NORTH KOREA NEWSLETTER NO. 54 (May 14, 2009)

*** TOPIC OF THE WEEK

Bilateral Dialogue Possible Despite N.K. Rhetoric Against Obama

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Despite North Korea's boycott of the six-party talks and
denouncement of the U.S. administration aside, there are emerging signs that
bilateral talks between the United States and North Korea may be possible in the
weeks ahead. Speculation is mounting that a key U.S. official will likely visit
Pyongyang to lay the groundwork for the future negotiations on such thorny issues
as the North's denuclearization and other related issues.
The possibility of direct dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington was raised
when U.S. President Barack Obama's point man on North Korea recently made a visit
to China, South Korea and Japan, where he had extensive dialogue with related
officials to find a breakthrough on the deadlocked issue.
Stephen W. Bosworth, special U.S. representative on North Korea policy, began his
week-long three-nation tour on May 7 aimed at reviving the six-nation disarmament
talks, the continuation of which came into question after the North fired a
long-range rocket early last month. The U.N. Security Council condemned the
North's rocket launch, followed by sanctions placed on three North Korean firms
last month.
The North has threatened to boycott the talks, restart its nuclear facilities and
conduct further nuclear and ballistic missile tests unless the Security Council
apologizes for its condemnation. North Korea insists the purpose of the launch
was to put a satellite into orbit, a claim the U.S. and its allies dismiss as a
guise for what was a ballistic missile test.
During Bosworth's trip to Seoul, South Korea and the U.S. agreed that the door to
dialogue with North Korea should be kept open despite a salvo of threats by
Pyongyang, but also warned the North will face "consequences" if it puts the
threats into action.
Shortly before Bosworth's arrival in Seoul on May 8, North Korea's foreign
ministry issued a statement accusing the Barack Obama administration of being
hostile towards Pyongyang.
"If the North Koreans decide to carry out a second nuclear test, we will deal
with the consequences of that, and there will be consequences," Bosworth told
reporters after talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan.
But in Tokyo, the last leg of his regional tour, Bosworth reiterated his pledge
to concurrently seek bilateral dialogue with the North, emphasizing that
President Obama remains committed to engaging with Pyongyang both bilaterally and
through the six-party talks. "We are committed to dialogue, and we are obviously
interested in returning to the negotiating table as soon as we can, but this is
not a decision that depends on us. It also depends on the DPRK," Bosworth said.
In its most recent threat, North Korea announced on the day of Bosworth's arrival
in Seoul that dialogue with the U.S. was useless due to its "hostile policy"
toward the North, and reaffirmed its pledge to bolster its nuclear arsenal as a
deterrent against a possible attack from the U.S. and its allies.
"The study of the policy pursued by the Obama administration for the past 100
days since its emergence made it clear that the U.S. hostile policy toward the
DPRK remains unchanged," the North's Foreign Ministry proclaimed in a report
carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
Bosworth, meanwhile, reiterated the Obama administration's pledge to concurrently
seek bilateral dialogue with the North. "I think that it is clearly understood
that the possibility of direct dialogue between the U.S. and the DPRK is very
much with us," he said, emphasizing this was the stance of the president. "I
operate under our president's instructions on an ongoing basis."
Ian Kelly, State Department spokesman, said Bosworth's remarks were intended to
show that the U.S. "would consider direct talks with North Korea if it was in the
context of the six-party talks." Speaking to a daily news briefing on May 12,
Kelly added that Bosworth "believes that he got good consensus from his partners
on the way forward in dealing with this issue of trying to reach the
denuclearization of North Korea."
Still, Pyongyang has reactivated its plutonium-producing reactor in Yongbyon,
threatened to conduct a second nuclear test and to develop a uranium enrichment
program unless the council issues an apology for its condemnation of the North's
April 5 rocket launch. North Korea first detonated a nuclear device at an
underground facility in 2006 and opinions vary over whether it will detonate a
second one.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates dismissed the North's recent threats as
"rhetoric" on May 11, but Gary Samore, Obama's policy coordinator on
nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, said last week that he believes
North Korea will conduct another nuclear test as it has threatened to do.
Bosworth's Asia tour was his second since taking office in February as the U.S.
point man on North Korea. Pyongyang was not on either of his itineraries. In
early March, North Korea rejected his proposal for a visit for unknown reasons,
and this time Bosworth did not request a visit.
In Beijing on May 7, the first stop in his three nation tour, Bosworth did
however reaffirm that Washington is willing to engage in both multilateral and
bilateral talks with Pyongyang to break the stalemate.
"The United States reiterates its desire to engage both multilaterally and
bilaterally with North Korea and we believe very strongly that the solution to
the tensions and problems of the area now lies best in dialogue and negotiation,"
he told reporters after meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and
Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei.
Some analysts say the North's recent moves are in fact an attempt to revive
bilateral talks with the U.S., which were discontinued after President George W.
Bush's inauguration in 2001.
The Bill Clinton administration sought high-level bilateral dialogue with the
North in his waning months in office with exchange visits by then- Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright and North Korean Vice Marshal Jo Myong-rok to their
respective capitals. The visits came soon after the North's launch of its first
ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. Commenting on the exchanges, Albright
recently said, "Ultimately, I think that what the North Koreans want are
bilateral talks with the United States."
(END)