TMCnet News
U.S. says no plan for Hill to meet N. Korea counterpart in Japan+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)WASHINGTON, April 6_(Kyodo) _ The top U.S. delegate to the six-party nuclear talks will visit Tokyo next week for bilateral talks and to take part in an academic forum, but there are no plans for him to meet his North Korean counterpart, who will also be there to take part in the same forum, the U.S. State Department said Thursday. But the department did not completely rule out the possibility of a meeting, with spokesman Sean McCormack saying, "If they do, in fact, meet or have some contact beyond saying 'hello' and being polite to one another, we'll let you know." The chief negotiators from all six nations -- the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and North Korea -- will gather in Tokyo next week in time with an academic conference from Sunday to Tuesday, which some countries will attend. It marks the first time for them to get together since their negotiations on the North's nuclear ambitions stalled last November. "The intent of this trip is not to have a contact in the context of this academic conference with a representative of the North Korean government," McCormack said in reference to the trip by Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill. Japan has approved a request for North Korea's top delegate, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, to visit Tokyo. McCormack said the purpose of Hill's trip is primarily to have bilateral consultations with Japan, South Korea and other nations and to attend the forum for "a short period of time." But he said there are "no plans for a meeting with North Korean counterparts." The last fifth round of the six-party talks in November made little progress past September's agreement to a statement of principles, which was to serve as a road map for future talks. The statement calls for security and energy assurances in return for North Korea abandoning its nuclear programs. Differences between North Korea and the other five parties over the sequence of steps in the road map immediately led to a stalemate in further talks. North Korea blames U.S. financial sanctions against a Macao-based bank allegedly laundering money and distributing counterfeit U.S. dollars for the North for its refusal to return to the talks. But the U.S. has repeatedly said the sanctions are simply a law enforcement matter, and have no connection to the nuclear talks. |