Rice in Seoul for final push on N.Korea nuke talks

By Jon Herskovitz and Carol Giacomo

SEOUL (Reuters) – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
seeking a way to end North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, met on
Wednesday with South Korean officials who have proposed
supplying power to the North in return for a deal.

North Korea agreed over the weekend to return later this
month to talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons programs.
For a year, Pyongyang has boycotted the talks that also include
China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States.

Seoul is the final leg of a visit to Asia for Rice, who has
also been in Beijing and Tokyo for talks on North Korea. Rice
was scheduled to brief reporters at around 0215 GMT after her
talks with South Korean leaders, officials said.

Japan and the United States urged Pyongyang on Tuesday to
abandon nuclear weapons or risk failure in the six-way talks.

South Korea said it had offered to supply 2,000 megawatts
of power, which would almost double the impoverished communist
state’s electricity output, directly to the North if it agreed
to scrap its nuclear weapons programs.

North Korea has the potential to generate 7,500 megawatts
of power, but fuel shortages have cut output to nearly a third,
according to the South Korean Unification Ministry.

Seoul’s top envoy to the six-party talks said the North has
been pressing for years for help in generating electricity and
he thinks the sweetener offered by the South will help persuade
Pyongyang to accept a deal.

“Considering the constructive and positive effect, I expect
the offer to be accepted in some form,” Deputy Foreign Minister
Song Min-soon told SBS radio on Wednesday.

Rice’s visit to South Korea contrasts the different
approaches Washington and Seoul have taken toward North Korea
but also highlights the shared view among regional powers that
unity is essential in reaching any solution. In recent weeks,
South Korea has stepped up its bilateral contacts with North
Korea, with Seoul officials saying they hoped increased
humanitarian assistance would help coax the North to reach a
negotiated settlement on its nuclear weapons programs.

The Bush administration has long opposed giving incentives
to the North before it commits to abandoning its nuclear
programs and previously urged allies to withhold huge new aid
infusions.

On Tuesday, Seoul said it had agreed to send 500,000 tones
of rice to North Korea to help stave off a food crisis in the
reclusive state.

Analysts have said Pyongyang’s pressing food crisis has
partially contributed to its decision to resume talks on its
nuclear programs.

Negotiators to the six-party talks from Japan, South Korea
and the United States will meet in Seoul on Thursday to
coordinate their approach.

Reviving the talks has become more urgent because of
concerns Pyongyang has expanded its nuclear arsenal to eight or
more weapons, up from one or two when President Bush came to
office in 2001.

North Korea declared in February it was now a nuclear
power.

The next round of the six-party talks will be held in the
week of July 25. Japan’s Kyodo news agency, quoting Japanese
government sources, reported late on Tuesday the talks would
open on July 27 and run for around three days.

(With additional reporting by Park Sung-woo and Jack Kim)