(사진제공=AP)
(사진제공=AP)
[서울=AP/KNS뉴스통신] 1일 리영호 북한 핵 협상 대표가 시라큐스 대학에서 열리는 안보 포럼에 참가하면서 미국 국무부 당국자와 만나 베이징 북미회담 후속 조치에 대한 문제를 토의할 것으로 알려졌다.
지난달 29일 리영호 북한 부 외상 겸 핵무기 감축 특사가 방미해 북미간의 관계 개선과 6자회담 재개에 관한 토의를 계속할 것으로 보인다.
북미 간에는 지난 해 김정일 사망으로 중단된 북한 핵시설에 대한 유엔 사찰단의 방북과 미국이 제공하는 식량 24만 톤의 분배를 모니터링 하는 구체적인 이슈를 해결해야 한다.
그럼에도 불구하고 북한과 미국 간에 긴장완화에 대한 조심스런 조짐이 보이면서 북한의 우라늄 농축 중단과 핵 실험 및 미사일 시험발사에 대한 모라토리엄을 이끌어 낼 수 있을 것이라는 긍정적 견해가 나오고 있다.
북한 외무성 대변인은 조선중앙통신에 리영호 부외상의 방미는 베이징 북미 회담에서 합의한 것으로 북한과 미국 간의 상호 신뢰를 조성하는 조치라고 말했다.
(영문기사 원문)
NKorea nuclear envoy to visit US on heels of deal
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — In another sign of warming relations between two wartime foes, a senior North Korean nuclear negotiator will attend a security conference in the United States, a person with knowledge of the negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Word of Ri Yong Ho's visit to the forum at Syracuse University, where he may also meet on the sidelines with U.S. officials, comes on the heels of a breakthrough agreement that will provide much-needed U.S. food aid to North Korea in ex change for a rollback of its nuclear programs.
The agreement announced Wednesday sets in motion a plan laid out by North Korean leader Kim Jong Il before his death in December: to improve relations with the U.S. and to get back to six-nation disarmament-for-aid negotiations. Significant challenges remain, however, in achieving the long-term goal of the U.S. and other nations: to persuade Pyongyang to end its nuclear ambitions altogether.
First, diplomats need to iron out the tricky logistics of distributing, and monitoring, the 240,000 metric tons of U.S. food aid earmarked for hungry North Korean children. They also need to work out a timeline for the return of U.N. nuclear inspectors tasked with verifying whether Pyongyang sticks to its promises.
And while the deal paves the way for unprecedented ex changes with the U.S., North Korea still must confront the complicated matter of improving relations with rival South Korea, still smarting from two deadly incidents in 2010 that Seoul blames on Pyongyang.
Still, there was cautious hope that North Korea's relations with the U.S. and its allies have turned a corner after years of tensions. The agreement calls on Pyongang to suspend uranium enrichment and place a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests.
In a possible sign of things to come, Ri, North Korea's vice foreign minister and envoy to nuclear disarmament negotiations, has been cleared to travel to the U.S. to attend the forum at Syracuse University, according to the person with knowledge of the arrangement. A second person with information about Ri's itinerary also said the envoy would be attending the Syracuse forum.
Both spoke on condition of anonymity because Ri's travel plans have not been formally announced. The U.S. and North Korea do not have formal diplomatic relations but the measures laid out in the deal announced Wednesday include facilitating "people-to-people" exchanges.
The deal is a sign that the foreign policy laid out in the final years of Kim Jong Il's rule — with improved relations with the U.S. as a key goal — will be carried out by his young son. Shortly before Kim Jong Il's death was announced, the AP reported that a deal similar to the one announced this week was imminent.
A return to negotiations before the end of the semiofficial 100-day mourning period suggests stability and continuity during the closely watched transition of leadership in North Korea.
In Pyongyang, a spokesman for North Korea's Foreign Ministry told the state-run Korean Central News Agency that the steps are confidence-building measures designed to improve relations between North Korea and the U.S.
The U.S. and North Korea fought on opposite sides of the Korean War and signed an armistice to end the fighting in 1953. They have never signed a peace treaty, and the U.S. has some 28,000 troops protecting ally South Korea.
The agreement announced Wednesday was finalized last week during talks in Beijing. It opens the way for international inspections for the North's nuclear program, which has gone unmonitored for years.
Outsiders have been watching how Kim Jong Un, believed to be in his late 20s, handles nuclear diplomacy with the United States and delicate relations with South Korea. His consolidation of power, with the help of senior advisers who worked with his father and grandfather, appears to be going smoothly, although determining the intentions and internal dynamics in Pyongyang is notoriously difficult.
North Korea faces tough U.N. sanctions that were tightened in 2009 when it conducted its second nuclear test and launched a long-range rocket. In late 2010, Pyongyang unveiled a uranium enrichment facility that could give North Korea a second route to manufacture nuclear weapons in addition to a plutonium-based program.
In the meantime, millions continue to go hungry, according to the World Food Program. The North, which has little arable land, suffered a famine in the 1990s that killed hundreds of thousands of people, and chronic food shortages persist. U.S. charities reported after a trip to North Korea late last year that scores of children were suffering "slow starvation."
The United States said officials will meet soon to finalize details for a proposed package offering an initial 240,000 metric tons of food aid for hungry children. Washington has promised intensive monitoring of the aid, a reflection of U.S. worries that food could be diverted to the North's powerful military.
김희광 기자 april4241@naver.com
