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North Korea: U.S. Lawmakers Say Pyongyang Is “Ready to Deal” Several U.S. lawmakers who recently traveled to Pyongyang said North Korea is “ready to deal” with the United States to resolve the nuclear standoff on the Korean Peninsula, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, June 3). Six U.S. representatives, led by Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), visited North Korea and presented Foreign Minister Paek Nam-Sun with a plan to defuse the crisis. “His response was, ‘It’s very positive. It’s exactly what we are looking for,’” said Weldon. He also said that the delegation “had some ideas that might help our negotiators,” noting that he would discuss those with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. The delegation was confident the North Koreans were ready to sit down at the negotiating table. “They are certainly ready to deal,” said Representative Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, June 4). The mission was difficult because the delegation wanted to hold meaningful discussions without undermining the hardline stance of U.S. President George W. Bush, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. “Everything is on the table,” Weldon said. “They are concerned that America may not be willing to negotiate with them, that we do not want to recognize their legitimacy,” he added. Some experts said North Korea might misunderstand the visit, the Inquirer reported. North Korea has insisted on direct talks to resolve the situation and officials in Pyongyang might have interpreted this visit as one-on-one negotiations. Bush has insisted on a multilateral format to resolve the crisis. “These states can be so paranoid and their windows so narrow that they can easily misconstrue,” said Tom Henricksen, a foreign policy expert at Stanford University (Chris Mondics, Philadelphia Inquirer, June 4). Troops Set to Move Meanwhile, the United States intends to relocate 6,000 of its 7,000 Seoul-based military personnel, the Korea Herald reported today. The personnel will be moved south of the capital, according to the commander of U.S. forces in Korea, Gen. Leon LaPorte (Kim Hyung-jin, Korea Herald, June 4).
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