Chinese Envoy Fails to Jump-Start North Korea Talks

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei failed to persuade North Korea to resume multilateral nuclear disarmament talks during a trip earlier this month to Pyongyang, Agence France-Presse reported Friday (see GSN, Feb. 24).

Wu met with North Korean negotiator Kim Kye Gwan and other officials, Japanese and South Korean reports said.

“I do not see the (next round of) six-party talks being resumed in the near future,” a Japanese diplomatic source in Beijing was quoted as saying.

Pyongyang has refused to resume nuclear negotiations until the United States lifts sanctions on North Korean entities suspected of financial misconduct. After returning from Pyongyang, Wu was quoted as saying that the U.S. position on the issue was “too rigid,” according to AFP (Agence France-Presse, Feb. 24).

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