 Chief of parliamentary committee on inter-Korean relations |
An opposition lawmaker said Saturday the United States is hoping to create the right conditions for dialogue with North Korea within “one or two months,” citing a conversation he had with the top U.S. diplomat in Seoul.
Park Joo-sun of the main opposition Democratic Party told Yonhap News Agency that he was told as much during a meeting with U.S. Ambassador Kathleen Stephens last week.
Park, who heads a parliamentary committee on inter-Korean relations, quoted Stephens as saying Washington had made various efforts to maintain contact with Pyongyang in a bid to pave the way for “sincere talks.”
A public affairs official with the embassy could not confirm the remarks.
Park did not elaborate on the channels Washington may have used, but quoted the ambassador as saying failure to create better conditions would be a critical setback.
His comments come amid a series of unofficial contacts between the U.S. and North Korea, which analysts say appear to be testing the waters for talks.
Negotiations on the North’s nuclear program, which includes a recently-disclosed uranium enrichment component, have been stalled since 2009 when Pyongyang walked away over international sanctions for its missile and nuclear tests.
Pyongyang and Beijing have called for a resumption of the talks as a way to ease regional tensions, still high after the North last year sank a South Korean warship and shelled Yeonpyeong Island, killing a total of 50.
But Washington and Seoul maintain that the North must move to improve inter-Korean ties and take clear denuclearization steps before any resumption of the forum.
Still, sides are reportedly consulting over how to resume the forum, seen as the best way to manage the North’s belligerence.
Last month, Ri Gun, director general of the North American affairs bureau of the North's foreign ministry, visited Berlin last month for a seminar hosted by a U.S. think tank, where he discussed prospects for reopening the talks with former Washington officials.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter will make a private visit to Pyongyang later this month "to induce the North Koreans to give up their nuclear weapons," and determine what can be done to improve the humanitarian situation there.
Analysts say Pyongyang is angling to secure international aid ahead of 2012, the year it has pledged to become a powerful nation and when it is expected to complete its second hereditary power transfer.
