The United States said Tuesday that the envoy for North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, and other US officials will travel to Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing next week to discuss North Korea.
Bosworth, Sung Kim, the special envoy for the six-party nuclear disarmament talks and Daniel Russell, the National Security Council's Asia director, will make the three-country trip, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said.
The team will visit Seoul on September 12-14, Tokyo from September 14-15, and Beijing from 15-16, "for discussions on North Korea," he told reporters, adding it is part of a flurry of recent consultations on North Korea.
Asked if the trio might have any meetings with North Korean officials during the trip or actually travel to North Korea for such talks, Crowley replied: "None are anticipated."
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| North Koreans perform Arirang Mass Games' chapter 5, named ''Goodwill Arirang'' in Pyongyang September 6, 2010 in this photo released by North Korea's KCNA news agency on Monday. The chapter 5 describes the friendship and the unity between North Korea and China according to KCNA.
Credit: Reuters/KCNA |
South Korean envoy Wi Sung-Lac was in Washington last week, as was Chinese negotiator Wu Dawei.
In late August, Chinese President Hu Jintao received North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, with both pressing for a resumption of the six-party talks composed of the United States, China, the two Koreas, Japan and Russia.
"We will continue our consultations with key parties in this process, but I would suggest, as we have in the past, that it's North Korea that needs to do what it can to create a better environment for our progress," he said.
North Korea bolted the six-party disarmament negotiations in April last year, following a UN reprimand over a long-range rocket test.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100907/pl_afp/nkoreanuclearusdiplomacy
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