A Russian diplomat proposing a plan to resolve North Korea's confrontation with the US met Northern leader Kim Jong-il for six hours yesterday and declared the talks "successful," a news report said.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov was quoted by Russian news agency ITAR-Tass as saying that the "talks had been very substantive." The diplomat did not immediately elaborate.
Losyukov presented Russia's package solution to the conflict to the North Korean leader, and the report quoted Losyukov as saying that Kim was expected to give his answer yesterday. The atmosphere of the talks was "very warm," Losyukov said.
The Russian plan consists of three parts: nuclear-free status for the Korean Peninsula, security guarantees for North Korea and a package of humanitarian and economic aid.
The North's state-run news agency, KCNA, reported that Losyukov met Jo Myong-rok, the vice marshal of the Korean People's Army, and other military officials.
The reports included no further details, but the meetings could represent an advance for diplomatic efforts to defuse Pyongyang's standoff with the US over its nuclear weapons development.
The US pushed efforts yesterday to have the UN Security Council take up the dispute with North Korea. An American envoy in Bei-jing said Chinese officials appeared willing to go along with the plan. China is one of North Korea's few remaining allies.
"I do not detect any substantial opposition to bringing the matter into the council," said John Bolton, US undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. He spoke to reporters after meeting with Chinese officials all day.
The council could deepen North Korea's economic problems with international sanctions.
South Korea pledged yesterday to use separate rounds of talks with North Korea this week to push for a negotiated solution. The talks include Cabinet-level meetings in Seoul and Red Cross discussions in the North.
North Korea, through KCNA, demanded a "legal document" yesterday from the US guaranteeing that Washington would not attack.
A US official has suggested the US could provide some sort of written guarantee that it has no military intentions in North Korea, but Washington has refused to negotiate a treaty with Pyongyang.
The same dispatch also dis-missed as a "hypocritical farce" recent US proposals to talk with the North if it gives up its nuclear program. Pyongyang wants such talks to be without conditions.
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