Asia

Asia

’Useful’ U.S., China meetings on North Korea

07 January 2011 02:18 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The top two U.S. specialists on North Korea issues met Thursday with their Chinese counterparts for discussions about a new round of six-party talks, amid growing efforts by the Obama administration to coordinate a relaunch of dialogue with Pyongyang, APA reports quoting The Washington Post.
Stephen Bosworth, the State Department’s special representative for North Korea policy, and Sung Kim, the U.S. ambassador for six-party talks, met with top Chinese officials for what a U.S. spokesman later called "useful consultations" on North Korea policy.
Officials did not say whether the American diplomats sought information from China about a meeting last month between Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo and North Korea’s reclusive leader, Kim Jong Il.
"Serious negotiations must be at the heart of any strategy for dealing with North Korea," Bosworth said at the start of his week-long trip, which began in Seoul, continued in Beijing and will wrap up in Tokyo.
In China, Bosworth and Kim met with Zhang Zhijun, China’s vice foreign minister, and Wu Dawei, its six-party talks representative,
Though all countries involved in the six-party talks - China, Japan, the U.S., Russia and both Koreas - have recently expressed an appetite for dialogue, the aid-for-denuclearization process remains a fraught subject, with disagreements about preconditions.
The United States is seeking signs that North Korea is sincere about disarmament. South Korea wants a commitment that the North will cease its provocations. The North, meanwhile, said Wednesday that it is willing to meet "anyone, anytime and anywhere" - an unconditional offer that Seoul swiftly rejected.
China, North Korea’s chief ally, has also advocated for talks without preconditions. But Beijing has come under increased pressure from U.S. officials in the past month to influence Pyongyang’s behavior.
In March 2010, North Korea torpedoed a South Korean warship, killing 46, an international investigation has found. On Nov. 23, it shelled South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island, killing four and wounding 18.
Those actions have been followed by a recent conciliatory posture, which analysts say fits the pattern of North Korea’s brinksmanship.