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U.S. envoy heads for N. Korea talks
SEOUL, South Korea -- After two years of deadlock a senior U.S. envoy is due to arrive in North Korea Thursday for talks aimed at reviving stalled relations between Pyongyang and Washington. The plane carrying Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly and a nine-member U.S. delegation is due to leave Seoul Thursday morning for the short flight to the North Korean capital. No journalists will be accompanying the American team for the three days of meetings, so details of any progress made in the talks is not expected until Kelly returns to Seoul on Saturday. The visit will be the first official contact between the Bush administration and North Korea. Among issues up for discussion are North Korea's missile program, its alleged proliferation of missile technology and the nuclear program it agreed to suspend under a 1994 deal with Washington. Also on the agenda will be the massive deployment of North Korean conventional forces along the border with South Korea and a range of human rights issues. It is not clear whether Kelly, who handles East Asian and Pacific affairs in the State Department, will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Il during his visit. Quizzed by reporters in Seoul Wednesday, Kelly was tight-lipped on the prospects for the upcoming talks saying only that there was "a lot of work to do" after a break in contacts for so long. Diplomats say they expect much of the visit to be a testing of the waters, with U.S. officials eager to see whether Pyongyang is serious about wanting to improve relations. Kelly is expected to brief South Korean and Japanese officials on the outcome of his visit before heading back to Washington next week. Diplomatic freeze
Relations between the U.S. and North Korea peaked late in late 2000 during the final months of the Clinton presidency with a landmark visit to Pyongyang by then U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. However, following the change of administration President George W. Bush ordered a freeze on all contacts and a thorough review of North Korean promises to halt its development of weapons of mass destruction in return for U.S. assistance in the construction of two nuclear power plants. Relations between the two sides took a further dive when Bush, in his State of the Union address earlier this year, labeled North Korea as part of an "axis of evil" along with Iran and Iraq. That sparked an angry reaction from North Korea, which in turn labeled the United States the single biggest threat to world peace. In recent months however, relations have shown signs of a thaw with Pyongyang apparently making signals that it is willing to ease tensions. Regime changeThe Bush administration's tough line on the Iraqi regime and demands for "regime change" in Baghdad have led several analysts to speculate that North Korea may be seeking ways of avoiding a similar -- potentially devastating -- showdown with Washington. Signs that change is afoot in normally reclusive North Korea have included Pyongyang's announcement earlier this year that it was introducing several market-oriented economic reforms, as well as efforts to open up contact with regional neighbors. In late August officials agreed a deal with South Korea reconnecting road and rail links between the two countries -- seen as a key part of efforts to bring about reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula. That was followed in September with a landmark visit to Pyongyang by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi -- the first time a Japanese leader had visited North Korea. The apparent success of that visit has led to speculation that the two countries may finally be on track to set up formal diplomatic ties after more than five decades of often icy relations
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