
A peace settlement is among the points mentioned in a September 2005
agreement where Pyongyang pledged to abandon its nuclear program in
exchange for aid and security guarantees.
However, no progress was made on implementing the accord as the North
later boycotted the talks in anger over a US campaign to sever the nation
from the international financial system for alleged illegal financial
activity.
The arms talks gained new urgency after the North conducted its
first-ever nuclear weapons test on October 9, and the country agreed
later that month to return to the atomic talks to discuss the financial
restrictions imposed by Washington.
Vershbow said the US stood by its diplomatic approach to resolving the
standoff.
"Although the six-party process has been stalled for over a year because
of the North Korean boycott, the United States still believes the talks
present the best path forward," he said.
But the North has to also prove it is committed to the process by actual
moves to abandoning its atomic development, Vershbow said.
"When the six-party talks resume, the North Koreans need to take early
concrete steps toward dismantling all their nuclear programs," he said.
"We need to see action, not just words."
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