North Korea pays much attention to multi-lateral talks

Stephen Bosworth (picture), a former U.S. special envoy for North Korea policy, met with North Korean Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ri Yong Ho, the country’s senior representative to the six-party talks on the nuclear issue, in Singapore on Jan. 18 and 19. In an interview on the phone with the Dong-A Ilbo on Wednesday, the former U.S. envoy for North Korea policy put weight on the possibility for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to visit Russia. “North Korea seemed to have interest in multilateral talks (with China and Russia, etc.), as much as the North-U.S. dialogues,” said the U.S. ex-official on the likelihood that the communist regime’s supreme leader would visit Russia to attend the May 9 celebrations of the anniversary of the Soviet Union`s defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

“Although Ri did not talk about plans or schedules to visit Russia in detail, I had an impression that the North was exploring possibilities of multilateral talks (beyond North Korea-the U.S.) through multiple dialogue channels to resolve the current (diplomatic) challenges,” said the ex-special representative for North Korea. “North Korea`s vice foreign minister asked many questions on the atmosphere in Washington in regards to strict sanctions against North Korea, expressing keen attention on the issue. It gave an impression that he wanted to hear even from us about it. There were conversations about cyber-attacks on Sony Pictures Entertainment."

The former U.S. special envoy for North Korea policy said, “New concession (required by the international community or the U.S. such as denuclearization) was not discussed or any alternatives was provided.” When asked about the attitude of North Korea on the inter-Korean high-level talks, Bosworth answered, “Ri emphasized the necessity of dialogues. But the inter-Korean talks were not a core agenda of this meeting and in-depth discussion was not held on the issue.”

Bosworth met with North Korean delegation led by Ri for two days, along with Joseph DeTrani, former North Korea mission manager for the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), and Leon Sigal, director of the Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Project at the Social Science Research Council. This was the second meeting for Bosworth as civilian to meet with Ri and other North Korean delegation after meeting with Ri in Mongolia in 2013. “There were no talks about the next meeting. The next time would have to be (not just a dialogue with civilians) official meeting between the U.S.-North Korea authorities,” added the former U.S. special envoy.