North Korea Stresses Security Fears in Informal U.S. Talks (1)

(Bloomberg) -- North Korea appears unwilling to hold formal talks with the U.S. on its nuclear program anytime soon, said a former American official who met senior Pyongyang diplomats in Malaysia last week.

“At this unofficial meeting, North Korea spoke about their security concerns and need for a nuclear deterrence, given the hostile relationship they have with the U.S.,” Joseph DeTrani, a former top U.S. intelligence specialist who helped broker a 2005 agreement on North Korea’s nuclear program, said by e-mail. “It appears that North Korea is unlikely to enter into official talks with the U.S. in the near term."

The Oct. 21-22 gathering brought North Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Han Song Ryol together with a delegation of former U.S. nuclear negotiators, resuming an informal dialogue that previously occurred about twice a year. It offered a glimpse of leader Kim Jong Un’s intentions after his regime conducted its fifth nuclear test in September, part of the isolated regime’s efforts to accelerate the development of nuclear weapons.

John Kirby, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, told reporters on Monday that the discussions in Malaysia were between “private citizens" and were “independent of any U.S. government involvement." U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit China on Saturday for talks on North Korea and other security issues, and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin arrived this week in Pyongyang to take part in border meetings.

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The U.S. delegation in Malaysia included former State Department official Leon Sigal and Robert Gallucci, who helped defuse nuclear tensions between the two countries in 1994. Gallucci previously met with North Korean diplomats for unofficial talks three years ago.

DeTrani said he and Stephen Bosworth, former Special Representative for North Korea Policy for the Obama administration, used to meet with Han’s predecessor every six months. Last week’s meeting was a resumption of those informal talks after Bosworth died in January and Han was promoted.

While the chances of immediate formal negotiations are low, DeTrani said that North Korea may be willing to enter into exploratory talks with the U.S. “in the longer term.”

“It was my sense they would, although it wasn’t explicitly stated,” said DeTrani, a former senior adviser to the Director of National Intelligence. The U.S. delegation recommended a halt to nuclear tests and missile launches, as well as the need for confidence building initiatives from both sides, he said.

Strategic Bombers

During the talks, DeTrani said that North Korean diplomats spoke about the United Nations sanctions imposed on their country and the use of strategic bombers in joint U.S.-South Korean military drills.

The U.S. briefly sent B-52 and B-1B bombers to South Korea in a show of force following North Korea’s nuclear tests. Senior U.S. and South Korean defense officials met last week in Washington, where they discussed whether to routinely deploy U.S. strategic assets to South Korea.

North Korea reached a deal in 2005 with five other nations -- the U.S., China, Japan, South Korea and Russia -- to start dismantling its nuclear arms program in return for security assurances. The deal fell apart after North Korea conducted its first nuclear test in 2006. Since then North Korea has held four more tests, including two this year.

“The North Korean representatives did not mention any additional nuclear tests or missile launches, although based on past experience, it’s likely North Korea will continue with its nuclear tests and missile launches,” DeTrani said. “Getting them to denuclearize would be difficult, given where they are with their nuclear weapons, but their seeming concern about their security and sanctions that are biting might motivate them to revisit the September 2005 Joint Statement.”

(Updates with reason for meeting in sixth paragraph.)

To contact the reporter on this story: Sam Kim in Seoul at skim609@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Ten Kate at dtenkate@bloomberg.net, Andy Sharp

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