Nuclear envoys of two Koreas expected to meet at key ASEAN meeting

(ATTN: UPDATES with North Korea's confirmation of its new chief nuclear envoy, diplomat's quote in first 8 paras; TRIMS; CHANGES headline) By Kim Deok-hyun BALI, Indonesia, July 22 (Yonhap) -- The chief nuclear envoys of South and North Korea are likely to hold a meeting on Friday, in what would be the first such contact in 31 months and a possible attempt to reopen the long-stalled six-party talks, Seoul's diplomats here said. The South's chief negotiator Wi Sung-lac is proposing holding talks with Ri Yong-ho, the North's vice foreign minister who was confirmed earlier in the day by North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun as Pyongyang's top envoy, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) here, according to the diplomats. "Working-level officials are coordinating a meeting between Wi and Ri, and there is a possibility that the meeting could take place today," said a ranking South Korean diplomat. The diplomat, on the condition of anonymity, said he will officially announce the meeting if the two Koreas decide to hold it. It would be the first meeting between the chief nuclear envoys of the two Koreas since December 2008, diplomats said. Earlier in the day, the North Korean foreign minister Pak made the confirmation of Ri as its top envoy to the six-party talks at a bilateral meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jeichi. For years, North Korea's Kim Kye-gwan served as the North's top negotiator, but he was promoted to the post of first vice foreign minister last October. Since then, South Korean officials have widely expected Ri to succeed Kim as top envoy. "Vice Foreign Minister Ri is serving as our chief delegate to the six-party talks," said Pak, introducing Ri to Yang before the two sides start talks at a seaside hotel in Bali. The Chinese foreign minister greeted Ri with a nod. "We conveyed our proposal yesterday to the North Korean side to hold a meeting between Wi and Ri on the sidelines of the ARF," the ranking South Korean diplomat told Yonhap News Agency on the condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the issue. "Our side believes that the ARF presented a good chance to hold a bilateral meeting with the North's side." For South Korea, the presence of Ri at this year's ARF carries particular weight. The six-party nuclear disarmament talks have been stalled since late 2008 after North Korea stormed out of the process after a new round of U.N. sanctions. A meeting between Wi and Ri was aimed at paving the way for a higher-level meeting between South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and his North Korean counterpart Pak Ui-chun in Bali, the diplomats said. Pak and Ri arrived in Bali on Thursday night, but they were tight-lipped when reporters asked about the possibility of a bilateral meeting with South Korea. Until now, the North has refused to discuss its nuclear program one-on-one with South Korea as Pyongyang has so far used its nuclear weapons program as important leverage to improve ties with Washington. South Korea, the U.S. and other six-party members are pushing to reopen the six-party nuclear dialogue forum in a three-step approach in which North Korea will meet South Korea first, then the U.S., for one-on-one talks on denuclearization, On Thursday, South Korean foreign minister Kim held talks with Yang and reaffirmed their joint stance on the step-by-step approach. The South's top diplomat is due to hold talks with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday. Afterward, the foreign ministers of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan will hold a trilateral meeting, diplomats said. Meanwhile, the South Korean foreign minister will meet top diplomats from the Asian and Western nations on Friday to coordinate preparations for the East Asia Summit leadership meeting to be held in November in Indonesia, officials said.