A Chinese diplomat said Monday that North Korean negotiators were warming
toward a resumption of talks on ending the North's nuclear weapons program, but
the top U.S. envoy said he has no plans to meet directly with his counterpart
from Pyongyang.
North Korea has shown "some" signs of positive commitment, said Wu Dawei,
China's top nuclear envoy, after meeting twice with the North Korean delegation
on the sidelines of a two-day security forum in Tokyo.
"We can expect some progress," he told reporters Sunday, without giving
details. "We discussed what should be done to achieve a breakthrough."
Wu's were some of the first positive comments in a flurry of diplomatic
meetings that has otherwise produced little progress in resuming the stalled
nuclear talks.
North Korea has boycotted the dialogue since November, citing what it calls a
hostile U.S. attitude illustrated by financial sanctions Washington imposed on
North Korean companies for alleged financial crimes.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill has urged North Korea to
return to the talks, but said he has no plans to meet one-on-one with the North
Korean side while in Tokyo.
"The North Koreans have not yet decided to return to the talks," Hill said
after arriving at Tokyo's Narita airport, adding that both countries held
unproductive meetings on the matter in January and March.
"I'm not sure there's much more I can talk to them about," he said.
"Everybody else is in, so we're waiting for them."
The North agreed in the six-nation talks last year to abandon its nuclear
program in exchange for aid and security guarantees, but the talks foundered and
there has been little progress on implementing the accord.
North Korea has refused to restart talks unless the financial restrictions _
imposed on a Macau bank and North Korean companies _ are lifted, but Washington
maintains the sanctions are unrelated to the nuclear talks and will stay in
place.
The presence of delegates from all six nations involved in the talks _ the
U.S., the two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia _ at the private conference in
Tokyo has raised hopes they could find a way through the impasse.
Speaking at Monday's opening ceremony, Susan Shirk, co-organizer of the
talks, said the conference "might be helpful" for officials involved, but
cautioned, "This forum is not a substitute for the official six-party talks."
The forum's agenda will focus on energy, verification processes regarding the
North's nuclear program and ways to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula,
according to the sponsors, University of California, San Diego.
For several days, delegates from Japan and South Korea have held separate
meetings with their North Korean counterparts, and each other, but have made
little progress.
North Korea's chief delegate, Kim Kye Gwan, said Monday he is prepared to
meet bilaterally with the U.S., but has not backed away from his insistence that
Pyongyang will only return to the six-way talks if the U.S. lifts the financial
sanctions.
Chun Young-woo, South Korea's top negotiator, said a trilateral meeting with
Hill and Japanese counterpart Kenichiro Sasae late Monday had yielded "several
ideas" on how to hammer out a compromise.
"It's still too early to say that we are optimistic or pessimistic. Let's
wait and see," Chun said.
Sasae said the trio agreed to persuade Pyongyang it was in its interest to
return to the talks. He met with Kim earlier on Monday afternoon, their second
meeting since Kim's arrival in Tokyo, with no breakthrough.
China's Wu also met with the Japanese and Russian delegates, said Li Wen
Ling, a Chinese Embassy spokesman. Wu and Chun were slated to hold separate
meetings with Hill Tuesday.