Bush Pushes for North Korea Deal
Ambassador Christopher Hill, the top U.S. negotiator in six-party nuclear talks set to resume on February 8 in Beijing, has President Bush's full backing in seeking a deal on principles for North Korea's nuclear disarmament–despite the ongoing skepticism of some administration officials to negotiating with Pyongyang, a State Department official tells U.S. News.
"Hill is following the instructions of the president and [Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice]," says the official. "Hill has been told, 'Try and get this solved, if you can.' "
In the view of pro-engagement officials and outside analysts, administration hawks have worked behind the scenes to inject elements of confrontation or tension at key points in the long, frustrating process of negotiations with North Korea. Some of those in favor of engagement believe that past banking sanctions and more recent efforts to halt United Nations development aid to North Korea may have been timed to anger leaders in North Korea and disrupt the talks.
Some hawks have suggested that Hill stretched his mandate by holding three days of initially secret talks two weeks ago in Berlin with North Korean diplomats. That suggestion has apparently made Hill's backers in the administration more determined to make clear that he is pursuing Bush's mandate.
The Berlin talks, along with additional bilateral contacts between North Korea and other countries joining in the six-party process, led to China's announcement this week that formal negotiations will start again. Hill, says the official, was not using those discussions "to negotiate an agreement" but rather to explore ideas on how to implement a September 2005 joint statement that called for verifiable and permanent denuclearization along with security and political benefits for Pyongyang. The official says the consultations with others are key.
"This is not just some U.S.-North Korea thing where we work out everything and then present it to others," says the official. Hill, adds the official, has made a point of seeing principal allies both before and after the Berlin meetings.
Six-party talks in December in Beijing ended with no discernible progress as North Korean officials refused to discuss disarmament in any depth. U.S. officials say they are not sure what has changed in Pyongyang's thinking to bring it back to talks where at least some movement is expected. Chinese pressure on its neighbor North Korea is seen as one factor. But more broadly, says the official, "maybe they have begun to see that the hole they're digging for themselves is getting bigger and bigger."
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