[News Briefing] Efforts to resolve N. Korea nuclear issue to intensify this week

Posted on : 2011-04-25 10:53 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST

The state of affairs on the Korean peninsula seem to be facing a crucial turning point with simultaneous diplomatic trips of envoys from regional powers scheduled to take place this week.
Former United States President Jimmy Carter is said to start a three-day visit to North Korea this coming Tuesday. Carter and his delegation have arrived in Beijing on Saturday and are likely to meet with high-ranking officials there including Wang Jiarui and Wu Dawei, where they will be briefed on China and North Korea’s shared stance on the six-party nuclear talk resumption.
Observers say Beijing will cast light on the pressing need to promptly reopen the multilateral disarmament roundtable. And speculations are high as to whether Carter will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang this time around.
Meanwhile, on the same day, China's chief nuclear negotiator Wu Dawei is scheduled to arrive in Seoul for talks with South Korean officials on the North's nuclear issue.
Here, it is believed officials will further discuss resuming the nuclear talks through the so-called three-step process, which starts with inter-Korean dialogue, followed by talks between Washington and Pyongyang, and then lead to the reopening of the multinational negotiations.
(Arirang News)

Last-ditch campaigns under way to woo voters ahead of key by-elections
South Korea’s political parties made last-ditch efforts Sunday to lure voters for upcoming by-elections widely seen as a bellwether for next year’s general and presidential votes.
Wednesday’s polls are relatively small in size as three parliamentary seats and one gubernatorial seat are up for grabs, though their results are likely to have long-term implications to the rival parties and their presidential hopefuls.
A key contested area is Bundang, an affluent suburb south of Seoul, where Kang Jae-sup, a former chief of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP), is facing off against Sohn Hak-kyu, head of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP). Sohn, a former GNP official, changed his political affiliation to the opposition ahead of the 2007 presidential elections. Kang and Sohn appealed for support on Sunday by attending a series of campaign events in a race in the traditional GNP stronghold that opinion polls show is tight. They also gathered at the same Catholic Church for Easter Mass.
The rival parties are also contesting in the gubernatorial race in Gangwon Province in the northeastern part of the country.
(Yonhap News)