US willing to talk to North about denuclearization

By Jun Ji-hye

The United States is willing to discuss denuclearization with North Korea minus any preconditions, and it does not matter where and in what format such talks are held, said a chief U.S. envoy Saturday.

During an interview with Yonhap News Agency on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the “Sept. 19 Joint Statement,” Sung Kim, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, said whether the discussion takes place in Pyongyang, or some other place, is not important. He stressed that Pyongyang should come back to the negotiating table with a commitment to give up its nuclear program.

“What’s important is for us to be able to sit down with them and hear directly from them that they are committed to denuclearization and that if and when the six-party talks resume, they will work with us in meaningful and credible negotiations towards verifiable denuclearization,” he said.

“When we conveyed to Pyongyang that we are open to dialogue to discuss how we can resume credible and meaningful negotiations, of course we meant it. It was not an empty promise. We are willing to talk to them.”

The Sept. 19 Joint Statement was a landmark agreement produced in 2005 as a result of the six-party talks, in which Pyongyang agreed to abandon its nuclear ambitions in exchange for diplomatic recognition and economic concessions.

The six-party talks involving the U.S., China, Russia, Japan and the two Koreas, aimed at denuclearizing the secretive regime, have been suspended for nearly seven years. The North has demanded unconditional resumption of the six-party talks, but Seoul and Washington have called on Pyongyang to take concrete steps to implement its denuclearization commitments.

It is rare for a senior U.S. official to express willingness to hold talks in the North’s capital. In January, Kim offered to meet with the North’s First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan, Pyongyang’s former chief nuclear negotiator, in a third country, but the North insisted on Kim visiting Pyongyang instead. The meeting then foundered.

The U.S envoy said Washington has continuously told the North that it is open to exploratory talks, but the repressive state has shown no interest in talks about denuclearization.

“I think that’s been the problem. That’s been the hindrance,” he said.

Last week, the isolated state said that it has restarted operations at its nuclear facility in Yongbyon, the main site for its nuclear program.

The North also hinted at test-firing a long-range rocket on the occasion of 70th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party on Oct. 10.

The former U.S. ambassador to Korea said he believes China and Russia also view Pyongyang’s satellite launch as a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions against the North.

Meanwhile, Seoul and Moscow are expected to hold high-level security dialogue late this month amid mounting nuclear and missile threats from the Kim Jong-un regime. Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Security Council of Russia and a close aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, is likely to visit Seoul before heading to Japan, according to sources.

If the talks are realized, Patrushev is expected to meet with is South Korean counterpart, National Security Office chief Kim Kwan-jin.

The last visit of Patrushev, was October 2012. The Security Council of Russia, chaired by Putin, is Moscow’s top consultative body that deals with security affairs.

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