Seoul (AsiaNews/ToK) – The United States “has removed North Korea from it’s list of states who sponsor terrorism” which the State Department is due to release next April, and “thanks to this gesture new positive steps in relations between Pyongyang and Washington will soon be seen”.
North Korea’s vice Foreign Minister, Kim Gye-gwan, made the statement yesterday following 2 days of talks in New York with the Chief US negotiator Christopher Hill.
On his return from his US visit, which saw him in San Francisco and New York, Kim – the chief negotiator in six party nuclear disarmament talks and favourite of Kim Jong-il – stated that: “spring is coming, so the atmosphere will change. The first round of negotiations with the Americans has been constructive”.
The diplomat also explained that he and Hill, assistant Secretary of State, discussed North Korea’s cooperation in the investigation of a highly enriched uranium-based nuclear arms program, as well as the possibility of arranging a foreign minister-level meeting among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, modelled on the six party nuclear disarmament talks.
The meeting, which will probably take place in April, “will not centre on the nuclear issue, but will be an important platform for dialogue between the nations involved”.