North Korea must stop its uranium enrichment program and implement its previous denuclearization pledges before any resumption of the stalled six-party nuclear talks can take place, a senior U.S. diplomat said Tuesday.
"I think that both the Republic of Korea, the United States and our other partners have been very clear on what North Korea must do to be able to have a resumption of the six-party talks," U.S. Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman told reporters in Seoul.
"They have not yet made all of the commitments they need to, including on ending their uranium enrichment program," she said.
Asked whether the U.S. plans to hold more bilateral nuclear talks with North Korea after their meeting in Geneva last month, she replied, "If the Republic of Korea and the United States believe that it's useful to continue bilateral talks we will certainly look at that."
"But, right now the responsibility is with North Korea to meet the requirements that have been laid out very clearly in order to ensure the six-party talks might resume again," she said.
The North's uranium enrichment program has emerged as one of biggest hurdles as regional powers ramp up efforts to reopen the six-party talks.
North Korea has called for an early resumption of the six-party talks without preconditions, but Korea and the U.S. insist Pyongyang must first take concrete steps to show its sincerity, such as a monitored shutdown of its uranium enrichment plant.
The six-party talks, involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan, have been dormant since April 2009, when the North quit the negotiating table and then conducted its second nuclear test a month later.
Pyongyang claims the uranium enrichment program is for peaceful energy development but outside experts believe it will give the country a new source of fission material to make atomic bombs, in addition to its widely known plutonium-based nuclear weapons program.
Since July, Korea and the U.S. have each held bilateral talks with North Korea to gauge the North's sincerity toward denuclearization, but no major breakthrough has been reported.
Sherman's visit comes as South Korea's ruling party vows to use its majority to railroad the free trade agreement with the U.S. through the National Assembly, where opposition parties have blocked the Grand National Party's attempts to ratify it, claiming that it favors the U.S.
The U.S. Congress approved the accord last month.
Despite the protests in South Korea, Sherman said she was confident that the deal would be ratified by the National Assembly.
"We are sure that as considerations take place here in Korea, that Korea will pass the free trade agreement as well," she said. "We look forward to the Republic of Korea ratifying this free trade agreement as soon as it possibly can."
Early on Tuesday, Sherman met high-ranking South Korean officials for talks focused on the North Korean nuclear issue and bilateral relations.
"The alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea is immensely strong," she told South Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Park Suk-hwan before their talks.
"Our presidents have an excellent relationship and we work very closely together," said Sherman, who arrived in Seoul Monday night as part of an Asian trip
It is Sherman's first visit to Seoul since taking office in September. She previously served as the U.S. State Department's special coordinator for North Korea policy from 1997 to 2001.
"You have great experience in handling North Korean issues," Park said. "Therefore, I'd like to ask for your full support on Korean issues and Korea-U.S. relations." (Yonhap)