Defense minister's DPRK trip may aid nuke talks

By Peng Kuang (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-20 07:40

China and the United States announced Thursday they will send senior officials to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as nations try to get the DPRK back to negotiations over its nuclear programs.

Defense Minister Liang Guanglie will visit the DPRK, Japan and Thailand from Nov 22 to Dec 5, said Senior Colonel Huang Xueping, the ministry spokesman.

US special envoy Stephen Bosworth will visit the DPRK on Dec 8 to get Pyongyang to give up its nuclear programs, US President Barack Obama said yesterday at a joint news conference in Seoul with Repubilc of Korea (ROK) President Lee Myung-bak.

"As part of that effort, we will be sending Ambassador (Stephen) Bosworth to engage in direct talks" with the DPRK, Obama said.

Meng Xiangqing, a professor at Beijing-based National Defense University, said Liang's visit will help to convince the DPRK to return to negotiations.

Liang was sent to promote military exchanges between the two countries. The trip, Meng said, will help bring "peace and stability" to the Korean Peninsula.

In the press conference in Seoul, Obama was stern that the "old pattern" of talks with the DPRK would not continue.

"The thing I want to emphasize is that President Lee and I both agree we want to break the pattern that existed in the past, in which the DPRK behaves in a provocative fashion, and then is willing to return to talk ... and then that leads to seeking further concessions and there is never actually any progress on the core issues."

The denuclearization will be the "core issues", Obama said. "If the DPRK is prepared to take concrete and irreversible steps to fulfill its obligations and eliminate its nuclear programs, the US will support economic assistance and help promote its full integration into the community of nations."

But Chinese experts said the US must address the DPRK's security concerns.

The core issue should be the relationship between the US and the DPRK, Meng said. "The US should give up its hostility against the DPRK that has existed since the end of the Korean War" so that the DPRK can feel safe.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said yesterday that China welcomes and supports the dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang.

"We hope their meeting will help resume the Six-Party Talks, facilitate the denuclearization process of the Korean Peninsula and safeguard peace and stability on the Peninsula and in the region," Qin said.

He expressed belief that efforts were made within the framework of the Six-Party Talks. China is closely standing by if Six-Party Talks resume, he added.

During Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to the DPRK last month, Kim Jong-il, the country's leader, said Pyongyang was willing to rejoin the Six-Party Talks that also include China, the US, Japan, Russia and the ROK.

The DPRK left the negotiating table in April after the United Nations condemned its rocket launches.