N.Korea strikes milder note on eve of Obama trip to Seoul

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China, US call for resumption of N.Korea talks
Beijing (AFP) Nov 17, 2009 - China and the United States want talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons programme to resume "as soon as possible", US President Barack Obama said Tuesday after talks with his host Hu Jintao. "We agreed on the importance of resuming the six-party talks process as soon as possible," Obama said during a joint address by the two leaders to the media after their morning summit. In April, North Korea quit six-nation talks on dismantling its nuclear programmes. The following month it staged its second atomic weapons test, attracting tougher UN sanctions. But Pyongyang said recently it was ready to return to the talks, which are hosted by China, provided there was progress in upcoming bilateral discussions with the United States.

Obama said North Korea faced a choice. "It can continue down the path of confrontation and provocation that has led to less security, less prosperity, and more isolation from the global community, or it can choose to become a full member of the international community," he said. He added the latter option would allow the North to "give a better life to its people by living up to international obligations and forgoing nuclear weapons". Hu said China and the United States were "committed to dialogue and consultation in resolving the Korean peninsula nuclear issue.

"The two sides will work with other parties concerned to continue the denuclearisation process of the Korean Peninsula and six-party talks process in a bid to uphold peace and stability in Northeast Asia," he said. The US special envoy for North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, is to visit Pyongyang by the end of this year to try to bring it back to the negotiating table. The United States has said it is willing to sit down with North Korea but only if such a meeting is considered part of the six-nation talks that led to the 2005 and 2007 agreements on the North giving up its nuclear weapons. The joint Sino-US statement issued after Obama and Hu met Tuesday said "the Chinese side welcomed the start of high-level contacts between the United States and the DPRK" -- the initials of North Korea's official name. "The two sides expressed the hope that the multilateral mechanism of the six-party talks would convene at an early date."

by Staff Writers
Seoul (AFP) Nov 17, 2009
North Korea called Tuesday for better ties with South Korea, just days after threatening revenge for a naval clash on their tense Yellow Sea border.

The milder comments in Rodong Sinmun, a newspaper of the ruling communist party, came one day before US President Barack Obama is due to start a visit to South Korea expected to focus on North Korea issues.

Rodong and other official newspapers had last week vowed that the South would pay dearly for the November 10 exchange of fire, in which a North Korean patrol boat was set ablaze.

The South said the North's boat crossed the border despite repeated warnings and opened direct fire in response to warning shots. The North said the South's navy staged a premeditated provocation.

"It entirely depends on the attitude of the South Korean authorities whether or not inter-Korean relations continue to deteriorate," Rodong Sinmun said Tuesday, as quoted by the official Korean Central News Agency.

"We will continue to make active efforts, as we did before, for the improvement of North-South relations."

The paper said ties could not be normalised in a situation where "one party distrusts its dialogue partner and escalates confrontation and even carries out a military provocation..."

It added: "Nothing but war will break out in a situation of mutual hostility and escalating military tension."

The naval clash, the first for seven years, followed recent peace overtures from Pyongyang to both Seoul and Washington.

Some analysts suspect the North wanted to strengthen its bargaining hand in upcoming talks with the United States by raising tensions on the peninsula.

The US special envoy for North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, is to visit Pyongyang by the end of this year to try to bring it back to six-nation nuclear disarmament talks.

China and the United States want the six-party talks to resume as soon as possible, Obama said Tuesday after meeting President Hu Jintao in Beijing.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan said in Seoul he hopes Bosworth's trip would quickly revive the six-nation talks.

The North quit the forum in April and staged its second atomic weapons test the following month, attracting tougher United Nations sanctions.

The United States says Bosworth's only goal is to bring the North back to the six-party talks, which also group China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.

Yu said the North may have various reasons for seeking bilateral talks and one of them "may be to disrupt the unity among the five nations", which support the UN sanctions.

But the minister said he expects "no substantive negotiations" during Bosworth's visit.

North Korea has said it is ready to return to the six-nation talks but only if there is progress in the bilateral discussions.

Yu said he expects Bosworth to visit sometime between Thanksgiving Day on November 26 and Christmas Day.

Seoul hopes US-N.Korea contact can revive nuclear talks
Seoul (AFP) Nov 17, 2009 - South Korea expressed hope Tuesday that upcoming discussions between the United States and North Korea will quickly revive stalled six-nation nuclear disarmament talks.

Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan made the remarks on the eve of President Barack Obama's visit to Seoul for a summit with President Lee Myung-Bak.

"At the upcoming summit, both leaders are expected to exchange in-depth opinions about the North Korean nuclear issue and the policy on North Korea in general," Yu told a briefing, referring to the Lee-Obama talks.

"Our government hopes that the pending US-North Korean contact will contribute positively to settling the North Korean nuclear issue through the quick resumption of the six-party talks."

Stephen Bosworth, the US representative on North Korea, is due to travel to Pyongyang for discussions on reviving the six-nation talks, which the North quit in April.

Pyongyang staged its second atomic weapons test the following month, attracting tougher United Nations sanctions.

The United States says the only aim of Bosworth's visit is to bring the North back to the six-party talks, which also group China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.

Yu said the North may have various reasons for seeking bilateral talks and one of them "may be to disrupt the unity among the five nations", which support the UN sanctions.

But the minister said he expects "no substantive negotiations" during Bosworth's visit.

"We will maintain the current policy of employing both dialogue and sanctions to make diplomatic efforts to realise the complete denuclearisation of North Korea through six-party talks," Yu said.

North Korea has said it is ready to return to the six-nation talks but only if there is progress in the bilateral discussions.

Yu said he expects Bosworth to visit sometime between Thanksgiving Day on November 26 and Christmas Day.

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NUKEWARS

N.Korea unlikely to give up nuclear weapons: US expert
Seoul (AFP) Nov 16, 2009
North Korea is unlikely to give up its nuclear weapons in the foreseeable future despite the upcoming talks with Washington, a former senior US diplomat who recently visited Pyongyang said Monday. David Straub, once head of the State Department's Korea desk, gave his views as Washington prepares to send an envoy to the North for discussions on reviving the stalled six-nation nuclear ... read more

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