North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told a visiting Chinese envoy that his government will return to six-party nuclear disarmament talks if the US shows sincerity and if certain conditions are met, the North's official news agency reported yesterday.
The Korean Central News Agency did not elaborate on the conditions, but the report could indicate that North Korea would be ready to strike a deal with the US on returning to the talks but that it might need further diplomatic coaxing to do that.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Lou Fintor said that the US is ready to resume the talks "without preconditions." Washington previously has opposed granting the North any concessions merely for returning to the table.
Japan said that North Korea's return to the talks would be "welcome," while China said more effort was needed by all parties before the negotiations could restart.
Efforts to get North Korea back into the talks have taken on new urgency since Pyongyang flouted Washington and its allies on Feb. 10 with its unconfirmed declaration that it had built nuclear weapons, and its announcement that it would boycott further six-party talks.
Kim's latest comments on the escalating standoff came during a meeting with a high-level envoy from China, his impoverished country's only remaining major ally.
Wang Jiarui, head of the Chinese Communist Party's International Department, traveled to Pyongyang to urge the North to return to the talks, which involve the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan and Russia.
"We will go to the negotiating table anytime if there are mature conditions for the six-party talks," Kim told the envoy, expressing hope that the US would show "trustworthy sincerity" and take unspecified action, KCNA said.
Kim said North Korea "would as ever stand for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and its position to seek a peaceful solution to the issue through dialogue remains unchanged," the news agency said.
North Korea previously has said it would return to the talks only if the US drops its "hostile" policy toward the North. It has condemned US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's description of North Korea as an "outpost of tyranny," calling the remark evidence that Washington seeks a regime change in Pyongyang.
North Korea seeks to trade its nuclear weapons programs for massive economic aid, diplomatic recognition and a nonaggression treaty with Washington -- measures that it hopes will guarantee the survival of Kim's Stalinist regime.
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
SUPPORT: Arms sales to NATO Plus countries such as Japan, South Korea and Israel only have to be approved by the US Congress if they exceed US$25m The US should amend a law to add Taiwan to the list of “NATO Plus” allies and streamline future arms sales, a US commission said on Tuesday in its annual report to the US Congress. The recommendation was made in the annual report by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC), which contained chapters on US-China economic and trade ties, security relations, and Taiwan and Hong Kong. In the chapter on Taiwan, the commission urged the US Congress to “amend the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 to include Taiwan on the list of ‘NATO Plus’ recipients,” referring to
MEET AND GREET: The White House, which called the interaction ‘just a handshake,’ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Biden planned to visit Taiwan’s envoy to the APEC summit, Lin Hsin-i (林信義), on Friday invited US President Joe Biden to visit Taiwan. During the APEC Leaders’ Informal Dialogue, Lin, who represented President William Lai (賴清德) at the summit, spoke with Biden and expressed gratitude to the outgoing US president for his contribution to improving bilateral ties between Taipei and Washington over the past four years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Lin and Biden exchanged views during the conversation, with Lin extending an invitation to Biden to visit Taiwan, it said. Biden is to step down in January next year, when US president-elect Donald Trump is
RSS