North Korea on Saturday agreed to return to six-party talks on its nuclear program, ending 13 months of intense international efforts to bring the reclusive country back to the negotiating table. The talks will likely resume in Beijing on July 27. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill and North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan met in Beijing on Saturday and agreed to reconvene the talks in the week of July 25. The two countries formally announced the agreement on Sunday.
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The North¡¯s official Korean Central News Agency reports that the Stalinist country will return to six-party talks on its nuclear program in the week of July 25./Yonhap
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The North Korean Foreign Ministry said Sunday the U.S. had made it clear it recognizes the DPRK as a sovereign state and will not invade it. It added Pyongyang interpreted this ¡°as a retraction of its remark designating the former as an outpost of tyranny and decided to return to the six-party talks.¡± There has been no denial of that interpretation from the U.S.
A high-ranking U.S. official accompanying Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on a whistlestop tour of the region said Sunday the agreement meant Pyongyang would no longer call for mutual nuclear disarmament talks, while the U.S. would no longer insist that North Korea admits it has a highly enriched uranium program, according to Reuters.
When the U.S. raised the issue of North Korea¡¯s uranium enrichment program in 2002, the nuclear dispute entered a new stage. Pyongyang denies such a program exists, while Seoul says U.S. evidence is inconclusive. A signal from Washington that it is backing down on the point raises hopes of real progress during the talks.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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