New Mexico Governor and US presidential hopeful Bill Richardson spent his first full day in North Korea yesterday to try to recover the remains of US war dead, saying he believes Pyongyang wants a better relationship with Washington.
The White House has said the trip by Richardson is separate from the six-party disarmament talks.
Richardson, who has undertaken five previous missions to Pyongyang, has also said he will not negotiate nuclear matters. But he expressed hope the North would honor its deal.
"I believe for the first time they do want to enter into an agreement with the six-party countries and they want a better relationship with the United States. They know that the key is dismantling their nuclear weapons," he said on his plane before arriving on Sunday night.
But he cautioned: "I have learned with the North Koreans, you don't know what they are going to do next. They are totally unpredictable."
The US, China, the two Koreas, Russia and Japan reached an agreement on Feb. 13 under which the North would disable its nuclear programs in return for economic aid and diplomatic benefits.
As a first step, it was to shut down and seal its reactor and other facilities at Yongbyon by April 14, invite in UN inspectors and receive an initial 50,000 tonnes of fuel oil.
But talks have been stymied by a row over US$25 million in North Korean funds frozen in a Macau bank at US instigation on suspicion they are linked to money-laundering and counterfeiting. The US has promised to unblock the funds to get the disarmament talks moving, but technical banking hurdles remain.
South Korea's largest circulation newspaper Chosun Ilbo indicated yesterday the dispute is not settled. A government official told the paper the North demands the money be transferred to another of its overseas bank accounts, "but there are too many difficulties in reality."
"The US and China insist that everything should be taken care of by the Macau authorities and North Korea," the official said.
US nuclear envoy Christopher Hill was to leave on Sunday for Tokyo and later head to Seoul and Beijing in an apparent bid to restart talks.
The delegation led by Richardson will visit the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom tomorrow, where the soldiers' remains are scheduled to be transferred.
The team will then cross the border and head for a US army garrison in the Yongsan district of Seoul for a formal repatriation ceremony on Thursday.
More than 33,000 US troops died in the 1950 to 1953 war and about 8,100 are listed as missing.
Richardson has said that the return of any remains would be a great sign of progress in the relationship.
In comments in Pyongyang he expressed optimism.
"I have been informed that there will be some American remains delivered to us," he said.
RSS