Door open to dialogue with N. Korea

Nuclear talks are goal, US envoy says

October 01, 2009|Hyung-Jin Kim, Associated Press

SEOUL - Washington’s number two diplomat said the United States is open to dialogue with North Korea if it helps get international nuclear disarmament talks started again, and urged the regime yesterday to take advantage of the opportunity.

North Korea has been insisting on one-on-one talks with the United States after quitting broader six-nation talks on its nuclear program in April.

Washington, which had demanded that the North first return to the talks, is now considering direct talks to push disarmament discussions forward.

“There’s a tremendous opportunity now for them to take a constructive measure,’’ Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg told reporters in Seoul after meeting with South Korean officials.

“They’ve certainly given some indication that they understand the value of reengagement, and we would like to see them take advantage of that.’’

Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency stressed yesterday that the nuclear dispute is strictly a matter between the North and the United States, rejecting as “rubbish’’ and “ridiculous’’ South Korean President Lee Myung-bak’s recent proposal aimed at resolving the dispute.

North Korea has long claimed that what it calls the US “hostile policy’’ and nuclear threats against the regime forced it to develop atomic bombs.

Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry later said the North wants a nuclear-free Korean peninsula, but its denuclearization efforts will be made “in relation to the US policy’’ toward it.