LEAD: U.S. agrees on six-way N. Korea talk format: Russia

0 Comments | Asian Political News, July 28, 2003

MOSCOW, July 24 Kyodo

(EDS: MORE DETAILS)

The United States has agreed to meet North Korean officials in Beijing in a trilateral format involving Chinese officials for one just day with the meeting to be joined the following day by officials from Russia, Japan, and South Korea, Russian vice foreign minister Alexander Losyukov said Thursday.

According to the Interfax news agency, Losyukov did not say when the talks would place when he disclosed the two-phase talk arrangement to the Russian NTV television network.

China has sought to broker international talks to resolve the North Korea's nuclear standoff, but there has been no arrangement on the format of the meeting.

The U.S., insisting that North Korea's nuclear program is a regional issue that also involves Asian powers, has called for multilateral talks to resolve the impasse.

The U.S. wants Japan and South Korea to join the multilateral talks, but North Korea has demanded that the talk to include Russia, a close North Korea ally.

In Washington, a senior administration official said Wednesday that multilateral talks addressing North Korea's nuclear arms programs are most likely to take place in early September.