DPRK Officials Meet US Experts

NEW YORK: Officials from the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) held talks on Thursday in New York on the prospects of resuming the Six-Party Talks on the Korean nuclear issue.

The officials discussed the matter at a two-day academic conference organized by Professor Donald Zagoria of Hunter College.

Participants at the symposium included Ri Gun, director-general of the DPRK Foreign Ministry and negotiator on the nuclear issue, Joseph Detrani, the US State Department’s special envoy for the six- way talks, Jim Foster, director of the State Department’s Office of Korean Affairs, Henry Kissinger, former US Secretary of State, George D. Schwab, president of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, and officials from the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan.

Kissinger said at the end of the meeting that they had a “useful dialogue” which was carried out “in a friendly spirit with intention to make progress.” He noted “it depends on the DPRK’s decision when the Six-Party Talks will be resumed.”

Zagoria stressed that he is optimistic about the resumption of the Six-Party Talks, saying both US and DPRK officials had a “good exchange of views.”

According to the agenda, Thursday’s session involved each party talking about its perception of the Six-Party Talks.

The session on Friday, the final day, was titled: “Is there a way out of the impasse?”

Although Bush says he wants a diplomatic solution, experts including Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar say the administration is divided over how to proceed.