US urged to hold one-on-one talks with North Korea

SOUTH KOREAN President Kim Dae-jung left office yesterday, urging the United States to hold one-on-one talks with North Korea to defuse a crisis over the reclusive communist State’s nuclear intentions.

As Secretary of State Colin Powell sought Chinese backing for a multilateral approach, Australia, an ally of Washington, said it, too, had concluded reluctantly that direct talks were the only way to end the four-month-old crisis.

North Korea, which insists on bilateral talks with the US and a non-aggression treaty, persuaded a summit of developing nations in Malaysia to water down a statement that sought to criticise its role in the crisis. “More than anything, dialogue between North Korea and the United States is the important key to a solution,” Kim, 78, said in an address to the nation on his last day in office.

Powell, who will attend the inauguration today of Kim’s successor, held talks in Beijing with top Chinese leaders. “I think they are anxious to play as helpful a role as they can,” he told a news conference before leaving for South Korea. “I think they prefer to play their role quietly, but they have a clear understanding of our desires and our interests.” Powell did not say exactly what China, which in the past has called for direct talks between the United States and the North, might do to influence an ally with whom it has diplomatic and economic influence. Australia, one of the few Western countries to have diplomatic relations with North Korea, said Washington should reassure Pyongyang on its security. “Whether one likes it or not this will have to be resolved bilaterally,” Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said as he left for South Korea.