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North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun on Monday confirmed six-party talks on his country¡¯s nuclear program could restart in mid-September.
Paek said the talks could return from recess "just before the end of September... If things are going well, mid-September is possible," Reuters reported.
The minister said the talks, which had been scheduled to reconvene this week, were being delayed due to annual South Korea-U.S. military exercises. Pyongyang sees the war games, which simulate an emergency on the Korean Peninisula, as hostile. Japan's Kyodo news agency quoted Paek as saying the restart of the talks "depends on the United States,¡± which ¡°must remove all the conditions that have compelled us to build nuclear weapons."
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Chinese policemen patrol the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, the venue for six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programs.
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Meanwhile, Chinese chief negotiator Wu Dawei, wrapping up a three-day visit to Pyongyang, disappointed observers who had expected him to return with a firm date. "The date ¡¦ is not important,¡± Wu said.
Wu said the six-party talks were effectively ongoing, with the six nations using the hiatus to continue contacts and negotiations. But he said he could not reveal an actual date for their resumption, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
Wu started his visit on Saturday and met with North Korean Foreign Minister Paek, North Korean chief negotiator Kim Kye-gwan and Vice Foreign Minister Kim Yong-il.
South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said, "We hope the six-party talks restart in mid-September."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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