U.S. legislator sees N.Korea nuclear talks coming

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - Negotiations on North Korea's nuclear programs can and will resume in weeks rather than months, a U.S. congressman said after rare talks with the North's number two leader appeared to break a logjam.

Speaking to reporters in the South Korean capital, Republican Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania also said there were no signs portraits of leader Kim Jong-il had been removed. There have been reports about missing portraits and other political changes.

He described 90-minute talks in Pyongyang with parliament president Kim Yong-nam, second only to Kim Jong-il, as "interactive and in-depth," adding the North had described the visit as positive.

"I am convinced, as are my colleagues, that if in fact we move along the process we are moving along today, the six-party talks can and will resume in a manner of weeks as opposed to months or years," said Weldon, vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

North Korea's official KCNA news agency, in a notably even-handed report on the visit, said Pyongyang would be ready to go back to the stalled talks if Weldon's explanations were reflected in the policy of President Bush's new team. His inauguration for his second term is on Jan. 20.

The two Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia have held three rounds of nuclear talks, but the North boycotted a planned fourth round in September because of what it said was Washington's "hostile policy."

"Our unanimous impression is the DPRK wants to rejoin the six-party process," Weldon said. DPRK is short for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Weldon said his delegation had reiterated Washington did not seek regime change in North Korea, nor intend to invade.

"The DPRK side assured the U.S. side that the DPRK would opt for finding a final solution to all the outstanding issues between the two countries, to say nothing of the resumption of the six-party talks and the nuclear issue, if what U.S. congressmen said would be formulated as a policy of the second Bush administration," KCNA said.

Another member of the delegation, Republican Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland, said the North Korean comments "should remove any question as to whether or not the DPRK is ready to resume the six-way talks and resolve the issue."

Weldon said both the North's foreign minister, Paek Nam-sun, and the six-party talks pointman for Pyongyang, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan, had expressed optimism about the talks process during meetings with his delegation.

"In each of the meetings with Kim Kye-gwan, he expressed optimism that as long as the U.S. did not appear or act in a belligerent manner, they would in fact be prepared to move through serious negotiations to achieve the ultimate objective, which is the total and complete elimination of nuclear capability of DPRK," Weldon said.

Kim Yong-nam expressed "very positive feelings to us about his desire ... to have peaceful coexistence," Weldon added.

KCNA said the North's officials had told the U.S. delegation Pyongyang would respect and treat the United States "as a friend unless the latter slanders the former's system and interferes in its internal affairs." This contrasts sharply with the North's trademark harsh rhetoric toward the United States.

Weldon said the North was watching very closely to see the composition of the new U.S. administration and also to see if any negative comments come from Washington. The North has said it is waiting to see the shape of Bush's administration.

Democrat Solomon Ortiz of Texas, another member of the delegation, said: "We have been able to produce the environment for negotiators to come in and do their job."

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said on no obstacles remained to restarting the talks, which should resume once Bush completes a new lineup of diplomats.

The trip by Weldon, who arrived in Pyongyang recently, was not part of official U.S. efforts to dismantle the North's nuclear programs but had White House support. Weldon was in Seoul to brief South Korean officials before going to Beijing.

Democratic Representative Tom Lantos visited North Korea this week, the first congressional visit to the reclusive country since May 2003, when Weldon made a previous trip.