Hill may meet North Korean official in Beijing

Washington, Nov 28: A senior US official may meet his North Korean counterpart in Beijing this week as diplomats prepare for six-party talks on ending Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, the State Department said todday.

''It's certainly a possibility. We'll keep you up-to-date on whether or not he actually has that meeting,'' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters when asked whether US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill might meet North Korean envoy Kim Kye-gwan in China.

Hill, who is visiting Beijing for the second time in as many weeks, plans to meet Chinese, South Korean and Japanese officials there in an effort to lay the groundwork for fresh six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear arms programs.

A Japanese government source said China is urging North Korean envoy Kim Kye-gwan to come to Beijing tomorrow.

Hill has said the six-party talks, which include the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, may resume in mid-December although no date has yet been set.

The United States has made clear that it does not want to hold a new round unless North Korea comes to the table ready to take concrete steps to show it is prepared to dismantle its nuclear programs.

The six-party talks in September 2005 produced an agreement under which North Korea said it was committed ''to abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs.'' In return, the other nations held out economic, political and security incentives.

North Korea then refused to resume the talks for nearly a year, blaming financial restrictions that were tightened when U.S. regulators named a Macau bank as a conduit for alleged North Korean counterfeiting and drug trafficking.

Pyongyang only agreed to return to the talks three weeks after its Oct. 9 nuclear test, which produced deep skepticism among many Asian officials that it has really intends to give up the pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Reuters

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