U.S. envoy says Washington poised to talk with N. Korea

SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. special envoy on North Korea said Sunday that
Washington is "prepared to bilaterally engage North Korea," but such dialogue
should come only within the six-party framework.
Stephen Bosworth also said North Korea's claim to be furthering its uranium
enrichment is "not the first we've heard of."
"We are prepared to engage bilaterally with North Korea but only within the
context of six-party talks," Bosworth said in Seoul on the second leg of his
three-nation Asian tour that began in Beijing and will take him to Tokyo later in
the day.
In a letter to the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, North Korea said its
uranium enrichment program, a second route to building nuclear weapons alongside
a plutonium-based one, has entered into "completion phase." The North also said
it was weaponizing plutonium obtained from reprocessing spent fuel rods.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)