US - North Korea
Clinton Sends Envoys to East Asia for North Korea Talks
Bosworth will travel to China, South Korea, Japan and Russia
By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer
February 26, 2009
Washington — The new U.S. special representative for North Korea policy will meet with officials in four nations to revive nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea.
“Early next week, [Ambassador Stephen Bosworth] will be departing for Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing and Moscow to consult on next steps to move the Six-Party process forward,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said at a State Department briefing February 26.
Bosworth will have overall responsibility for a range of issues on North Korea that includes its nuclear weapons development program, proliferation of sensitive weapons technology, human rights and humanitarian problems, Clinton said. “He will work closely with our allies and partners to convince North Korea to become a constructive part of the international community,” she said.
Bosworth, a former U.S. ambassador to South Korea who has traveled to North Korea recently, was named by Clinton as the special representative for North Korea, while U.S. Special Envoy Sung Kim will conduct the “day-to-day” negotiations process. Bosworth said that Ambassador Kim will be joining him on the trip next week.
“We will be having extensive conversations there,” Bosworth said at the briefing.
The Six-Party Talks include China, which chairs the talks, North and South Korea, Japan, Russia and the United States. The overall goal of the talks is to convince North Korea to end its nuclear weapons development program and end the threat of nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula.
Clinton said during her trip to East Asia that the United States stands ready to normalize relations with North Korea and sign a peace treaty to end the Korean War as North Korea abandons its nuclear weapons program.
“Obviously, this is an enterprise in which the United States has a major role, but it is an enterprise which will not succeed unless we have the strong support of all of our allies and friends in the region,” Bosworth said. He added that the United States “will engage with North Korea.”
During a recent private trip to North Korea, Bosworth said that he found North Korean officials “quite inclined toward continued dialogue with the United States and a continued commitment with the people of the region in the Six-Party process.”
The North Korean regime sees the benefits of engagement with the outside world and is prepared to move in that direction, he said.
MISSILE LAUNCH ANNOUNCED
The announcement comes as North Korea is making plans to launch an experimental communications satellite using a new generation long-range ballistic missile. Clinton said during her recent four-nation trip to East Asia that it would not be helpful if North Korea carried out any provocative actions such as launching a rocket.
Experts believe the satellite launch is actually designed to test a new long-range missile that has a range of 6,700 kilometers (4,200 miles), which could threaten U.S. territory. Experts have also said there has been significant activity at the Musudan-ni missile site on North Korea's northeastern coast. Once a long-range missile is placed on the launch pad it can take days just to fuel it.
North Korea test-fired a long-range Taepodong-1 ballistic missile in 1998 over Japan and then claimed it was to put a satellite into outer space. Three years ago, North Korea also tested a new generation Taepodong-2 missile that experts said could reach as far as Alaska, though it fell into the ocean off Japan shortly after being launched.
Missile experts have indicated the ballistic missile being readied for launch shortly is an upgraded version of the Taepodong-2 that could reach the U.S. West Coast.
The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution in 2006 that prohibits North Korea from ballistic missile development.