SEOUL — North Korea has put forward a new proposal for resolving its nuclear standoff with the United States that might merit further consideration, Assistant Secretary of State James A. Kelly told Asian officials Saturday before heading back to Washington.
Although details of the proposal presented last week during talks in Beijing were not released, it was believed to be a new spin on North Korea's previous offer to suspend its nuclear program in return for guarantees that the United States would not launch a military attack against it.
Despite the North's boast at last week's talks with U.S. and Chinese representatives that it already has nuclear weapons, officials who met with Kelly are said to believe that he came away from meeting with the North Koreans more optimistic than after the two sides' previous encounter in October.
In Tokyo, Kelly told Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda that the North Koreans had made a "bold, new proposal" that would be examined after his return to Washington, according to a Foreign Ministry official. Kelly also suggested that the United States would hold a meeting shortly with Japan and South Korea to discuss ways that they might be included in the next round of talks with the North Koreans -- a multilateral approach that Washington has consistently favored.
Kelly made similar comments Friday night to South Korean officials in Seoul.
South Korean representatives were scheduled to fly to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, today for three days of Cabinet-level talks with their North Korean counterparts. The head of the South Korean delegation, Unification Minister Jeong Se Hyun, said before leaving this morning that he would press the North to give up its nuclear arms.
"We will convey our firm stance that it is unacceptable for North Korea to have nuclear weapons," Jeong said. "We will advise North Korea to shift its policies in a positive direction."
South Korean analysts have suggested that North Korea's claim that it has nuclear weapons -- something that has been suspected for years but never confirmed -- was an attempt to strengthen its bargaining position with the United States.
Washington has taken the position that it will not agree to a repeat of a 1994 deal in which North Korea was given energy assistance in return for freezing its nuclear program. North Korea was later found to be continuing its nuclear efforts.
