U.S. Is Positive about Next Round of Six-party Talks

The U.S. said on September 8 that it would seek the next round of six-party talks over North Korea`s nuclear standoff, once the first round of talks in Beijing were productive.

In a press briefing at the U.S. State Department, spokesman Richard Boucher said that participants in the Beijing talks shared the view that the talks were useful and he urged the North to accept the second round of talks.

Regarding former State Department ambassador Jack Pritchard`s urging for bilateral talks between the U.S. and North Korea, the state spokesman said that once there was some progress in the first round of talks, such as consensus among participants on the need for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, six-party talks should be continued.

Jack Pritchard resigned as State Department ambassador right before the six-way talks started and moved to the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. At a meeting of the institution on September 8, he contended that U.S.- North Korea bilateral talks are the only way to the resolution of the North Korea nuclear crisis and that a high-level coordinator for North Korea policy should be appointed.

However, Richard Boucher retorted that they should make the best use of six-party talks, adding that within the frame of six-way talks, bilateral, three-way, and four-way talks are possible.

maypole@donga.com