U.S. Passed Message to North Korea on Desire for Talks: Senior Envoy

WASHINGTON -- The United States has conveyed to North Korea its readiness to engage in talks about Pyongyang’s nuclear program and other issues, a senior U.S. diplomat said on Thursday (see GSN, Jan. 18).

“We have made clear -- through both public channels and privately -- that we are prepared to start a new chapter, and deal clearly with outstanding issues of nuclear matters and the like,” Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said at a Washington event.

Any U.S. engagement with North Korea would come in the context of the six-party forum on Pyongyang’s denuclearization, which also includes China, Japan, Russia and South Korea, Campbell said at the Stimson Center forum.

The North is believed to hold enough plutonium for at least six nuclear weapons and continues to develop its missile capabilities. Its capacity to wed nuclear warheads to missiles, though, remains in question (see GSN, Dec. 20, 2011).

Following a surprise announcement from North Korea last month that leader Kim Jong Il had died of a heart attack two day earlier, Washington and its partners suspended plans for a proposal in which food aid might be exchanged for at least a temporary suspension of the North’s uranium enrichment program, according to reports (see GSN, Dec. 19, 2011).

North Korean officials have asserted that in initial discussions last July in New York, U.S. diplomats also offered to lift economic sanctions if Pyongyang stopped enriching uranium, an activity that could support the Stalinist state’s nuclear weapons program (see GSN, Jan. 12). 

At the time, the State Department declined to release details but said that the New York contacts -- led by then-U.S. special envoy for North Korea Stephen Bosworth -- were “constructive” (see GSN, Aug. 2, 2011).

A State Department spokeswoman on Thursday declined a request for comment on current proposals for six-party talks.

The portfolio is now in the hands of Glyn Davies, Bosworth’s replacement as U.S. special representative for North Korea policy.  Speaking on Thursday, Campbell deferred to Davies -- who was not present at the event -- on any detailed discussion of the prospects for engagement with Pyongyang.

Campbell did say, though, that U.S. officials have sent warnings to Kim’s successor regime -- led by his youngest son, Kim Jong Un -- against any military action during the leadership transition that might threaten stability on the Korean Peninsula or in the region.

“We have communicated very directly -- particularly to our Chinese interlocutors but also publicly -- that provocative steps have the risk of triggering deeply unforeseen consequences, and that we need to handle the situation with the greatest care,” Campbell said.  “And we expect China, in their deliberations with the North Koreans, to make sure that that message is clearly understood.”

He added that South Korea has “demonstrated remarkable restraint” following two violent incidents in 2010 attributed to North Korea’s military: the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan and the shelling eight months later of Yeonpyeong Island.

North Korea has released statements suggesting that Kim Jong Un, who was made a general officer during a two-year grooming process, had a hand in the 2010 attacks that killed 50 South Koreans.  Korea-watchers have voiced concern that additional military action might be expected as the new leader, believed to be in his late 20s, attempts to burnish his credentials and consolidate power under the tutelage of his uncle, Jang Song Thaek.

Seoul’s leaders, though, have “made clear that they’ve reached a point that if they faced further provocations, they would have enormous pressure to respond,” Campbell said.  “And we understand that.”

Campbell and Davies this week hosted talks in Washington with envoys from Japan and South Korea to discuss how to restart the six-party talks, which have been stalled since April 2009, a month before Pyongyang conducted its second nuclear test.  North Korea on Friday claimed that Kim Jong Un played a role in prior atomic testing (see related GSN story, today).

“Right now, we are in the closest possible consultation with South Korea and with Japan, and working closely with China, to try to get a sense as to what’s taking place in terms of the succession [and] of the potential policy priorities of the new government” in Pyongyang, Campbell told the audience. 

“It’s still early.  I think we’ve made clear our preparation to have a different kind of relationship with North Korea,” but only “if they’re prepared to take the necessary steps on nonproliferation and other issues,” he said.