Britain, North Korea to discuss diplomatic ties

December 2, 2000
Web posted at: 8:13 AM HKT (0013 GMT)

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- British and North Korean officials will discuss plans next week to open diplomatic ties for the first time since North Korea's creation more than 50 years ago, officials said Friday.

"We would expect the establishment of diplomatic relations to be discussed. But these are preliminary discussions," a British Foreign Office spokesman said.

The meeting in London between senior foreign ministry officials is the latest in a series of talks which have focused until now on human rights and security issues.

But this round follows Britain's announcement that it plans to respond positively to a request from Pyongyang in September to establish diplomatic relations.

The spokesman said the officials would take the opportunity to have "preparatory discussions" on diplomatic ties. He declined to say how long the process would take but said it would not be concluded this year.

North Korea has established relations with Canada, Italy and Australia this year in a flurry of diplomacy after five decades of isolation.

The Foreign Office says Britain's dialogue with North Korea, launched in 1995, has until now concentrated on human rights, weapons of mass destruction, nuclear proliferation, concerns over Pyongyang's development and export of missile technology.

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