U.S. may have N.Korea meetings before formal talks
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (Reuters) - The top U.S. negotiator on North Korea, Christopher Hill, may meet with his counterparts from six-party talks on North Korea before formal meetings begin on Dec. 18, the State Department said on Monday. Hill, a U.S. assistant secretary of state, is set to leave on Friday for Beijing where the six-party talks aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear program are due to resume on Monday after more than a year's suspension. "He doesn't have any particular schedule at this point, but just wanted to give you fair warning there probably will be meetings in advance of the actual formal start of the round," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.The fifth round of talks between the Koreas, the United States, Japan, Russia and host China stalled late last year over Pyongyang's objections to U.S. financial penalties. The latest round of talks comes after Pyongyang tested a nuclear device on Oct. 9. McCormack said the U.S. goal was to build on and implement a joint declaration signed by all sides in September 2005. Under that deal, North Korea agreed to "abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs" in return for aid and security guarantees from the United States and other countries. "I would expect the negotiations to be intense and I don't think anybody's going to be giving away anything at these discussions; certainly not the United States," said McCormack. "The operating principle here is that good-faith actions will be met, in turn, by good faith from the other members of the talks. That's the central operating principle here." (Reporting by Sue Pleming; editing by Chris Wilson; email:sue.pleming@Reuters.com; tel: 202 898 8393)
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