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Top U.S. envoy calls for N.K. denuclearization steps before talks

By Shin Hyon-hee

A top U.S. official on Friday called on North Korea to take steps toward denuclearization before any restart of talks, saying its nuclear program remains a “driver of instability” in the region.

Daniel Russel, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, also downplayed the need for another informal meeting of six nations engaged in a long-idle forum on the North’s disarmament, which was recently proposed by China.

“It is crystal clear in the joint statement of 2005 that the goal of the six-party talks and the goal of diplomatic efforts here is the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” Russel told reporters in Seoul.

His consultations with Seoul officials were focused on “the strategy and steps that can bring North Korea to the realization that its security and interests are undermined by its pursuit of nuclear weapons,” he added. 

Seoul is the first leg of Russel’s first Asian tour as assistant secretary, which will take him to Japan, Brunei, Indonesia and China through Sept. 14. He arrived in Seoul on Thursday and is scheduled to depart Saturday for Tokyo.

The career diplomat with expertise in Asia affairs took office in July. He previously served the National Security Council as senior director for East Asian affairs and is known as one of the architects of the U.S.’ strategy of rebalancing to Asia.

During a three-day stay here, he met with Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kyou-hyun, Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Kyung-soo and Cho Tae-yong, the Foreign Ministry’s top nuclear negotiator and special representative for peninsular peace and security affairs.

Russel’s remarks reflected the still chilly mood around Washington over any resumption of nuclear talks with the communist state. 

Despite Pyongyang’s recent overtures and improved inter-Korean ties, Seoul and Washington are apparently considering a fresh round of six-party talks to be still premature and have demanded preemptive, irreversible steps toward denuclearization.

In late August, China proposed a so-called Track 1.5 meeting on Sept. 18 in Beijing of the top nuclear negotiators and scholars from the six countries of the U.S., Japan, Russia and the two Koreas.

“I don’t believe there is a final decision about participation in these informal meetings, but there are a number of Track 2 types of efforts underway,” Russel said.

“The place where we focus is in facilitating authentic negotiations in which North Korea comes to the table, prepared to implement the commitments it has already made, and prepared to live up to obligations that it has.” 

Touching on the Syria debacle, the diplomat expressed concerns over the suspected ties between Pyongyang and Damascus over chemical weapons programs. 

“There certainly is a long and unsavory history of cooperation between the North Korean government and the Syrian regime,” Russel said.

“This is the time when the international community must speak out clearly and Korea has made its voice heard in a persuasive way on the international stage,” he added, citing Seoul’s recent statements that condemned the Bashar Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons and called for accountability.

(heeshin@heraldcorp.com)