Although North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister had not announced his visit to Beijing, he turned up under the spotlight of reporters on the 11th regardless.
Vice Minister Kim Kye Gwan attended the press briefing which followed his meeting with Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, whereupon he remained guarded, “I was invited to Beijing by Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Wu Dawei,” he said, “We discussed the peace treaty and the Six-Party Talks, not to mention our relations in depth.”
He added, “We will see the results of the meeting later. I cannot reveal anything right now.”
However, according to hearsay, in the meeting North Korea stuck to its existing stance on the resumption of the Six-Party Talks, namely that international sanctions be lifted and a peace treaty be signed, so it is unlikely that there has been any real progress.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu told reporters after the meeting, “Minister Wu met with North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim and they shared their opinions on impending concerns such as North Korea-China relations and the Six-Party Talks.”
He added, “China hopes that related countries will cooperate with each other on resuming the Six-Party Talks soon,” implying that China is looking at follow-up measures to reopen the Six-Party Talks based on the results of the meeting with the North Korean vice minister.
Therefore, many expect that Wu, the chair of the Six-Party Talks, will visit the U.S., Japan and South Korea, the other main participants in the Talks, after the Chinese New Year’s holiday which starts tomorrow.
Some also assume that the Vice Foreign Minister Kim will visit the U.S. in March, but in any case we are unlikely to see significant achievements in bilateral talks between the U.S. and North Korea unless North Korea shows a substantive change to its attitude.
