SOUTH KOREA: U.S. envoy to North Korea says he had candid talks with officials in Pyongyang

Record ID: 524221

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: U.S. envoy to North Korea says he had candid talks with officials in Pyongyang
  • Date: 11th December 2009
  • Summary: SLATE INFORMATION
  • Embargoed: 26th December 2009 12:00
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  • Reuters ID: LVA85TC6J1FS1W51G5YLYOWIXFNP
  • Story Text: The U.S. envoy for North Korea said on Thursday (December 10) he had candid talks with officials in Pyongyang and that there was common understanding on the need to implement a long-stalled nuclear weapons disarmament deal.
    "I believe that the visit and my conversations in Pyongyang were very useful. And we were able to exchange views in a candid and business like fashion," said Stephen Bosworth, the U.S. special envoy to North Korea, in Seoul after his meeting with South Korean counterparts.
    Bosworth said he met First Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok-ju, the man regarded as the mastermind of North Korea's nuclear diplomacy, and one of the closest aides to leader Kim Jong-il.
    "We identified some common understandings on the need for and the role of the six-party talks and the importance of implementation of the 2005 joint statement," he said referring to a 2005 deal where the North takes apart its nuclear arms programme in exchange for massive aid and better diplomatic standing.
    Bosworth said it remains to be seen when or how the nuclear talks among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States that have been dormant for about a year can resume.
    He also met the North's top negotiator to the six-way talks, Kim Kye-gwan.
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