U.S. to take two-track strategy on N. Korea: Campbell

Tony Chang
SEOUL, July 18 (Yonhap) -- A senior U.S envoy said Saturday that Washington will
prepare to hold talks with Pyongyang "under the right circumstances," while
enforcing sanctions on the communist nation for its provocative actions.
"What we are trying to do is follow a two-track strategy," Kurt Campbell,
assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs, told reporters
upon arriving at a Seoul airport from Tokyo. It is his first trip here since
assuming the post last month.
"Under the right circumstances, we'd be prepared to sit down with North Korea if
they would abandon their nuclear ambitions. We're in the process of discussions
with our partners about what are the next steps associated with diplomacy," he
said.
North Korea announced after a long-range rocket launch in April that it would
quit the six-way talks on its nuclear program with the U.S., South Korea, China,
Russia, and Japan. The North also conducted a second nuclear test in May,
prompting the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution imposing a robust set
of sanctions on it.
Campbell said that a five-way meeting without North Korea "makes sense" but there
should be preparations for that.
"We're in the process of those discussions which I look forward in the next
couple of days," he said.
South Korea supports such a five-way gathering for discussions on how to bring
the North to the disarmament talks but China, which chairs the negotiations,
takes a lukewarm stance apparently due to concerns that it will make the North
Koreans feel more isolated and have a negative impact on the six-party format.
The U.S. official plans to hold a series of meetings with top South Korean
officials on North Korea and pending alliance issues during his three-day stay in
Seoul.
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