U.S. envoy for North Korea to travel to Asia, Russia next week+

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 Kyodo - The United States said Thursday that newly named senior envoy for North Korea Stephen Bosworth will travel to Japan, South Korea, China and Russia next week in an effort to move the six-party denuclearization talks forward.

Separately, former top U.S. nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill reiterated
Washington's willingness to normalize relations with Pyongyang if it implements
verifiable and complete denuclearization.
Bosworth, who was named special representative for North Korea policy last
week, will consult with other participants in the six-party talks in Tokyo,
Seoul, Beijing and Moscow, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters.
The six-way process, which involves North and South Korea, the United States,
China, Japan and Russia, has been stalled since North Korea refused to commit
to a full regime of inspections and other measures to verify its nuclear
programs in December.
As the senior U.S. official handling North Korean issues, Bosworth will lead
U.S. efforts to address concerns about North Korea's nuclear program, its
proliferation of sensitive weapons technology and human rights in the reclusive
country, Clinton said.
''We believe his involvement will facilitate high-level engagement with North
Korea and our other partners, and enhance our efforts to move forward in the
six-party process and to realize our goal of the complete and verifiable
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner,'' she said.
Bosworth, who will report to both Clinton and President Barack Obama, will
travel to the region with Sung Kim, the U.S. special envoy for the six-party
talks. Sung Kim will work closely with Bosworth and continue to lead the State
Department's day-to-day efforts, which include heading the U.S. six-party
delegation, Clinton said.
Bosworth left open the possibility of meeting with North Korean officials on
his trip, saying it depends on his consultations in the region.
''Obviously we plan to engage with North Korea,'' Bosworth said. ''The question
as to whether we're going to engage with them on this particular trip remains
to be decided.''
Hill, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said
separately that the United States ''would anticipate a bilateral dialogue whose
purpose would be aimed at normalization'' if North Korea reaches the next and
final phase of its denuclearization.
The current second phase of denuclearization, which requires Pyongyang to
disable its nuclear facilities and declare all its nuclear programs, is to be
followed by the third phase in which North Korea must give up all its fissile
material.
''In the context of that normalization dialogue, with the understanding we
don't normalize until we have denuclearization,'' he said. ''That is, we are
not going to normalize with a nuclear North Korea. We've made that clear many
times.''
Bosworth said he believed North Korea remained committed to the
denuclearization talks based on his discussions in Pyongyang earlier this
month, when he traveled to North Korea as a private citizen.
''I found the North Koreans, I thought, quite inclined toward continued
dialogue with the United States and a continued commitment with the people of
the region in the six-party process,'' Bosworth said.
Bosworth is dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts
University in Medford, Massachusetts, and has served as the U.S. ambassador to
South Korea.
==Kyodo
2009-02-27 23:00:01