North Korean diplomat heads to US for nuclear talks
By Madison Ruppert
Vice Foreign Minister of North Korea Kim Kye-Gwan
(EndtheLie) – According to a State Department statement from Hillary Clinton, Vice Foreign Minister of North Korea Kim Kye-Gwan is headed to New York to meet with Stephen Bosworth, the top US envoy to North Korea and others regarding the nation’s nuclear program.
Since the negotiating process began in 2003, the talks have not always been smooth sailing. The last six party talks that included the United States, South Korea, North Korea, Russia, Japan and China occurred in 2008.
Restarting the six party talks will be a challenge due to the deadly border clashes between North and South Korea that have erupted over the years.
North Korea indignantly quit the talks completely in April of 2009 in response to the UN condemnation of their long range missile test that same month. North Korea then conducted a second nuclear test the next month.
United States Secretary of State Clinton emphasized that the talks must be goal-oriented in nature and that North Korea will not be rewarded simply for coming to the table.
Clinton stated, “We will not give them anything new for actions they have already agreed to take. And we have no appetite for pursuing protracted negotiations that will only lead us right back to where we have already been.”
North Korea has yet to respond to Washington’s demand that they must adhere to the terms of the 2005 joint statement of six party talks, UN Security (UNSC) sanctions and the Armistice agreement that ended the 1950-1953 war.
If the talks couldn’t get any more difficult, North Korea disclosing their uranium enrichment plant last November will act as another impediment in the attempts to disarm the communist nation.
The North Korean diplomat who was invited is thankfully no stranger to the talks as he was last in the United States in March, 2007.
Clinton stated that America is attempting “to determine if North Korea is prepared to affirm its obligations under international and six-party talk commitments, as well as take concrete and irreversible steps toward denuclearization”.
The fact that North and South Korean diplomats agreed to make efforts to resume six-party talks is quite promising as far as North Korea’s willingness make concessions goes.
However, these talks are only “preliminary” according to Kurt Campbell, the assistant US Secretary of State. This means that this meeting will not necessarily lead to resuming six-party talks.
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Madison Ruppert is a Los Angeles-based independent journalist and researcher as well as the founder, owner, administrator and editor of EndtheLie.com. He has no affiliations with any government agencies, political parties, non-governmental organizations, or economic schools. He is available for freelance writing assignments and appearances or interviews in any format. He can be reached by emailing 