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(3rd LD) Gates says diplomatic engagement with N. Korea 'possible' By Kim Deok-hyun SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday diplomatic engagement with North Korea is "possible," but Pyongyang must first stop its "dangerous provocations and take concrete steps" to meet its international obligations. Gates made the remarks as he started talks in Seoul with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin to discuss concerns over the increasingly belligerent North and ways to further strengthen their deterrence against the communist state. "With regard to next steps on North Korea, diplomatic engagement is possible, starting with direct...

South Korea has balked at restarting multilateral talks on North Korea's nuclear program, saying diplomacy must wait until Seoul finds out who sank its warship near the inter-Korean border. The move could spark differences with the United States, which has made nuclear disarmament a top priority. President Lee Myung-Bak's office made clear that it opposes the resumption of the so-called six-way talks on ending the North's nuclear weapons drive until it uncovers the cause of the March 26 sinking of a patrol boat that left 46 sailors dead. "Our firm position is that there will be no six-way talks before...

US diplomat Christopher Hill to retire US diplomat Christopher Hill, who previously served as the US chief negotiator to the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program, will retire from diplomatic service. A senior US official told NHK that Hill plans to end his 33-year-long diplomatic career as early as this summer. Hill is now the US Ambassador to Iraq. The official says the ambassador will resign after witnessing the establishment of a new government in Iraq. Hill was appointed as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs under the Bush administration in 2005. He worked as...

N Korea 'removes nuclear seals' North Korea has removed UN nuclear watchdog seals from a key atomic facility, the organisation has said. Pyongyang had said it would reactivate the Yongbyon plant amid disputes over a disarmament-for-aid deal. North Korea said Washington had not removed it, as promised, from a list of state sponsors of terrorism. The removal of similar seals in December 2002 sparked a long-running crisis which resulted in Pyongyang testing an atomic weapon in 2006. Pyongyang was expecting to be removed from the US terror list after finally submitting a long-delayed account of its nuclear facilities to the...

North Korea Reassembling Nuclear Center, U.S. Officials Say Tuesday , September 02, 2008 ADVERTISEMENT WASHINGTON — North Korea, after halting the disassembly of a key nuclear center, is now putting the center back together in violation of the United States' conditions for improved diplomatic relations between the countries, U.S. officials told FOX News on Tuesday. The motive isn't clear but sources say North Koreans likely are reassembling nuclear facilities at Yongbyon partly to protest the United States' delay in taking the country off its list of terrorist-sponsoring nations. "They've been threatening this move for some time," one U.S. official told...

North Korea to suspend nuclear disablement 48 minutes ago North Korea said on Tuesday it would suspend disablement of its nuclear facilities and consider restoring the Yongbyon nuclear reactor, accusing the United States of violating a disarmament deal. "We have decided to immediately suspend disabling our nuclear facilities," the North's KCNA news agency quoted a foreign ministry official as saying. "This measure has been effective on August 14 and related parties have been notified of it," the official said. Regional powers have been pressing North Korea to accept stringent measures to verify the declaration it made in July of its...

U.S. Ready to Ease Sanctions on N. Korea Pyongyang Would Have to Acknowledge Evidence About Nuclear Activities By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, April 11, 2008; A15 The United States is prepared to lift two key economic sanctions against North Korea under a tentative deal reached with that country this week, which requires Pyongyang to acknowledge U.S. concerns and evidence about a range of nuclear activities, U.S. and Asian diplomats said yesterday. The agreement also requires North Korea to finish disabling its main nuclear facility and provide a full accounting of its stockpile of plutonium. But, in a...

A Ticking Clock on N. Korea By David Ignatius Sunday, March 23, 2008; B07 For many months, Bush administration officials have been imagining a valedictory conclusion to their long-running negotiations with North Korea: Pyongyang would make a "complete and correct declaration" about its nuclear program, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would travel to North Korea to celebrate normalization of relations with a former member of the "axis of evil." But the North Korea breakthrough isn't happening, and administration officials know they are running out of time before President Bush leaves office. The New York Philharmonic has come and gone...

N. Korea talks left out details January 23, 2008 By Bill Gertz - North Korea's recent discussions with the United States about a required declaration under the six-nation nuclear talks omitted key data on Pyongyang's current nuclear arsenal and its covert uranium enrichment program, U.S. officials say. The failure to provide the information in a formal declaration, combined with North Korea's Jan. 4 public statement asserting it already made the declaration, left the four years of talks frozen amid newly disclosed intelligence showing North Korea at one time had equipment with traces of 90 percent enriched uranium, said officials who...

N Korea threatens to scrap nuke deal Article from: Agence France-Presse From correspondents in Seoul July 13, 2007 02:55pm NORTH Korea's military warned today that a deal to disarm its nuclear programme could be scrapped if the US keeps "pressurising" the country, the official KCNA news agency reported. The North will step up efforts to protect itself from a "US nuclear attack and pre-emptive strike" if the US keeps "pressurising the DPRK under the pretext of the nuclear issue," it said. "In that case, it is as clear as noonday that neither the implementation of the February 13 agreement nor...

North Korea says Japan unfit for nuclear talks By Reuters Sunday July 1, 09:30 PM SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea accused Japan on Sunday of trying to disband a pro-Pyongyang group of ethnic Koreans and said Tokyo's "dastardly" behaviour casts doubts whether it is fit to sit at six-way talks on Pyongyang's nuclear programme. North Korea has previously discredited Japan's role at the six-way talks, which also group South Korea, Russia, China and the United States, but agreed in a February nuclear disarmament deal to work on improving ties with Tokyo. A Tokyo court in June cleared the way for...

N. Korea nuclear talks break down POSTED: 4:08 a.m. EDT, March 22, 2007 BEIJING, China (AP) -- Talks on disarming North Korea's nuclear program broke down abruptly on Thursday with the country's chief nuclear envoy departing for home after a dispute over money frozen in a Macau bank could not be resolved. Kim Kye Gwan went to Beijing's airport after refusing to take part in six-party talks on ways to push forward a February agreement calling for North Korea to give up its nuclear program in return for energy aid and political considerations. Kim waved to reporters when he arrived...

U.S. bemoans lost chance at North Korea talks By Lindsay Beck and Jack Kim 1 hour, 8 minutes ago Talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear threat languished on Wednesday as Pyongyang waited to receive freed funds, prompting delegates to warn that the chance to press forward a disarmament plan was being lost. The three-day session that began on Monday was meant to focus on steering forward a February 13 deal which called on North Korea to shut its main nuclear reactor and accept other disarmament steps in 60 days in return for economic aid and security assurances. But impoverished...

(4th LD) Six-party nuclear talks stalled due to N. Korean boycott (ATTN: UPDATES with six-party talks stalled, minor changes; CHANGES headline) By Byun Duk-kun BEIJING, March 20 (Yonhap) -- Six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program stalled again Tuesday after the North refused to participate until its frozen funds at a Macau bank are released. An afternoon session of the six-nation nuclear disarmament talks was cancelled due to the North Korean boycott, according to Kenichiro Sasae, Japan's chief nuclear envoy.

NORTH KOREA'S NUCLEAR THREAT / Gaps seen in Japan, U.S. policies The Yomiuri Shimbun An agreement adopted at the latest round of six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program stipulates two-phase measures toward Pyongyang's denuclearization in return for energy support. This second series of articles on the threats posed by North Korea's nuclear program, following the first series carried last month, takes a close look at the background to the agreement reached at the six-party talks. This is the fourth installment of the series. After the U.S.-North Korea talks in Berlin from Jan. 16 to 18, Japan and the United...

/begin my translation Bolton, "Bush's Compromise with N. Korea , a Sad Development" Interview with Chosun Ilbo: "N. Korea would not give up nuke... Kim Jong-il regime should be eliminated." Washington = Huh Yong-bum 2007.02.16 23:22 After 'Feb. 13 Deal on N. Korean nuke,' John Bolton, the former U.S. Ambassador to U.N., has become the figure getting most attention in U.S. As soon as Beijing agreement was announced, he came out, saying, "It is flatly wrong," squarely criticizing George W. Bush. This tough stance is being talked about again and again (in the media.) In an interview with Chosun...

Kim Jong-il ‘Told Top Nuke Negotiator to Be Confident’ Usually reliable insiders on Thursday claimed North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told the nation's top nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-gwan the North can relax after developing nuclear weapons and to conduct negotiations with the U.S. in a confident manner. The sources in Seoul and Beijing said Kim would have said something along the lines of, “We don't have to worry about our security any more. There won't be a war. You go and see whether the U.S. is really ready to be our friend,” before sending him off to six-party talks about...

Washington Proposes North Korea Begin Denuclearization within 2 Months The US is said to have proposed to North Korea that it take early steps toward denuclearizing within the next two months. Citing sources in Washington, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reports the US spelled out what those steps are last week at the six-party nuclear talks in Beijing. Washington wants Pyeongyang to first freeze its nuclear plant in Yongbyon and to reallow international nuclear inspectors into the communist country. The chief US envoy to the talks, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill reportedly told his North Korean counterpart, Deputy Foreign Minister...

6-party talks end, entering recess (Kyodo) _ (EDS: ADDING INFO) The six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions ended Friday after five days of negotiations in Beijing and entered a recess, the chief Chinese delegate said in a chairman's statement. Reading out the statement, Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei said, "The parties have reaffirmed their common goal and will in striving for the peaceful goal of denuclearization the Korean Peninsula." "We will carry out the commitments specified in the September 2005 statement and will take coordinated steps to achieve those goals," Wu said. China's state-run Xinhua News Agency said the...

U.S. promises to guarantee N. Korea's security if it dismantles nukes SEOUL, Dec. 14 KYODO The United States has told North Korea it will guarantee the country's security in writing if North Korea takes concrete steps to dismantle its nuclear weapons program, Yonhap News Agency reported Thursday. The United States made the offer when chief U.S. nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill and his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye Gwan met in Beijing late last month, Yonhap quoted diplomatic sources as saying. In the Beijing talks, the United States reiterated it has no intention of attacking North Korea and is willing to...