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North Korea Nuclear Talks Not Seen Before September
South Korean diplomats say they do not expect six-nation talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program to resume this month, as had been hoped, Reuters reported today (see GSN, July 7). Negotiating partners China and Russia oppose an August start to the negotiations, said diplomats in Seoul, meaning that September may now be the earliest possible resumption date (Herskovitz/Kim, Reuters, July 8). A secret South Korean proposal to Pyongyang is being studied by the United States, but talk that it could be formally presented in conjunction with a U.S. package to end the nuclear standoff is “premature,” a top U.S. State Department official said Wednesday. Seoul briefed Washington about the offer Unification Minister Chung Dong-young recently made to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the official told Chosun Ilbo. He also said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill had expressed interest in the proposal, but denied that Hill had said there was “no problem” with the plan. South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun Wednesday said the proposal could not yet be publicly disclosed because it involved “strongly strategic elements” (Chosun Ilbo, July 7). Meanwhile, China announced that it plans to send an envoy to North Korea next week, Agence France-Presse reported. Former Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan is scheduled visit Tuesday through Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said today (Agence France-Presse/Channel News Asia, July 8).
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