U.S. Could Boost Pressure on North Korea to Resume Nuclear Talks, South Korean Official Says

A South Korean official said yesterday that the United States could take additional measures to compel North Korea to attend six-nation talks on its nuclear weapons program, the Yonhap News Agency reported (see GSN, July 18).

“The U.S. is still focused on resolving the current impasse through dialogue,” the official said. “But I got the impression that the U.S. was looking at means to apply pressure on North Korea in case Pyongyang refuses to come back to the negotiation table.”

“There is certainly a possibility that the U.S. will take additional steps,” he said.

The official added that China has yet to agree to restart the talks without Pyongyang. If Beijing does so, an initial meeting could take place next week in Kuala Lumpur at the regional forum of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, he said (Yonhap News Agency, July 19).

South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said today he hopes to discuss the nuclear standoff with his North Korean counterpart during the ASEAN meeting, Agence France-Presse reported.

“We are in the middle of reaffirming North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Nam Sun’s participation. He had planned to take part but nothing concrete has since been reaffirmed,” Ban said. “We are expecting to have a chance to exchange opinions on inter-Korean ties, missile and other issues, and deliver our position through a bilateral contact there.”

“If North Korea’s foreign minister comes, the foreign ministers of all of the countries participating in six-way talks would gather at one place,” he said (Agence France-Presse, July 19).

Ban also said that, if Pyongyang continues its boycott of the negotiations, “there is need to make efforts for the advancement of the (September) statement through five-way talks” without a North Korea delegation, the Associated Press reported (Bo-Mi Lim, Associated Press/Los Angeles Times, July 19).

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