Chinese and ROK nuke envoys meet
SEOUL: Top nuclear negotiators for China and the ROK conferred yesterday on how to carry out UN plans to punish the DPRK for its nuclear test in May and how to resume stalled talks on the country's nuclear program, an official said.
The DPRK quit the six-nation nuclear negotiations in April in anger over a UN rebuke of its long-range rocket launch. Pyongyang has since further ratcheted up tensions, conducting its second nuclear test and a series of banned missile launches.
The DPRK is also suspected in a series of cyber attacks that caused Web outages in the US and the ROK.
Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, Beijing's nuclear envoy, has been visiting other participants in the nuclear talks to discuss how to break the deadlock. Wu arrived in Seoul on Sunday on the last leg of his trip that included stops in Russia, the US and Japan.
"The important thing is that we, both sides, should exchange opinions in a candid and in-depth manner," the Chinese official said at the start of talks with Seoul's nuclear envoy, Wi Sung-lac.
Wu also met with Seoul's Vice-Foreign Minister Kwon Jong-rak, but did not speak to reporters after the meetings.
Seoul's Foreign Ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said the nuclear envoys discussed how to implement a UN resolution adopted last month to punish the DPRK for its May 25 nuclear test, and how to reopen talks with Pyongyang. Moon offered no details.
They also discussed the possibility of convening talks with Russia, the US and Japan - but excluding the DPRK - and agreed to continue discussions on the matter, the ministry spokesman said without elaborating.
Since the DPRK boycotted the talks, the ROK has pushed the idea of a five-nation meeting to discuss ways forward, but China and Russia have reportedly opposed it because such a gathering could be seen as pressuring Pyongyang.
The UN Security Council sanctions center on stamping out the DPRK's alleged trading of banned arms and weapons-related material. Washington is trying to muster international support for stringent enforcement of the sanctions.
AP
(China Daily 07/14/2009 page12)
