U.S. and Asian leaders this weekend scheduled a new round of North Korean nuclear talks for Dec. 8 in Beijing, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 21).
(Nov. 24) -
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has announced the next round of North Korean nuclear talks (David Silverman/Getty Images).
The six-nation effort to implement an agreement to denuclearize North Korea has advanced haltingly, with North Korea imposing the latest delay by refusing to allow inspectors to remove nuclear samples from the nation.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cautioned yesterday that the final goal is a long way away.
"The North Koreans took more than 30 years to get (a nuclear program)," she told reporters flying from a multilateral summit in Peru. "I think it might take more than a couple to unravel it" (Agence France-Presse/Philippine Daily Inquirer, Nov. 23).
The goal of the next round of talks -- among China, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea and the United States -- would be to leave "a process in place that the next [U.S. presidential] administration can work with. And I think we will do that," said Dennis Wilder, senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council (Ben Feller, Associated Press/Google News, Nov. 22).