U.S. dismisses talks involving N. Korean diplomats ARIRANG NEWS

ARIRANG NEWS

Published on Oct 23, 2016

美정부, 북미 비공식 접촉에 "美정부와 무관한 일"

The United States has confirmed that a weekend meeting between a senior North Korean diplomat and former U.S. government officials... took place without its involvement.

An expert who attended the meeting said not much progress was made, with each side reiterating long-held positions on the nuclear issue.
Kim Hyun-bin reports.

The United States says that it had no part in the recent talks between North Korean diplomats and former U.S. government officials in Malaysia over the weekend,... calling it a private "Track 2" meeting.
North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-ryol and the North's UN Ambassador Jang Il-hun met Friday and Saturday in Kuala Lumpur with former U.S. nuclear negotiators Joseph DeTrani and Robert Gallucci,... who negotiated a landmark 1994 nuclear freeze deal with Pyongyang,... and Asian Affairs expert Leon Sigal.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Anna Richey-Allen on Sunday dismissed any affiliation with the meeting, saying that "Track 2 meetings are routinely held on a variety of topics around the world and occur independent of U.S. government involvement." 

The rare meetings drew global attention, as they could be a sign of the North's willingness to come back to negotiations with the U.S.

Sigal told Seoul-based Yonhap News that meeting was mainly focused on the nuclear and missile issue, but that only partial progress was made.

He said the North reiterated that it wants to sign a peace treaty with the U.S. before halting its nuclear and missile programs, while the former U.S. officials reiterated that the regime needed to scrap its nuclear program first.

Sigal added that he doesn't expect any official dialogue under the Obama administration, but said that the next U.S. administration will need to take a new approach to North Korea policy.

Kim Hyun-bin Arirang News.