ID :
198824
Wed, 08/03/2011 - 03:47
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/198824
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U.N. chief strikes positive note on dialogue with N. Korea
NEW YORK (Yonhap) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday that the resumption of talks with North Korea bodes well for efforts to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula and the future of the six-way talks aimed at ending the communist nation's nuclear weapons drive.
"What is important is that there was contact (with North Korea). I think it is going in the right direction," Ban told South Korean correspondents here ahead of a trip to South Korea next week.
North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan met with Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, here last week to discuss ways to resume the six-party talks. The two sides announced that the discussions were "constructive" without disclosing details. Kim headed back to Pyongyang earlier Tuesday.
The meetings followed inter-Korean denuclearization talks in Bali, Indonesia, on the margins of a regional security forum.
The back-to-back talks will "make positive contributions to continuing to develop dialogue, easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and building up trust among concerned parties in the six-way talks," said Ban, formerly a South Korean foreign minister.
Citing information from working-level channels, Ban said, "There is still a considerable distance between the two sides and it can't be concealed. But there will be efforts to narrow the gap. It is inspiring that both the U.S. and North Korea said so."
He also expressed hope for the international community to provide more support for the U.N.'s campaign to help hunger-stricken North Koreans.
A joint survey early this year showed that one third of the North's 24-million population suffer from food shortages, he pointed out.
"The U.N. views North Korea's food conditions as being at a serious level and hopes for the international community's active contributions," he said.
During his stay in his motherland from Aug. 9-14, Ban said he also plans to ask Seoul to dispatch military medics and engineers to South Sudan, the newest member of the U.N., and provide air transportation support in delivering aid materials to Somalia and other Northeastern African nations hit by famine.
He said South Korea made huge contributions to the reconstruction of earthquake-devastated Haiti by swiftly sending a non-combat military unit there last year.
Ban's upcoming trip to South Korea will be the first since he was re-elected to a second-term. He is also scheduled to travel to Japan this weekend as it is struggling to recover from the recent powerful quake, tsunami and ensuing nuclear reactor crisis, Ban's office said.
"What is important is that there was contact (with North Korea). I think it is going in the right direction," Ban told South Korean correspondents here ahead of a trip to South Korea next week.
North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan met with Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, here last week to discuss ways to resume the six-party talks. The two sides announced that the discussions were "constructive" without disclosing details. Kim headed back to Pyongyang earlier Tuesday.
The meetings followed inter-Korean denuclearization talks in Bali, Indonesia, on the margins of a regional security forum.
The back-to-back talks will "make positive contributions to continuing to develop dialogue, easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and building up trust among concerned parties in the six-way talks," said Ban, formerly a South Korean foreign minister.
Citing information from working-level channels, Ban said, "There is still a considerable distance between the two sides and it can't be concealed. But there will be efforts to narrow the gap. It is inspiring that both the U.S. and North Korea said so."
He also expressed hope for the international community to provide more support for the U.N.'s campaign to help hunger-stricken North Koreans.
A joint survey early this year showed that one third of the North's 24-million population suffer from food shortages, he pointed out.
"The U.N. views North Korea's food conditions as being at a serious level and hopes for the international community's active contributions," he said.
During his stay in his motherland from Aug. 9-14, Ban said he also plans to ask Seoul to dispatch military medics and engineers to South Sudan, the newest member of the U.N., and provide air transportation support in delivering aid materials to Somalia and other Northeastern African nations hit by famine.
He said South Korea made huge contributions to the reconstruction of earthquake-devastated Haiti by swiftly sending a non-combat military unit there last year.
Ban's upcoming trip to South Korea will be the first since he was re-elected to a second-term. He is also scheduled to travel to Japan this weekend as it is struggling to recover from the recent powerful quake, tsunami and ensuing nuclear reactor crisis, Ban's office said.
