US, NK, and China Begin First Round Of Three-Way Talks in Beijing

Envisioned multi-sided talks over North Korea`s nuclear development efforts are likely to start out in the form of three-way dialogue involving Pyongyang, Washington and Beijing. The first meeting of the three-way dialogue will be held in Beijing, from April 23 to 25.

It has been known that North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Kae-Kwan, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly and Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi are expected to attend the scheduled meeting as chief negotiators.

Yoon Young-Kwan, South Korean Foreign Minister on April 16 attended the meeting of the unification, foreign relations and trade committee at the National Assembly and reported, “Envisioned multilateral talks to resolve the North Korea`s nuclear issue will start out in the form of three-way dialogue involving North Korea, the US, and China without South Korea`s participation.

On the same day, Na Jong-il, presidential aid for national security, was asked by reporters, “What if the three way dialogue will be held, excluding South Korea?” He replied, “It is important for the US and North Korea to have dialogue to address the issue. It is more important to make substantial progress in resolving the North Korea`s nuclear issue than to take which format. I think the three way dialogue should be regarded as a preparation for multilateral talks.”

Asked whether South Korea will play a leading role in multilateral talks, he replied, “It is not appropriate for South Korea to take imitative in addressing the issue because the US and North Korea are the central players in dealing with the nuclear issue. South Korea should play a supportive role in bringing the two nations to the negotiation table again.”

A senior government official said, “Prior to the three-way meeting, necessary procedures and agenda will be discussed. When the scheduled tree-way meeting starts to bear some fruit, it is likely to expand into a multilateral dialogue involving South Korea, North Korea, the US, China, Japan, and Russia.”

Therefore, in the three-way meeting, principles of the settlement of the North Korea`s nuclear issue and whether to include South Korea, Japan and Russia into multilateral dialogue will be discussed. In case that the issue is solved through a six-way meeting, it seems likely that a discussion of economic aid to North Korea will begin in earnest.

Meanwhile, the New York Times on the web reported, “President Bush has approved a plan for the United States to begin negotiations with North Korea in Beijing next week. China will act as a full participant in the talks rather than just convening them.” It also said that the American envoy conducting the talks next week would be James A. Kelly.

The same day, France news agency AFP also reported, “High-ranking diplomats from the United States, China and North Korea are to meet next week in Beijing for talks on a simmering nuclear crisis. The meeting -- which will be the first direct high-level talks between Washington and Pyongyang since the crisis erupted in October -- appears to be a compromise between the US demand for multilateral discussions on the crisis and North Korea`s insistence on a one-on-one dialogue with the United States.”

Young-Sik Kim spear@donga.com