U.S.-North Korea talks to cover arms, humanitarian needs

Powell and Han outside the State Department on Thursday

From Elise Labott
CNN State Department Producer

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. talks with North Korea will include both North Korea's arms buildup and humanitarian needs, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday.

Powell met Thursday with South Korean Foreign Minister Han Seung-soo to discuss the renewal of talks with the north, which President Bush announced Wednesday. Powell said the negotiations are broader than earlier efforts by the Clinton administration.

"We've expanded the areas of dialogue by putting conventional forces on the agenda and by making it clear to the North Koreans that we want to talk about missiles and missile technology and missile sales and nuclear weapons programs," Powell said. "But also, we want to talk about humanitarian issues."

Powell said the United States will be "reaching out" to the communist government in Pyongyang "in the very near future," and the administration is hoping for "a quick response."

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Han welcomed the news of the policy, and added that the new approach would "certainly help" his own country's relations with North Korea.

"We hope that the U.S. will engage North Korea in a very meaningful and useful dialogue and in doing so, the United States and South Korea will coordinate our policy," he said.

In March, Bush downplayed dialogue begun under the Clinton administration and openly wondered if North Korea's government could be trusted to uphold signed agreements. Those comments stalled continued dialogue between North and South Korea on ways to reduce tensions and move toward eventual reconciliation.

Bush's call for renewed talks followed a three-month review of U.S. policy toward Pyongyang. The new policy closely resembles the Clinton administration's decision to engage North Korea, but with a strong emphasis on verifying North Korean compliance with any controls on nuclear weapons and proliferation that may be included in agreements between the two sides.

"Verification and transparency are going to be very, very important to us," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Thursday. "We're looking for compliance with International Atomic Energy Agency rules and safeguards in that respect."

Powell added that a North Korean troop buildup along the demilitarized zone was a main area of concern, and that the sides "can't have a full set of discussions" without discussion of the North's troop posture.

What remained unclear were specifics on how, when and where the United States would begin to engage the North Koreans. Powell said it was "premature" to be very specific on those details.

"I am being very, very vague because we haven't decided yet and we don't know who they might wish to engage with," he said. Powell said the talks could start in New York, where the two sides have had "regular contact" at the United Nations.

He also held out the possibility of a meeting with North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sam on the sidelines of a meeting of Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers in Vietnam next month.