ID :
211714
Fri, 10/07/2011 - 13:34
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/211714
The shortlink copeid
(LEAD) U.S. yet to decide on another nuclear meeting with N. Korea
(ATTN: UPDATES with Campbell's fresh quotes in paras 1-4, paras 6-7; ADDS photo; AMENDS headline)
By Kim Deok-hyun and Lee Haye-ah
SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Yonhap) -- The United States has made no decision yet on holding another bilateral meeting with North Korea to discuss the stalled six-nation talks on the North's nuclear weapons programs, a senior U.S. diplomat said Friday.
"No decision has been taken about next steps," Kurt Campbell, assistant U.S. secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told reporters in Seoul, when asked about a possible second round of meetings with North Korea after their rare talks in late July in New York.
Campbell arrived in Seoul earlier in the day and met South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan to coordinate the allies' stance on the six-party talks ahead of next week's summit in Washington between President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President Barack Obama.
Lee and Obama will discuss about an "appropriate way forward" with their current approach on meetings with North Korea, Campbell said.
Last month in Beijing, chief nuclear envoys from the two Koreas met for the second time to discuss terms for resuming the six-party talks, but no tangible progress was reported. They met in Indonesia in July for the first time in more than two years. That meeting led to the rare U.S.-North Korea contact in New York.
Campbell said he was debriefed by South Korean officials about the Beijing meeting between the two Koreas, describing the latest contact a "workman-like effort."
"I don't think there were any breakthroughs," Campbell said. "The United States and South Korea are quite clear about what our expectations are in terms of the necessary pre-steps."
The six-party talks, aimed at persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons programs in exchange for economic and political aid, have been dormant since Pyongyang quit in April 2009. The North then conducted its second nuclear test a month later.
Seoul and Washington have insisted that Pyongyang halt all nuclear activities, including its uranium enrichment program, and allow U.N. inspectors to monitor the suspension as preconditions to reopening the six-party talks. North Korea, however, is pushing to resume the forum without any conditions attached.
kdh@yna.co.kr
hague@yna.co.kr
(END)
By Kim Deok-hyun and Lee Haye-ah
SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Yonhap) -- The United States has made no decision yet on holding another bilateral meeting with North Korea to discuss the stalled six-nation talks on the North's nuclear weapons programs, a senior U.S. diplomat said Friday.
"No decision has been taken about next steps," Kurt Campbell, assistant U.S. secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told reporters in Seoul, when asked about a possible second round of meetings with North Korea after their rare talks in late July in New York.
Campbell arrived in Seoul earlier in the day and met South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan to coordinate the allies' stance on the six-party talks ahead of next week's summit in Washington between President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President Barack Obama.
Lee and Obama will discuss about an "appropriate way forward" with their current approach on meetings with North Korea, Campbell said.
Last month in Beijing, chief nuclear envoys from the two Koreas met for the second time to discuss terms for resuming the six-party talks, but no tangible progress was reported. They met in Indonesia in July for the first time in more than two years. That meeting led to the rare U.S.-North Korea contact in New York.
Campbell said he was debriefed by South Korean officials about the Beijing meeting between the two Koreas, describing the latest contact a "workman-like effort."
"I don't think there were any breakthroughs," Campbell said. "The United States and South Korea are quite clear about what our expectations are in terms of the necessary pre-steps."
The six-party talks, aimed at persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons programs in exchange for economic and political aid, have been dormant since Pyongyang quit in April 2009. The North then conducted its second nuclear test a month later.
Seoul and Washington have insisted that Pyongyang halt all nuclear activities, including its uranium enrichment program, and allow U.N. inspectors to monitor the suspension as preconditions to reopening the six-party talks. North Korea, however, is pushing to resume the forum without any conditions attached.
kdh@yna.co.kr
hague@yna.co.kr
(END)
