Informal discussions between officials from North Korea and the United States ended yesterday in San Diego, where diplomats from the two longtime antagonists were dispatched to attend an academic forum, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Oct. 27).
No significant agreements were reached during the two-day conference on northeast Asian security issues. Officials from all members of the six-party talks on North Korean denuclearization -- China, Japan, Russia, the United States and both Koreas --, were in attendance. Pyongyang's No. 2 nuclear negotiator, Ri Gun, received a special visa from the U.S. State Department so that he might attend.
The conference was intended to be "frank but friendly," said Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue founder Susan Shirk. It was coincidence that the meeting occurred amid North Korean indications of a renewed willingness to engage in diplomacy, after seemingly abandoning the nuclear talks earlier this year and detonating another nuclear device.
"It is in no way a preparation for official talks," Shirk said. "I have no clearer idea now than I did two days ago about when or if official talks will resume."
She added: " I don't see any major breakthroughs" (Amy Taxin, Associated Press/Google News, Oct. 27).
In another sign that it wishes to re-engage diplomatically, Pyongyang intends to have its former deputy head of the North Korean mission to the United nations resume his post, Kyodo News reported.
The Yonhap News Agency reported that Han Song Ryol has applied for a visa to return to New York. Ryol was the deputy mission chief for five years, leaving in 2006.
As the North Korean mission head handles issues concerning the United Nations, the deputy essentially serves as an unofficial ambassador to the United State, according to Yonhap (Kyodo News/Breitbart.com, Oct. 26).
In Seoul, South Korean Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said today that any negotiations between his country and the North would start with the issue of nuclear disarmament, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Media reports have surfaced that Pyongyang is seeking a formal leadership summit with its southern neighbor.
Hyun called on the North to accept South Korea's offer "grand bargain," under which the North would receive security promises and financial assistance in return for fully and permanently giving up its nuclear activities.
Such a bargain would "kick off on a full scale by means of inter-Korean dialogue," Hyun said (Xinhua News Agency/China Daily, Oct. 28).