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

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with N. Korean leader's comments, other details)
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.
In the latest measure against the North, a U.N. Security Council committee
imposed a travel ban on five North Korean officials and asset freezes on five
more entities for their involvement in missile and nuclear weapons development.
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.
Campbell said he will "consult on a wide range of issues, particularly relating
to North Korea to make sure of our common strategy."
His trip comes as the North shows no signs of bowing to the international pressure.
On Saturday, Pyongyang's official news agency KCNA belatedly reported comments by
the country's number two leader Kim Yong-nam at the Non-Aligned Movement summit
of 118 nations in Egypt earlier this week.
"Noting that not only the peace and security of the country but also the dignity
of the nation and sovereignty of the DPRK (North Korea) have been grossly
violated by the high-handed acts of the U.S., Kim asserted that if such acts of
the U.S. are allowed to go on, the DPRK would be totally deprived of the
legitimate right to use space," the KCNA said, referring to the international
condemnation of its failed satellite launch in April.
"The DPRK can never accept dialogue or negotiations minus the principle of
respect for sovereignty and equal sovereignty," Kim was quoted as saying. "The
prevailing situation compelled the DPRK government to take decisive steps to
bolster up its nuclear deterrence."
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