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The U.S. chief negotiator at six-party talks on North Korea¡¯s nuclear program, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, is being seen as the key figure in the negotiations set to resume on Tuesday. Unification Minister Chung Dong-young reportedly advised North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to make the most of Hill¡¯s presence at the talks and negotiate while he is still available.
South Korean officials cite the trust of President George W. Bush that Hill enjoys. In 2003, while ambassador to Poland, Hill managed to solicit the dispatch of Polish troops to Iraq when Bush was concerned about the paltry size of the ¡°coalition of the willing.¡± In May the same year Hill also led a working-level task force preparing Bush's Proliferation Security Initiative designed to intercept shipments of weapons of mass destruction by North Korea and others.
As a result, Hill is seen as one of the few people who can say no to the president. In his capacity as Washington¡¯s ambassador to Seoul, Hill was present at a meeting between Bush and Korean President Roh Moo-hyun on the sidelines of the APEC summit last year. "When Bush made some remarks about North Korea, I understand, Hill said, "No, that¡¯s not the case," a government official said. Roh, too, was said to have been impressed.
"Hill possibly has greater discretionary powers than anyone else," a South Korean official said. Foreign Ministry officials who know Hill also believe that he enjoys greater discretion than previous American chief negotiators at the six-party talks.
But given the extent to which U.S. strategy hinges on the issue, Hill may have little room to exercise that discretion unless Pyongyang agrees to the core demand of unconditionally giving up its nuclear program.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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