US to resume nuclear talks with North Korea

The US says stalled international talks on North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme could resume in China within the next week.

A top politician also plans to travel to North Korea next year to improve relations with the communist-led nation that tested a nuclear weapon in October.

Democratic Congressman Tom Lantos, who is set to become chairman of the US international relations committee when Democrats take control of the House next month, said he anticipated the trip would be in the first part of 2007, provided progress is made at the suspended six-nation talks aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons programmes in return for aid and security assurances.

“I believe that as visits to North Korea become more routine and more regular, we will be creating a climate of greater confidence, diminished distrust,” said Mr Lantos, who has visited North Korea twice before.

“I see no merit in no dialogue,” he added.

Mr Lantos told reporters he supports better relations with North Korea, “but not at the expense of prostituting our own principles.”

“The nuclear issue will have to be resolved, our currency cannot be counterfeited and human rights conditions will have to improve,” he said.

The Bush administration has insisted that talks with North Korea occur in the context of nuclear disarmament discussions involving the Koreas, Japan, the United States, Russia and China. Those talks have been stalled for more than a year, and politicians from both political parties have urged outside dialogue to break the deadlock.

The North recently agreed to return to the nuclear talks after conducting its first-ever nuclear test on October 9, and US diplomats met their North Korean counterparts in Beijing last week.

The United States yesterday announced a series of sanctions against North Korea, after the official confirmation that it had triggered a nuclear device in the October test.

The finding meant the United States was required to bar nuclear cooperation under the Atomic Energy Act and financial assistance under the Export-Import Bank. The United States provides neither to North Korea. The determination also requires a wide range of economic sanctions that already are in place.

The White House said the finding did not affect humanitarian aid.

Meanwhile, the leaders of Japan and the Philippines met today for a one-day summit, condemning North Korea’s nuclear test and vowing to quash global terrorist threats.

In a joint statement, prime minister Shinzo Abe and president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo expressed “grave concern” about the Korean peninsula, blasted North Korea for its October nuclear test and urged the country to give up nuclear weapons.

The two leaders “shared the view that the threat of terrorism remains a regional and global security concern and reaffirmed their determination to prevent, suppress and eliminate all forms of terrorism,” according to the statement, signed at the presidential Malacanang Palace.

Mr Abe arrived in the Philippines late last night amid heightened concerns over possible security threats in the Southeast Asian country. He was also to have taken part in two regional summits next week in the central Philippines, but those were cancelled due to an approaching storm.