US, North Korea discuss nuclear row
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-07-01 09:12

U.S. and North Korean officials discussed competing ideas about Pyongyang's nuclear program on Thursday as part of an informal conference that is trying to help break a logjam in six-party talks.

The contacts -- at an invitation-only New York academic conference of about four dozen people -- appeared to be heavily circumscribed by Washington and there were only modest expectations about an outcome.

"If it's useful, you'll soon hear of a date" for resuming six-party talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions, one U.S. official said.

The conference provided a rare opportunity for U.S. and North Korean officials to communicate directly during a critical period in efforts to end Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs.

North Korea for over a year has boycotted talks seeking a diplomatic solution and U.S. officials say they increasingly believe Pyongyang is determined to keep its nuclear programs.

Analysts say continuing administration divisions undermine President Bush's commitment to a diplomatic solution and some increasingly fear Bush will never agree to any deal that props up Pyongyang.

"I've reached the conclusion that the administration is no longer willing and capable of signing up to any solution that perpetuates Pyongyang," said Charles Pritchard, a former North Korea negotiator under President Bill Clinton who is now with the Brookings Institution.

URGENCY, AMBIVALENCE

The stalemate has taken on greater urgency because of signs North Korea is expanding its nuclear capabilities.

U.S. officials say Pyongyang may have eight or more nuclear weapons, up from one or two at the start of the Bush term. A Japanese newspaper reported on Thursday that the North has restarted work on two nuclear reactors suspended under a 1994 landmark deal with the United States.

The two-day conference, organized by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy, included officials from the countries involved in the six-party talks.

Senior official Ri Gun represented North Korea while Ambassador Joseph DeTrani led the U.S. delegation. Victor Cha, a National Security Council Asia expert, was also there, at least for Wednesday night's dinner, a participant said.

According to the agenda, Thursday's session involved each party -- the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia -- talking about its perception of the six-party talks.

The session on Friday, the final day, is titled: "Is there a way out of the impasse?"

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack insisted that contacts between U.S. and North Korean officials would be limited to brief social interactions during the conference.

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.

The fault lines divide officials who say the United States should engage the North directly and spell out economic and political benefits available if Pyongyang gave up its nuclear quest and those who consider the North so untrustworthy that Washington should do nothing that could prop up it.

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