US envoy Christopher Hill held consultations with China yesterday amid concerns North Korea is planning a nuclear test, as Washington works to entice the Stalinist regime back to six-party talks.
The assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific was expected to discuss ways to restart stalled multilateral talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons ambitions, a US embassy spokeswoman said.
Hill came straight from talks in Seoul and heads to Japan today before returning to South Korea for more discussions, US officials said.
"We are trying to get the six-party process going," Hill told reporters at Beijing airport. "We have got five countries that are there and one that continues to stay away, so as soon as we get the North Koreans to the talks, we look forward to vigorous negotiations."
Hill refused to put a timeframe on the resumption of talks, saying it would be easier to assess the current situation after his meetings with the Chinese side.
Chinese officials said that Hill would meet with three vice foreign ministers.
"China welcomes the visit by Mr. Hill and we are willing to exchange ideas on Sino-US relations, on the North Korean peninsula and other subjects of common interests," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang (
"Our wish is that all relevant parties can resume the talks soon and do more to contribute to peace and stability on the North Korean peninsula," he said in response to a question on North Korea's reported nuclear weapons test.
Three rounds of the talks that include North Korea, the US, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea have been held but the process stalled last June.
Pyongyang has cited alleged US intentions to topple its government as its primary reason for pulling out of the talks, and on Feb. 10 announced that it possessed nuclear weapons.
Earlier this month, North Korea said it had shut down its nuclear power plant at Yongbyon and was preparing to reprocess the plant's spent fuel, a move that could result in the production of enough plutonium to build up to six more nuclear bombs.
En route to Brazil on Monday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington was committed to the six-party talks process, but repeated that the US reserved the right to take its case to the UN Security Council.
"At this point we are committed to a course that we have described, and that is through the six-party talks to convince the North Koreans that there is really only one route to the kind of international respect that they seem to want, and that is the course that we are on," Rice said.
The New York Times reported that Washington might seek a UN resolution empowering all nations to intercept shipments in or out of North Korea that may contain nuclear materials.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS