J-10
07-05-2004, 04:29 AM
Posted 7/1/2004 9:33 PM Updated 7/2/2004 8:11 AM
Powell meets with N. Korea foreign minister
By Barbara Slavin, USA TODAY
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Secretary of State Colin Powell met briefly Friday with North Korea's foreign minister, but the two sides appeared no closer to a deal to trade North Korea's nuclear weapons for energy aid and security guarantees.
http://images.usatoday.com/news/_photos/2004/07/01/powell-inside2.jpgNorth Korea rejected on Monday a U.S. proposal presented at talks in Beijing last week, but Secretary of State Colin Powell may hold more talks.
Powell told reporters later Friday that he and North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun "had a short discussion and all we did was reaffirm" proposals put forward last week at six-nation talks in Beijing. "There weren't any negotiations," Powell said, but an effort "to make sure there was clarity of position."
The conversation, which included other diplomats from the two countries, lasted only 20 minutes. Powell said the two sides underlined their willingness to continue talks.
Korea experts doubt there will be progress before U.S. presidential elections in November. The North Koreans believe they might get a better offer if Democrat John Kerry is elected, while President Bush does not want to give concessions to a country he has labeled "evil."
Powell met with Paek in part to counter Kerry's criticism that the Bush administration has refused one-on-one discussions with North Korea for two years while that country has continued to amass material for half a dozen nuclear bombs.
"The meeting was a pleasant formality without substance," says Kenneth Quinones, a former State Department intelligence expert on North Korea.
Powell is in Jakarta for the annual summer round of meetings of Pacific Rim foreign ministers. His talk with Paek was the highest-level encounter between the two countries since the two men chatted for 15 minutes at an Asian security conference in Brunei two years ago.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher called the latest conversation "useful," but there was no evidence of a breakthrough. The North Koreans issued a statement repeating their position that they would not consider the United States "a permanent enemy" if it changed its "hostile policy" toward North Korea.
Paek said in the statement that "simultaneous actions" were the only way to resolve the issue because at the present time "there is no trust between (North Korea) and the U.S."
The Bush administration, which has described North Korea as part of an "axis of evil" in the world, says North Korea acknowledged in 2002 that it is trying to enrich uranium for nuclear bombs. North Korea has since denied it.
On Monday, North Korea appeared to reject a U.S. proposal presented in Beijing last week that would require it to list all its nuclear programs and declare its willingness to dismantle them before receiving any aid.
usatoday (http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-07-01-powell-usat_x.htm)
Powell meets with N. Korea foreign minister
By Barbara Slavin, USA TODAY
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Secretary of State Colin Powell met briefly Friday with North Korea's foreign minister, but the two sides appeared no closer to a deal to trade North Korea's nuclear weapons for energy aid and security guarantees.
http://images.usatoday.com/news/_photos/2004/07/01/powell-inside2.jpgNorth Korea rejected on Monday a U.S. proposal presented at talks in Beijing last week, but Secretary of State Colin Powell may hold more talks.
Powell told reporters later Friday that he and North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun "had a short discussion and all we did was reaffirm" proposals put forward last week at six-nation talks in Beijing. "There weren't any negotiations," Powell said, but an effort "to make sure there was clarity of position."
The conversation, which included other diplomats from the two countries, lasted only 20 minutes. Powell said the two sides underlined their willingness to continue talks.
Korea experts doubt there will be progress before U.S. presidential elections in November. The North Koreans believe they might get a better offer if Democrat John Kerry is elected, while President Bush does not want to give concessions to a country he has labeled "evil."
Powell met with Paek in part to counter Kerry's criticism that the Bush administration has refused one-on-one discussions with North Korea for two years while that country has continued to amass material for half a dozen nuclear bombs.
"The meeting was a pleasant formality without substance," says Kenneth Quinones, a former State Department intelligence expert on North Korea.
Powell is in Jakarta for the annual summer round of meetings of Pacific Rim foreign ministers. His talk with Paek was the highest-level encounter between the two countries since the two men chatted for 15 minutes at an Asian security conference in Brunei two years ago.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher called the latest conversation "useful," but there was no evidence of a breakthrough. The North Koreans issued a statement repeating their position that they would not consider the United States "a permanent enemy" if it changed its "hostile policy" toward North Korea.
Paek said in the statement that "simultaneous actions" were the only way to resolve the issue because at the present time "there is no trust between (North Korea) and the U.S."
The Bush administration, which has described North Korea as part of an "axis of evil" in the world, says North Korea acknowledged in 2002 that it is trying to enrich uranium for nuclear bombs. North Korea has since denied it.
On Monday, North Korea appeared to reject a U.S. proposal presented in Beijing last week that would require it to list all its nuclear programs and declare its willingness to dismantle them before receiving any aid.
usatoday (http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-07-01-powell-usat_x.htm)