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US rules out plan to send envoys to DPRK

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-08-26 10:37

WASHINGTON: The United States said on Tuesday that it has no plan at hand to send envoys to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) but is ready to talk with the Asian country once it agrees to return to the framework of the six-party talks.

"We have no plans -- Ambassador Bosworth has no plans, Ambassador Kim has no plans -- to go to North Korea (DPRK)," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters at a daily news briefing.

He was responding to questions about the Republic of Korea (ROK) media reports which said that Pyongyang had issued invitations to two US officials -- Stephen Bosworth and Sung Kim -- to visit the Asian country for bilateral talks.

"I think that it's no secret that the North Korean (DPRK) government would like to have a bilateral dialogue with us. It's also very clear what our own position is on this: that we would welcome talks with North Korea (DPRK), but only in the context of multilateral talks," the spokesman said.

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"What we're concentrating on right now is consulting with our four party partners on what the best way forward is in reaching our goal, which is getting North Korea (DPRK) to return to the six-party talks and with the ultimate goal of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," he said.

Kelly refused to confirm or deny the reported DPRK invitations.

The six-party talks on the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula involves China, the DPRK, the United States, the ROK, Russia and Japan.