Pyongyang yesterday formally accepted the longstanding U.S. proposal for multilateral talks to resolve the Korean Peninsula’s nuclear crisis, and the White House is now determining a position to take in the talks, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, July 31).

The state-run Korean Central News Agency said North Korea agreed to the multilateral talks during meetings yesterday in New York with U.S. officials.  The negotiations would include North and South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and the United States, according to KCNA.

U.S. officials said the six-nation negotiations could take place in Beijing by September (Voice of America, Aug. 1).

U.S. Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton was cautiously optimistic about the announcement.

“We need very close coordination and preparation with the government of South Korea and the government of Japan,” he said (Amy Bickers, Voice of America II, Aug. 1).

According to the Post, some White House officials want to offer energy and economic incentives to Pyongyang in exchange for nuclear disarmament, while others support a hard line with demands but no concessions.

Under one proposal, all the countries at the talks would issue a collective nonaggression guarantee to North Korea, a long-standing demand of the leadership in Pyongyang (Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, Aug. 1).

Bolton left open the possibility of a nonaggression treaty.

“We have no intent to invade North Korea, and as Secretary [of State Colin] Powell put it, we can find a way to put that down on a piece of paper,” Bolton said, but “as with all other issues raised by the North Korean weapons program, that is going to be resolved in the context of multilateral negotiations” (Bickers, Voice of America II).

The U.S. State Department praised the North Korean decision.

“We are encouraged, we are very encouraged by indications that North Korea is accepting our proposals for multilateral talks,” said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, noting that Washington is not sure of a timeline, or of what North Korea will bring to the table.

“We’re prepared to talk.  We’re not predicting an outcome to the talks until we actually have them,” he said (State Department transcript, July 31).

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