YONHAP NEWS

(6th LD) N. Korea to return to 6-way talks depending on talks with U.S.: KCNA

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has said his country will return to the six-party talks on its nuclear disarmament depending on the outcome of discussions with the United States, the North's official news service reported Monday.

While meeting with visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao earlier in the day, Kim "expressed our readiness to hold multilateral talks, depending on the outcome of the DPRK-U.S. talks," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a dispatch from Pyongyang. DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"The six-party talks are also included in the multilateral talks," the KCNA said, paraphrasing Kim.

   Kim's remarks come amid optimism that Wen's visit to North Korea may produce a breakthrough in the six-party talks, which the North declared "dead" earlier this year after being punished with U.N. sanctions for its long-range rocket test. The talks are hosted by Beijing.

   The North Korean leader also reiterated Pyongyang's position on denuclearization.

   "Our efforts to attain the goal of denuclearizing the peninsula remain unchanged," Kim said. "The denuclearization of the peninsula was the behest of President Kim Il-sung," North Korea's late founder and Kim Jong-il's father.

   Kim denounced what he called U.S. hostility toward the North.

   "The hostile relations between the DPRK and the United States should be converted into peaceful ties through the bilateral talks without fail," he said, according to the KCNA.

   North Korea has said the six-party talks were being used as a tool of oppression, and insists on resolving the nuclear issue through bilateral talks with the U.S.

   U.S. officials have said they are awaiting the outcome of Wen's visit before deciding whether to send Stephen Bosworth, special representative for North Korea policy, to the North Korean capital to try to persuade the North to come back to the six-nation forum.

   U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly responded to Kim's remarks by saying: "The U.S. remains willing to engage North Korea bilaterally within the framework of the six-party process to convince North Korea to take the path of complete denuclearization."

   In a statement, Kelly reiterated the U.S. will continue to seek the North's complete denuclearization through the six-party talks and impose sanctions under relevant U.N. resolutions to that effect.

   "There is consensus among the five parties that the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula remains the core objective and essential goal of our engagement with North Korea, that the six-party process is the best mechanism for achieving denuclearization, and that we remain committed to the full implementation" of related U.N. Security Council resolutions, he said.

   Kelly told a daily news briefing earlier in the day that "no decisions have been made" about Bosworth's possible Pyongyang trip.

   The North Korean leader made a rare appearance at Pyongyang's airport to greet Wen on Sunday, a protocol usually reserved for heads of state.

   Wen said he "appreciated the DPRK's commitment to a nuclear-free peninsula and multilateral dialogue, including the six-party talks, in realizing this goal," China's Xinhua News Agency said.

   John Feffer, co-director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies, said Kim's remarks were aimed at pleasing China, its idealogical ally and biggest benefactor.

   "Of course, North Korea recognizes that China is the country most invested in the multilateral process," he said. "So, it will tell China what China wants to hear: namely that multilateral negotiations are important."

   Feffer, however, added that the apparent policy swift by the North is also aimed at circumventing international as well as Chinese pressure to come back to the six-party talks.

   "North Korea has been willing to participate in multilateral talks as long as it achieves its objectives through bilateral discussions, and the multilateral talks validate these bilateral understandings," he said.

   "In other words, the six-party talks are the price North Korea is willing to pay to sit down with the United States face-to-face and work out the broad outlines of an agreement."

   Denny Roy, senior fellow at the East-West Center in Honolulu, warned against optimism.

   "The point is that things are never as good as they seem or as bad as they seem with North Korea," Roy said. "At the moment Pyongyang obviously wants to re-engage and is saying all the right things to the U.S.A. and China to restart negotiations."

   Roy expected Bosworth will meet with North Koreans in either Pyongyang or Beijing soon.

   "I don't expect, however, that once they begin those negotiations will be any easier than before," he said. "The North Koreans are ready to test their resolve by threatening to go back to hostile and provocative behavior if Pyongyang does not get its way in the upcoming talks."

   hdh@yna.co.kr
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