Pyongyang envoy said to travel to U.S. for talks
Published: 20 Oct. 2009, 22:05
A North Korean diplomat arrived in Beijing yesterday on his way to the United States for a bilateral meeting next week apparently aimed at laying the groundwork for higher-level nuclear talks.
Ri Gun, director general of the North American affairs bureau at North Korea’s foreign ministry, is reportedly scheduled to meet Sung Kim, the U.S. special envoy to the six-way nuclear talks, in San Diego on the sidelines of an academic seminar slated for Oct. 26-27. “I will go soon [to the U.S.],” Ri told reporters when asked about the timing of his rare trip to the United States. He was then rushed away in a North Korean embassy sedan.
Diplomatic sources said Ri is likely to stay in Beijing for a few days for consultations with Chinese officials.
The United States earlier issued a visa for Ri, North Korea’s No. 2 official at the six-party talks, to travel to San Diego and New York.
Their meeting is widely seen as a prelude to higher-level contacts between the two sides. The North has invited Stephen Bosworth, special U.S. representative for North Korea policy, to visit Pyongyang.
The sources added that the United States wants the North to be represented by Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok-ju, who is known to oversee Pyongyang’s nuclear and U.S. policies, not Kim Gye-gwan, its top delegate to the six-party forum.
The United States wants any bilateral contacts with North Korea to result in the resumption of stalled six-country nuclear negotiations, Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on Monday in Washington.
“We would be prepared for, in the right circumstances at some point, some initial interaction that would lead rapidly to a six-party framework,” Campbell told a think tank forum in Washington.
Yonhap, Reuters
Ri Gun, director general of the North American affairs bureau at North Korea’s foreign ministry, is reportedly scheduled to meet Sung Kim, the U.S. special envoy to the six-way nuclear talks, in San Diego on the sidelines of an academic seminar slated for Oct. 26-27. “I will go soon [to the U.S.],” Ri told reporters when asked about the timing of his rare trip to the United States. He was then rushed away in a North Korean embassy sedan.
Diplomatic sources said Ri is likely to stay in Beijing for a few days for consultations with Chinese officials.
The United States earlier issued a visa for Ri, North Korea’s No. 2 official at the six-party talks, to travel to San Diego and New York.
Their meeting is widely seen as a prelude to higher-level contacts between the two sides. The North has invited Stephen Bosworth, special U.S. representative for North Korea policy, to visit Pyongyang.
The sources added that the United States wants the North to be represented by Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok-ju, who is known to oversee Pyongyang’s nuclear and U.S. policies, not Kim Gye-gwan, its top delegate to the six-party forum.
The United States wants any bilateral contacts with North Korea to result in the resumption of stalled six-country nuclear negotiations, Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said on Monday in Washington.
“We would be prepared for, in the right circumstances at some point, some initial interaction that would lead rapidly to a six-party framework,” Campbell told a think tank forum in Washington.
Yonhap, Reuters
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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