S. Korean, U.S. nuclear envoys to meet in Hawaii

SEOUL, Aug. 1 (Yonhap) -- The nuclear envoys of South Korea and the United States
will meet in Hawaii next week to exchange views about the diplomatic stalemate
with North Korea on the sidelines of an international seminar, Seoul's foreign
ministry said Saturday.
Wi Sung-lac, South Korea's top negotiator to the six-party talks on
denuclearizing North Korea, and Sung Kim, the U.S. special envoy for the talks,
will hold informal discussions about the North while attending the closed-door,
two-day seminar, which begins Tuesday
Their meeting will be a follow-up to the ASEAN Regional Forum, a security meeting
of foreign ministers held in Thailand last month, the ministry said.
Seoul is also trying to set up a meeting between Wi and Stephen Bosworth, U.S.
special representative for North Korea policy, who will also be attending the
seminar hosted by the East-West Center, a U.S. research organization focused on
the Asia-Pacific region.
If the two meet, they are expected to discuss the details of a proposed
"comprehensive package" of incentives for North Korea should the communist nation
dismantle its nuclear program in a complete and irreversible way, Wi's aides said
earlier.
The Hawaii seminar will also be attended by: Keith Luse, senior professional
staff member with the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Frank Jannuzi,
senior East Asia specialist with the Foreign Relations Committee; James Kelly, a
former assistant secretary of state who handled negotiations with North Korea;
and Marcus Noland, senior researcher at the Peterson Institute for International
Economics.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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