N. Korea, U.S. to hold high-level talks next week

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 (Yonhap) -- The United States said Monday that it will hold another round of high-level talks with North Korea next week, an announcement that came hours before a closely watched trip by Chinese Vice Premier Xi Jinping here. "Special Representative for North Korea Policy Glyn Davies will lead an inter-agency team to Beijing on Feb. 23 to meet with a DPRK delegation led by First Vice Minister Kim Kye-gwan," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters. DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It would the first direct dialogue between the two sides since a leadership change in the secretive communist nation. The North's leader, Kim Jong-il, died of a heart attack in December following a 17-year rule. His son, Kim Jong-un, reportedly in his late 20s, took power after his father's death. "This is a continuation of the meetings that we have been having with North Korea ... to see if it is prepared to fulfill its commitments under the 2005 joint statement of the six-party talks (and) its international obligations as well as to take concrete steps towards denuclearization," Nuland said. She continued, "This is the third such meeting that they have had. The question is whether they are prepared to respond to what we are looking for in order to get back to talks, so that's what we're looking to find out in Beijing. We thought that it was a good time to see where they are." The Beijing-based six-way talks were launched in 2003. But the on-again and off-again negotiations have been stalled for three years amid Pyongyang's repeated provocative acts. Mike Hammer, acting assistant secretary of state for public affairs, later said his government views talks with North Korea on the basis of "realism, not optimism." He said it's worth "exploring" whether North Korea is prepared to fulfil its commitments under the 2005 six-party deal with the U.S., South Korea, China, Russia and Japan. Pyongyang agreed to abandon all of its nuclear program in return for political and economic incentives. "It's not a question of really trying to gauge this with some level of optimism but rather realism," he told a meeting at the Foreign Press Center. Hammer did not give a clear answer to a question about whether the U.S. took into account Xi's visit in deciding the timing of the announcement on the talks. He said the U.S. has consulted with the other partners, including China, on the next steps. Xi is apparently on track to become China's next leader. He flew in Washington on Monday for a five-day stay. He is scheduled to meet President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Hammer, meanwhile, confirmed that Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights, is not participating in next week's talks in Beijing. King has been in charge of the issue of possible food aid for the North. Hammer said it is not a "primary focus" this time. (END)