NEW YORK — The U.S. said it wants a concrete indication that nuclear-armed North Korea is willing to take “irreversible steps” to give up atomic weapons as negotiators wrapped up a first round of talks Thursday.
Ambassador Stephen Bosworth, the Obama administration’s top envoy on North Korean affairs, and North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-Gwan remained silent after meeting behind closed doors at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations for a total of about five hours.
The State Department called the talks “serious and businesslike” and said they will resume this morning.
The U.S. wants to determine whether North Korea is ready to fulfill its commitments under a 2005 joint declaration requiring the North to abandon all nuclear-weapons programs and allow the return of international weapons inspectors. In exchange, Pyongyang would get better relations with its Asian neighbors, energy assistance and a pledge from Washington that it wouldn’t attack the North.
Bosworth greeted Kim at the entrance to the U.S. Mission in the shadow of the U.N. headquarters complex when he arrived with his delegation Thursday morning. They smiled and shook hands before a throng of photographers and reporters.
When asked whether he was optimistic about the meeting, Ri Gun, director general of the North American affairs bureau in North Korea’s Foreign Ministry, replied: “I’m not sure yet.”
The high-level meetings have raised hopes of a possible breakthrough in resuming disarmament negotiations after more than a year of high tensions between rivals North and South Korea. Seoul blames Pyong yang for two attacks last year that killed 50 South Koreans and led to threats of war.
