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The majority of Americans want the Obama administration to engage North Korea directly to make a breakthrough in multilateral talks on North Korea’s nuclear disarmament, a survey said Thursday.
According to the Yonhap News Agency, a survey of 2,717 American adults conducted from June 11 throuh 22 by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs showed 62 percent of the respondents feel that “U.S. government leaders should be ready to meet and talk with leaders in North Korea.”
The Obama administration has continued to delay any active engagement with Pyongyang until the country shows commitment to denuclearization and stops provocations such as its sinking of a South Korean warship.
　　
Richardson’s top advisor visits N. Korea　
Tony Namgoong, top advisor to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, arrived in the North Korean capital Pyongyang on Thursday, North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
KCNA did not mention the duration of his stay or the purpose of his visit in a brief report about Namgoong’s arrival. He was reportedly invited by North Korea when officials with North Korea‘s ambassador to the United Nations visited Richardson in New Mexico, August 2009.
　　
S. Korea and U.S. to hold drills in West Sea Monday　
South Korea and the United States will hold anti-submarine drills next week off Korea’s west coast, South Korean officials reported Friday.
The five-day exercise to begin Monday are the second joint military response by the two countries to sinking of the Cheonan. The South Korean and U.S. administrations have blamed the sinking of the Cheonan on North Korea. The allies staged major joint military drills off the peninsula‘s east coast in late July.
　
New PM hearings to begin next week　
Ruling and opposition parties on Thursday agreed upon three witnesses to call for the confirmation hearings of President Lee Myung-bak’s Prime Minister-designate Kim Hwang-sik. The hearings will take place next week on Wednesday and Thursday. During a National Assembly plenary session on Oct. 1, they will also vote on the motion to confirm Kim‘s appointment as prime minister.
Kim is likely to face questions over his military service exemption, suspicions surrounding a 240 million Won ($207,523) loan from his older sisters and special benefits for the university of which his older sister is the president.
According to officials from the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) and main opposition Democratic Party (DP), the three witnesses will be Eun Jin-soo, an inspector at the state-run Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI); Kim Pil-sik, the nominee’s sister and president of Dongshin University; and Hur Gi-taek, professor of Dongshin University who is also head of the school‘s office of industry-academic cooperation.
　　
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