Powell meets North Korean minister

US Secretary of State Colin Powell and North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun discussed the nuclear standoff on the Korean Peninsula in the highest-level meeting between the two countries in two years, a US State Department spokesman said today.

“They discussed proposals that each side put forward at the last round of six-party talks,” spokesman Richard Boucher said.

The last round of talks involving the United States, the two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia ended on Saturday in Beijing with the parties agreeing to meet again by the end of September.

Boucher said the two men met for 20 minutes after breakfast on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific security meeting in the Indonesian capital Jakarta.

“The Secretary emphasised the administration’s proposals to move forward on the dismantlement of North Korea’s nuclear programmes,” he said. “The Secretary said there was an opportunity for concrete progress.”

Yesterday, Powell said North Korea would be wasting its time if it holds out for economic benefits from the US before showing serious intent to dismantle its nuclear weapons programme.