N. Korea agrees to nuke talks

BEIJING — North Korea ended a yearlong boycott of six-nation talks over its nuclear weapons, agreeing yesterday to resume negotiations in Beijing during the week of July 25.

The agreement came during a rare meeting between a senior U.S. and North Korean official as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in the Chinese capital to begin her second trip to Asia since taking office in late January.

“We agreed that was the first step, and the real issue now is to make progress in the talks,” Miss Rice told reporters early today after meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.

Senior administration officials traveling with Miss Rice said earlier that the North Koreans had indicated they were ready for a substantive session ending with concrete results, unlike the three previous rounds of the six-party talks.

“It certainly gives us reason to feel we have consensus now from all the parties to make progress,” said one senior official, who called the development “encouraging.”

“It’s significant that the purpose is denuclearization,” he added, alluding to an earlier demand from the North that broader disarmament issues be discussed at the next round rather than focusing entirely on its nuclear programs.

The agreement on a date for the talks, in which China, Japan, South Korea and Russia also participate, was reached between Christopher Hill, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and Kim Kye-gwan, a North Korean deputy foreign minister.

Mr. Hill and Mr. Kim met one-on-one for a dinner last night set up by the Chinese Foreign Ministry at one of its guest facilities shortly before Miss Rice’s arrival, U.S. officials said.

Diplomats from Washington and Pyongyang began discussing dates for the fourth round of talks 10 days ago during an academic conference in New York, but a decision was not announced until last night.

In June, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was reported to have told a South Korean envoy that Pyongyang was ready to return to the negotiating table but wanted Washington to show “respect.”

Miss Rice has said several times in recent months that the United States considers North Korea a sovereign state and respects it.

She and other U.S. officials have toned down their rhetoric, apparently providing the North with a face-saving gesture.

The secretary also has avoided suggesting U.N. sanctions against the communist state.

During her last visit to Beijing in March, Miss Rice spoke of “other options” for penalties if the North persisted with its boycott of the talks.

“The U.S. side clarified its official stand to recognize [North Korea] as a sovereign state, not to invade it and hold bilateral talks within the framework of the six-party talks,” the official Korean Central News Agency said.

“The [North Korean] side interpreted the U.S. side’s expression of its stand as a retraction of its remark designating the former as an outpost of tyranny and decided to return to the six-party talks,” the KCNA dispatch said.

The North earlier had demanded an apology from Miss Rice for calling it an “outpost of tyranny” in January as a condition for ending its boycott.

Pyongyang, which claims to possess several atomic bombs and says it is building more, is seeking international aid to feed its people and meet its energy needs.

At the last round of talks in June 2004, the United States proposed security guarantees and economic incentives if Pyongyang dismantles its nuclear programs, but has received no response.

Miss Rice ruled out including nuclear power in an energy assistance package.

“There are attendant proliferation risks with nuclear power that are hard to minimize, given the history with North Korea,” she told reporters as she flew to Beijing.

“I felt the South Koreans had some very useful thoughts, and that’s something I’d like to follow up with them when I’m there,” Miss Rice said.

Today, Miss Rice is to fly to Phuket, Thailand, an area damaged by the Dec. 26 tsunami. Tomorrow she visits Tokyo, followed by a stop in Seoul Tuesday.