Ramsco's Women Empowerment Initiative Recognized Among Top BRICS Businesswomen Practices for 2025    Egypt, Elsewedy review progress on Ain Sokhna phosphate complex    Gold prices end July with modest gains    Pakistan says successfully concluded 'landmark trade deal' with US    Egypt's FM, US envoy discuss Gaza ceasefire, Iran nuclear talks    Modon Holding posts AED 2.1bn net profit in H1 2025    Egypt's Electricity Ministry says new power cable for Giza area operational    Egypt's Al-Sisi, Italian defence minister discuss Gaza, security cooperation    Egypt's FM discusses Gaza, Nile dam with US senators    Aid airdrops intensify as famine deepens in Gaza amid mounting international criticism    Health minister showcases AI's impact on healthcare at Huawei Cloud Summit    On anti-trafficking day, Egypt's PM calls fight a 'moral and humanitarian duty'    Federal Reserve maintains interest rates    Egypt strengthens healthcare partnerships to enhance maternity, multiple sclerosis, and stroke care    Egypt keeps Gaza aid flowing, total tops 533,000 tons: minister    Indian Embassy to launch cultural festival in Assiut, film fest in Cairo    Egyptian aid convoy heads toward Gaza as humanitarian crisis deepens    Culture minister launches national plan to revive film industry, modernise cinematic assets    Rafah Crossing 'never been closed for one day' from Egypt: PM    I won't trade my identity to please market: Douzi    Two militants killed in foiled plot to revive 'Hasm' operations: Interior ministry    Egypt's EHA, Huawei discuss enhanced digital health    Egypt, Oman discuss environmental cooperation    Egypt's EDA explores pharma cooperation with Belarus    Foreign, housing ministers discuss Egypt's role in African development push    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



US, North Korea in first nuclear talks since Kim Jong-il death
Published in Almasry Alyoum on 23 - 02 - 2012

BEIJING — Envoys from North Korea and a cautiously optimistic United States met Thursday for their first talks on dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear programs since the death of the North's longtime leader Kim Jong-il.
The discussions could provide signs of whether North Korea's new government is ready to agree to steps demanded by Washington and Pyongyang's neighbors to restart broader international disarmament talks, which are meant to provide aid and diplomatic concessions in return for the North abandoning its nuclear weapons programs.
Kim's 17 December death upended a deal between the United States and North Korea in which Pyongyang would have suspended its uranium enrichment in return for food aid from Washington. The meetings in Beijing may provide a glimpse of North Korea's goals under new leader Kim Jong-un, who has vowed to follow his father's policies.
"Today is, as we say, 'game day.' We will have an opportunity to meet with First Vice Foreign Minister Kim and his team," US envoy Glyn Davies said before the start of talks with his counterpart Kim Kye Gwan.
The two met for two and a half hours at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing on Thursday morning, and then later started an afternoon session at the US Embassy.
The talks in Beijing, the third round since July, are aimed at restarting wider six-nation nuclear disarmament negotiations that also involve China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. Pyongyang walked away from those talks in 2009 and later exploded its second nuclear device.
Additional steps may still be needed before a resumption of the six-nation talks. The North may first request food shipments, while the US and its allies want assurances Pyongyang is committed to making progress on past nuclear commitments.
The United States has also said that better ties between North Korea and US ally South Korea are crucial. North Korea has rejected South Korean offers to talk in recent weeks, and animosity between the rivals still lingers from violence in 2010: a North Korean artillery attack in November killed four South Koreans on a front-line island, and Seoul blames North Korea for the sinking of a warship that killed 46 sailors earlier that year. Pyongyang denies sinking the ship and says a South Korean live-fire drill provoked the artillery attack.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in Washington that the United States was "cautiously optimistic" about the talks.
The six-nation talks, once restarted, would be aimed at dismantling North Korea's remaining nuclear programs in exchange for what would likely involve even greater donations of aid.
Toner said food assistance would be discussed in the talks, but that the United States has some concerns it wants North Korea to address. He did not say what those concerns were, but analysts have said North Korea must agree to have UN watchdogs monitor any freeze of its uranium enrichment. Otherwise it could backtrack — as it has done with previous agreements.
Worries about North Korea's nuclear capability took on renewed urgency in November 2010 when the country disclosed a uranium enrichment facility that could give it a second route to manufacture nuclear weapons, in addition to its existing plutonium-based program.
As the envoys began their talks, North Korea's state media criticized next month's Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, which is expected to draw dozens of world leaders, including President Barack Obama, to discuss nuclear terrorism and safety.
"It is illogical to discuss the 'nuclear security' issue in South Korea, the US nuclear advance base and a hotbed of nuclear war," the North's official Korean Central News Agency said in a commentary Thursday.


Clic here to read the story from its source.