hankyoreh

leaves the office of the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations July 29 (local time). (AP Yonhap)

By Kwon Tae-ho, Washington Correspondent

With North Korea and the United States planning additional dialogue in the future following their first high-level talks in over nineteen months, sources indicated that a variety of bilateral discussions would be taking place in the days ahead among the countries involved in the six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue, including Pyongyang-Tokyo, Pyongyang-Beijing, Seoul-Washington, and Washington-Tokyo discussions.

Analysts are saying that while Pyongyang and Washington may not have reached any notable point of agreement at the latest high-level talks, the recent moves indicate that both countries will continue looking for ideas to shift the situation on the Korean Peninsula in the direction of dialogue.

Meeting with journalists Sunday (local time) at the Millennium Hotel in New York City, where the North Korean delegation is staying, North Korean Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Han Song-ryol said that further Pyongyang-Washington talks would be taking place in the future.

When asked about whether North Korea was holding talks with South Korea, Japan, and China in addition to its talks with the United States, Han hinted at the possibility of considerable activity in bilateral discussions prior to the six-party talks. “Before the multilateral [six-party talks], there need to be continuous bilateral meetings,” Han said.

A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson also answered a question from a journalist from North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) Monday by saying, “Both sides acknowledged that it is in the interest of each to improve North Korea-U.S. relations and continue pursuing denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula peacefully through discussions, and agreed to continue with dialogue going ahead.”

Analysts are predicting that authorities for the six-party talks will engage in broad-ranging discussions on matters such as the sequence for continuing with dialogue through assessments of the latest Pyongyang-Washington meeting over the course of various bilateral contacts.

To begin with, U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Stephen Bosworth, who represented the United States in the high-level talks with North Korea, is known to be planning a tour of South Korea, China, and Japan within the month of August. A foreign affairs source said Monday that the United States would be “engaging in discussions with the nations involved in order to explain the outcome of the North Korea-U.S. dialogue and talk about the next steps.”

North Korea is also planning to engage in discussions with China over the results of the talks. After attending a Monday discussion among Korean Peninsula experts organized by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, North Korean First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan plans to leave New York City on Tuesday and return to North Korea via the Chinese capital of Beijing. Sources reported that on their way back, the North Korean delegation would be meeting with Chinese Special Representative on Korean Peninsula Affairs Wu Dawei in Beijing some time around Thursday morning to discuss the results of the Pyongyang-Washington talks.

Meanwhile, meeting with journalists at the Millennium Hotel, Kim reiterated North Korea’s established position that its uranium enrichment program is “peaceful nuclear activity for the production of electricity.”

Previously on Monday, the Asahi Shimbun and other Japanese news outlets reported that the U.S. requested an immediate halt to the UEP from North Korea at the talks, but that North Korea refused to do so.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]