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North Korea Nuclear Talks Could Resume Next Wednesday, Diplomatic Sources Say
Six-nation nuclear talks host China has proposed reconvening the negotiations next Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, Oct. 31). “This time period has been floated, we are discussing this date in internal consultations,” said a Western diplomat in Beijing. The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced earlier today that it had proposed a date to Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the United States but was awaiting agreement by all parties before announcing details, according to AFP (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Nov. 1). Meanwhile, Japan and North Korea are preparing for bilateral talks in Beijing Thursday, Reuters reported. The negotiations are expected to last at least two days, according to Reuters. Japanese officials said they planned to discuss the controversial issue of Japanese citizens abducted by Pyongyang during the Cold War, as well as North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs. A failure to improve relations between the two countries could impede progress at the six-party forum, according to one Korea expert. “As long as negotiations between Japan and North Korea are stalled, it is difficult for the six-party talks on the North Korea nuclear issue to move forward,” said Hajime Izumi, an expert at the University of Shizuoka near Tokyo (Teruaki Ueno, Reuters, Nov. 1). Elsewhere, Russia’s ambassador to South Korea, Glev Ivashentsov, today proposed that the provision of light-water reactors for energy generation to North Korea and Pyongyang’s dismantlement of its indigenous nuclear program take place simultaneously, Asia Pulse reported. “Here you see an issue of mutual mistrust. The only solution, therefore, is all the steps synchronize,” Ivashentsov told Yonhap. “Any preconditions may lead to mistrust and a lack of trust may delay the process” (Asia Pulse/Yahoo!News, Nov. 1).
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