Washington grants visa to Pyongyang envoy
Published: 18 Oct. 2009, 23:20
In a move that could advance Washington-Pyongyang bilateral talks, the United States has granted a visa Saturday for a senior North Korean nuclear negotiator.
The State Department approved a visa for Ri Gun, the No. 2 nuclear negotiator for North Korea, to attend a security forum called the Northeast Asia Cooperative Dialogue in San Diego, California, from Oct. 26 to 27. Separately, the New York-based Korea Society and the National Committee on American Foreign Policy have invited Ri to a seminar in New York on Oct. 30, along with scholars and former government officials.
While the State Department kept mum about whether Ri would meet any current U.S. officials, sources in Washington have told wire news services that Ri could meet informally with Sung Kim, the chief American nuclear negotiator, in New York. Ri is also the director general of American affairs at the North’s Foreign Ministry.
North Korea has asked for direct talks with the United States. Washington, which has no diplomatic relations with Pyongyang, is considering the time and the place for a possible one-on-one meeting. The Yomiuri Shimbun in Japan reported yesterday that the United States hopes to stage bilateral talks with North Korea in a third country, possibly China. According to the paper, the United States would like to see Kang Sok-ju, the deputy foreign minister, as the chief North Korean delegate to counter Stephen Bosworth, the special U.S. envoy to Pyongyang.
The two sides have other differences. The North, which has declared the six-party denuclearization talks “dead,” wants to discuss the nuclear issue with the United States. But the Obama administration sees the bilateral meeting as a means to persuade the North to return to the six-party table and has said it would not sit down with Pyongyang unless it committed to re-engaging in the six-party setting.
Washington has insisted that any nuclear discussions must be held within the multilateral framework that also includes South Korea, Russia, Japan and China.
During the state visit by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao earlier this month, the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il expressed a willingness to return to the six-party talks, depending on the progress made at the North-U.S. meeting.
But the North has since test-fired five short-range missiles on the east coast, and has also accused the South Korean Navy of frequently breaching a western sea border and threatened to take military action if such moves continued.
By Yoo Jee-ho [[email protected]]
The State Department approved a visa for Ri Gun, the No. 2 nuclear negotiator for North Korea, to attend a security forum called the Northeast Asia Cooperative Dialogue in San Diego, California, from Oct. 26 to 27. Separately, the New York-based Korea Society and the National Committee on American Foreign Policy have invited Ri to a seminar in New York on Oct. 30, along with scholars and former government officials.
While the State Department kept mum about whether Ri would meet any current U.S. officials, sources in Washington have told wire news services that Ri could meet informally with Sung Kim, the chief American nuclear negotiator, in New York. Ri is also the director general of American affairs at the North’s Foreign Ministry.
North Korea has asked for direct talks with the United States. Washington, which has no diplomatic relations with Pyongyang, is considering the time and the place for a possible one-on-one meeting. The Yomiuri Shimbun in Japan reported yesterday that the United States hopes to stage bilateral talks with North Korea in a third country, possibly China. According to the paper, the United States would like to see Kang Sok-ju, the deputy foreign minister, as the chief North Korean delegate to counter Stephen Bosworth, the special U.S. envoy to Pyongyang.
The two sides have other differences. The North, which has declared the six-party denuclearization talks “dead,” wants to discuss the nuclear issue with the United States. But the Obama administration sees the bilateral meeting as a means to persuade the North to return to the six-party table and has said it would not sit down with Pyongyang unless it committed to re-engaging in the six-party setting.
Washington has insisted that any nuclear discussions must be held within the multilateral framework that also includes South Korea, Russia, Japan and China.
During the state visit by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao earlier this month, the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il expressed a willingness to return to the six-party talks, depending on the progress made at the North-U.S. meeting.
But the North has since test-fired five short-range missiles on the east coast, and has also accused the South Korean Navy of frequently breaching a western sea border and threatened to take military action if such moves continued.
By Yoo Jee-ho [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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