Powell: Serious talks over N Korea
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An unofficial U.S. delegation arrives in North Korea for a study tour.
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North Korea is offering a deal that could halt its nuclear program in return for concessions from Washington. CNN's David Ensor explains. (January 6)
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says there is "serious discussion" going on to bring about six-party talks with North Korea to discuss its nuclear program.
Powell's comments come in the wake of Pyongyang's offer to dismantle its nuclear weapons program and nuclear power industry in exchange for fuel and power aid from the United States.
Calling that offer a "positive step," Powell said no date has been scheduled for when the six sides -- the U.S., North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia -- might meet, but progress was being made.
"Just because a meeting isn't scheduled and we're not sitting in a room somewhere, doesn't mean that there aren't discussions taking place," he told ABC's Nightline in an interview to be aired Wednesday night.
"We are in intense discussions with our Japanese colleagues, our Chinese colleagues and our Russians colleagues and our South Korean colleagues. And they're in touch with the North Koreans. So there is serious discussion going on."
At the United Nations, spokesman Fred Eckhard said U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan "feels that there is a growing momentum for the resumption of six-party talks, thus advancing the Beijing process intended to resolve the nuclear and related issues in the Korean Peninsula."
Annan had urged the parties "to intensify their preparations" and is encouraged by recent statements from all sides, Eckard said.
South Korea and Japan have also added notes of optimism.
"This should be helpful in creating the atmosphere for a second round of talks," South Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan told a news conference.
Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said he thought Pyongyang's offer was a "good thing".
"I think it may show that North Korea may also be starting to show a will to somehow seek a breakthrough in the situation," Reuters reports him saying Wednesday.
The last time the six parties held talks together was in August in Beijing, but those discussions broke down quickly after Pyongyang demanded a non-aggression pact with the United States.
Powell said he wants the countries to move forward in the next round of talks.
"What we don't want is another six-party meeting that just turns into hortatory exchanges of view. We want to see progress in this next meeting. All of us do," he said.
"So we want to make sure that next meeting is prepared well and we have a pretty good idea of the outcome. And it'll be an outcome that moves the process forward and not just an exchange of views."
Powell says things need to move forward in the next rounds of talks.
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Earlier in the day, he told reporters, "We have been hard at work, laying out our position and what we believe should be the result of the next six-party meeting."
Meanwhile, an unofficial U.S. team, made up of Stanford academics and people who have experience in nuclear affairs, has arrived in North Korea.
Powell said that while they are not representatives of the U.S. government, he hopes the mission goes well.
"Such visits can be useful when they talk to the North Koreans, and we'd be more than delighted to speak to them when they return. And they will be checking in with our embassies as they come back," he said.
The latest North Korean offer also comes with strings attached.
In exchange for freezing its nuclear program, North Korea wants the U.S. to:
• Take Pyongyang off its terrorism list;
• Lift political, economic and military sanctions;
• Supply heavy oil, power and other energy resources.
The nuclear dispute flared October 2002, when U.S. officials said North Korea admitted having a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of international agreements.
Washington has labelled North Korea as part of an "axis of evil," along with Iraq and Iran, and is demanding the communist state shut down its nuclear program immediately.
