SKorea, US to hold talks on North Kora next week: official

SEOUL (AFP) Jul 30, 2004
South Korean and American top negotiators on a nuclear standoff with North Korea will meet in Washington next week preparations gathered pace for a new round of six-way talks, officials said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-Hyuck and US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly will hold talks on August 2-3, the foreign ministry said.

"The meeting will focus on preparations for the next round of six-way talks to resume in September," a ministry official said.

Japan, China, the two Koreas, Russia and the United States agreed at the last round of six-way talks in Beijing in June to convene again by the end of September to seek to break the 21-month-old deadlock.

China is preparing to convene a meeting of working level officials from the six nations next month ahead of the main session.

Chia's Ning Fukui, special envoy on North Korea, is expected in Seoul on Sunday for talks before heading to Tokyo on Tuesday, Yonhap news agency said.

Earlier Friday Ning met with his US counterpart Joseph DeTrani in the Chinese capital.

At that third round of six-way talks in Beijing, North Korea said it was ready to freeze its nuclear ambitions for immediate rewards but left out its alleged uranium enrichment programme from the offer.

The United States wants Pyongyang's plutonium and uranium weapons programmes dismantled.

DeTrani reaffirmed a key Washington demand during the meeting with Ning that all Pyongyang's nuclear programmes must be addressed if the talks are to succeed, the US embassy in Beijing said.

WAR.WIRE