Direct talks with N. Korea contingent on mutual trust: U.S. official

0 Comments | Asian Political News, Nov 9, 2009

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 Kyodo

The United States wants trust with North Korea to be rebuilt before holding formal direct bilateral talks between the two countries, a senior State Department official said Monday.

''I think that there is a trust deficit...We have to rebuild trust,'' said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, when asked about what is standing in the way of direct bilateral talks.

Earlier in the day, department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters that no decision has been made over whether to accept North Korea's invitation to Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North Korean policy, to visit the country.

''We know that there is an invitation to Ambassador Bosworth to come to North Korea. We're still considering that invitation. And once a decision has been made, of course, we'll let you know,'' he said.

In September, Washington announced a plan to seek direct talks with Pyongyang as part of efforts to restart the six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear programs.

Along this line, Sung Kim, U.S. special envoy for the six-way negotiations, met with Ri Gun, director general of the North Korean Foreign Ministry's North American affairs bureau, in New York on Oct. 24, apparently producing no tangible results.

Ri, who attended private-sector forums near San Diego and in New York last week, left the United States for home Monday.

North Korea agreed in September 2005 to dismantle its nuclear programs in an aid-for-denuclearization deal struck at the six-party talks involving North and South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.

But North Korea withdrew from the six-way talks in April to protest the U.N. Security Council's condemnation of its rocket launch, which was widely regarded as a long-range missile test. Pyongyang added to the tension by detonating a nuclear device for the second time in May.