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US, South Korea discuss nuclear dispute South Korea's unification minister on Sunday briefed the main U.S. envoy on the North Korean nuclear dispute about his surprise meeting last week with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, officials said.
In a meeting with Unification Minister Chung Dong-young in Pyongyang on Friday, Kim said his country could rejoin nuclear disarmament talks as early as next month if the United States respects North Korea as a partner.
On Friday, the United States had dismissed North Korea's most recent overture, saying Kim needed to set a date and make a more concrete commitment to nuclear negotiations. In Seoul, Yonhap reported that Hill said the meeting in Pyongyang was an important part of efforts to resolve the nuclear dispute, comments that seemed to potentially signal a softening in the U.S. attitude. The United States, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea and North Korea are participating in the talks. The North has refused since June last year to return to the negotiating table, citing a U.S. "hostile policy" toward it. U.S. officials have repeatedly said they have no intention to invade North Korea, and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said Washington recognizes North Korea as a sovereign nation. North Korea claimed in February that it had nuclear weapons, and has made moves since then that would allow it to harvest more weapons-grade plutonium.
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