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The United States told North Korea Tuesday that it should disband its nuclear weapons program before any normalization of diplomatic ties, a senior US official said.
US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said he told his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye-gwan during landmark talks in New York that Pyongyang should “fulfil their part of the bargain — which is complete denuclearization” before normalization of relations.
Hill and Kim met for two days from Monday to kick off discussions to end more than 50 years of feuding between Washington and the reclusive Asian state and take the first steps towards normalizing ties.
It was the highest level meeting held in the United States between the two nuclear rivals since October 2000, and aimed at setting the stage for bilateral relations, including North Korea's possible removal from a US list of state terrorism sponsors.
Hill told a media conference after the talks that he also reaffirmed to Kim that Washington was “committed to working towards that goal” of establishing diplomatic ties with Pyongyang.
He ruled out the possibility of the United States and North Korea establishing liaison offices in each other's capitals as a prelude to full diplomatic ties although he said China was keen on such a model.
“I don't think it will be because this is a model that China had, China felt was a very successful model, in terms of US-China relations. I don't think that view is shared by the DPRK,” Hill said referring to North Korea by its official name.
“So I think they (North Korea) would like to move to diplomatic relations but I must say that this is very much linked to the question of denuclearization,” he said.
The milestone bilateral talks in New York meet a longstanding condition set by North Korea for abandoning its nuclear ambitions, and are aimed at smoothing implementation of a landmark agreement reached with Pyongyang on February 13.
Under the accord, North Korea agreed to close and seal its Yongbyon nuclear facility — long suspected to be the center of its nuclear program — within 60 days and admit UN nuclear inspectors in return for 50,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil.
