Circumstantial 6PT Return

Yonhap’s Hwang Doo-hyong reports of a possible DPRK return to the Six Party Talks in March or April:

North Korea will likely come back to the six-party talks on its nuclear programs within a matter of weeks, a senior South Korean official said Saturday, citing recent contacts between the North and its main ally China.

“We believe North Korea will come back to the six-party talks sooner or later, possibly in March or April, although we cannot predict the exact timing,” the visiting South Korean official said, requesting anonymity. “Our judgement is based on circumstantial evidence surrounding recent contacts between North Korea and China.”

The official made the remarks one day after South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Friday amid a flurry of diplomatic activity to woo the reluctant North back to the nuclear talks, which Pyongyang has boycotted since early last year over U.N. sanctions for its nuclear and missile tests.

While KWP International Department Director Kim Yong-il concludes his recent trip to Six Party host China, MOFA Vice Minister Kung Sok-ung and a ministry delegation departed Pyongyang to Moscow.  Interfax reports the Russian Foreign Ministry said that “the visit will take place as part of this year’s plan of consultations between the Foreign Ministries, which was approved by Russia and North Korea.”  Kung Sok-ung is MOFA’s manager on DPRK relations with Russia and Europe.  He last led a MOFA delegation in April 2008 to central and and eastern Europe, and another delegation to Russia in October 2007.

Chosun Ilbo has a brief about DPRK-Russian meetings on the Six Party Talks.  You can also read a news release from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs here.

MOFA Vice Minister Kung Sok-ung