Possibility of a North Korea-U.S. Foreign Minister Conference

The Yomiuri Shimbun announced on June 22 of the possibility of a North Korea-U.S. Foreign Minister conference between U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and North Korea’s Foreign Minister Baek Nam-soon during the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) scheduled to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia on July 2 if there is a regular outcome during the six-way talks on North Korea’s nuclear program. The paper reported that, concerning the possibility of the conference between the Foreign Ministers of North Korea and the U.S., a high ranking U.S. governmental official was quoted as saying, “It will change depending on the outcome of the six-way talks; however, there is a possibility.” If the talks go through, it will be the first contact between very high ranking officials of the two countries since North Korea’s nuclear issue surfaced. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Minister Baek had an unofficial conference for 15 minutes during the 2002 ARF held in Brunei.

This official explained, “The conference between the two Foreign Ministers of North Korea and the U.S. is a link to the ARF framework in which most member countries have diplomatic relations with North Korea,” and added, “Since ARF is a regional process with Asia at its center, it does not contradict the U.S. government’s North Korean negotiation policy.” (which stated it would not respond to a bilateral contact with North Korea)

Won-Jae Park parkwj@donga.com