Beijing talks: Here are the players

The top negotiators for the six-party talks in Beijing on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program are veteran diplomats who have followed a long and twisting path to the upcoming negotiations.
The leaders of the delegations have for the most part been the key players in an intensive effort over the past six months aimed at bringing an end to North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
Even the announcement late last week of Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Yong-il as North Korea’s top negotiator was not completely unexpected, given his knowledge of China and Beijing’s role in the effort to resolve the crisis.
A career diplomat who specialized early on Africa, Mr. Kim has in recent years emerged as the North’s senior diplomat on Chinese affairs. His appointment comes over Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Gye-gwan, a senior arms control negotiator, which may be an indication that tension between Pyeongyang and Beijing has given way a more cooperative relationship on the nuclear issue. Mr. Kim is not related to North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-il.
Leading the Chinese delegation is Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi. He has been at the forefront of Beijing’s diplomacy on North Korea in recent months. South Korean experts on China say Mr. Wang embodies Beijing’s new pragmatic foreign policy. He is also the one who has the capability, one expert said, to “make things work” in the positive direction when it comes to North Korean issues.
Mr. Wang’s role on North Korean affairs included participation in the four-party talks in 1998 as Asia-Pacific director for the Chinese Foreign Ministry. His visit to Pyeongyang early this month ― a week after North Korea’s announcement that it would accept the multilateral format along with a meeting with senior officials there that included Deputy Foreign Minister Kim ― helped set the stage for the negotiations.
Russia’s point man for the discussions is Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov. He has been one of the most vocal advocates of multilateral talks as the swiftest way to resolve the standoff. Perhaps reflecting worry that Russia might be left out of the talks, he had called for the multi-party format early in the year. He stressed a broader approach could insure a security guarantee for the North and foster an aid plan to rebuild the destitute country. He traveled to Pyeongyang in January for an extended meeting with Kim Jong-il just days after the North aggravated the standoff by declaring itself no longer bound by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
The leader of the U.S. delegation is Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly. His appointment, as opposed to Undersecretary of State John Bolton ― who has publicly attacked North Korea ― is seen as underscoring U.S. commitment to see the talks succeed.
An Asia-Pacific expert formerly with a Hawaii-based think tank, Mr. Kelly is seen as bringing shrewd and resilient bargaining sophistication that stems in part from his business consulting background. He was the U.S. envoy to Pyeongyang in October who confronted North Korean diplomats with evidence of the North’s secret nuclear programs. He has been the constant presence in U.S. diplomacy on the nuclear issue since.
Leading the Japanese delegation will be Mitoji Yabunaka, director-general in charge of Asia-Pacific affairs. He is a veteran negotiator who has in the past handled sensitive trade issues with the United States and South Korea. With 30 years of diplomatic experience, he was a key member of the Japanese delegation in the closing round of negotiations of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in 1994, which gave birth to the World Trade Organization. In 1998, he led the Japanese delegation in tough negotiations for a new fisheries treaty with South Korea.
South Korea’s representative will be Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck. He is considered the most experienced of the six top delegates in multilateral negotiations on North Korea issues. He participated in the four-party talks on North Korea between 1997 and 1999. He returned from Serbia in March to take up the role of top negotiator on the North Korean nuclear problem.

by Kim Young-sae