US Ready to Resume Dialogues with DPRK Without Preconditions: PowellUS Secretary of State Colin Powell said Friday in Seoul that Washington is ready to hold talks Pyongyang without any precondition."I reiterated the US administration's readiness to move to a comprehensive dialogue without preconditions with the DPRK," Powell said at a joint press conference with South Korean Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Han Seung-soo. Powell, who arrived here from Vietnam Friday afternoon for a two-day visit, said that U.S. President George W. Bush strongly supports South Korean President Kim Dae-jung's "sunshine policy" of engaging the DPRK as well as an early second inter-Korean summit. He hoped that Russian President Bladimir Putin would persuade the DPRK leader Kim Jong Il who is visiting Russia to restore dialogues table with the United States. Washington-Pyongyang dialogues came to halt since U.S. President Bush took office last January. Pyongyang also cut off all government-level contacts with Seoul, which had flourished since the first inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang last year. After review of Clinton government's DPRK policy, Washington offered last month to resume talks with Pyongyang on a comprehensive package of issues, including the DPRK's massive conventional force deployment along the inter-Korean border. Since then, the two sides held working-level talks, but Pyongyang has not officially announced acceptance of the U.S. offer for restoring dialogues as it pointed out that Washington is trying to stifle or disarm the DPRK. Meanwhile, Powell said the United States will continue to persuade the international community over its missile defense plan, citing a need for what he called a new security strategy framework. The U.S. secretary of state said that Condoleeza Rice, Bush's security advisor, is in Moscow to coordinate schedule for talks with Russia on the missile defense issue. At the press conference, Han Seung-soo expressed optimism about the impact of Kim's Russia visit on inter-Korean relations because of Moscow's support for Seoul's reconciliation policy toward Pyongyang. Before the press conference, Powell met South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and South Korean Minister for Unification Lim Dong- won. |
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