Global Security Newswire

The U.S. State Department's top envoy on North Korea was in China today, the first stop on a trip to three Asian nations involved in the deadlocked talks on shuttering Pyongyang's nuclear program, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, March 2).

Stephen Bosworth is expected to meet with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and other high-level officials in Beijing.

"We hope we can take this opportunity to exchange views with the U.S. ... and jointly promote the six-party talks on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang.

Bosworth is scheduled to travel to Japan on Thursday and then to Seoul on Saturday, the State Department said. His last stop will include talks with officials from Russia, the fifth nation involved in the negotiations with Pyongyang (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, March 3).

North Korea signed a denuclearization deal in 2007 and has taken several steps to meet its obligation, including by disabling key facilities at the plutonium-producing Yongbyon nuclear complex and submitting a declaration of its nuclear materials and operations. However, the process stalled again late last year over a disagreement on the scope of activities to verify the declaration.

The State Department said yesterday that there was no indication that Bosworth would meet with North Korean officials during his trip, the Yonhap News Agency reported.

"Not as far as I know," said spokesman Gordon Duguid. "That's what I know today" (Yonhap News Agency, March 3).