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Former U.S. State Department Special Assistant Morton Abramowitz, center, and Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Program Director Leon Segal, left, enter the Incheon International Airport after wrapping up a five-day visit to North Korea, Sunday. The unofficial US delegation traveled to the North for talks with unnamed diplomatic and military officials at a time when the North was reportedly preparing to test-fire a long-range missile. / Korea Times photo by Park Seo-gang |
By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
South Korea and the United States will step up talks on North Korea and other security issues in the coming weeks, with top diplomats from both countries set to take trips to each other's countries for policy coordination.
U.S. President Barack Obama is close to choosing his envoy to North Korea, who faces a daunting task of shattering the Stalinist regime's nuclear ambition through the framework of the six-party negotiations.
Experts say the North may stir military conflicts on its border with the South in order to have direct talks with the U.S. administration over its nuclear program.
On Saturday, U.S. officials said the North showed a willingness to continue with the multilateral negotiations, but at the same time is preparing direct talks with the United States.
``We concluded that the outlook is that we can continue to work toward eventual denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,'' former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Stephen Bosworth told reporters, upon arriving in Beijing from a five-day trip to Pyongyang.
Bosworth and a group of non-government American experts visited Pyongyang to meet with senior officials in a civilian-exchange program between the United States and North Korea.
``North Korean officials neither confirmed nor denied recent reports about a missile test. They said we should all wait and see. There were no threats, no indication that they were concerned,'' Bosworth said.
In late January, South Korea's intelligence agency said the North was preparing to test-fire its longest-range missile, the Taepodong-2, which can reach as far as Alaska and the West Coast of the United States. North Korea said earlier that it had scrapped all peace agreements it had signed with South Korea.
Seoul officials hope the upcoming talks between Seoul and Washington will help ease tension in the Korean Peninsula as well as provide an opportunity to strengthen an alliance between the two countries.
``During a recent telephone conversation with President Lee Myung-bak, President Obama pledged to denuclearize North Korea through the six-party talks and a stronger alliance with South Korea,'' a Cheong Wa Dae spokesman said Sunday.
``We hope Obama understands that the Seoul-Washington ties are crucial to resolving the North Korean nuclear issue.''
Lee's senior secretary for diplomatic and security issues, Kim Sung-hwan, will visit Washington from Wednesday through Sunday for talks with officials from the White House.
Lee will be the highest ranking South Korean official to visit the United States since the inauguration of the Obama administration on Jan. 20.
Days later, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit Seoul as part of her Asian swing and meet with President Lee on Feb. 20 at Cheong Wa Dae. Clinton will discuss the six-party talks and other regional security issues, according to the U.S. State Department.
On Feb. 19, Lee will also meet with 11 U.S. lawmakers, including Isaac Newton Skelton, head of the House's Armed Services Committee, at Cheong Wa Dae.
jj@koreatimes.co.kr
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경찰, 이태원 등 외국인 밀집지역 특별관리
