Word: kang
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...nothing critical of the other's position. "It's one of those moments where we try not to say anything at all," said a U.S. official. Lower-level diplomats continued to meet over the weekend, and Gallucci will resume discussions Wednesday with North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kang...
...August Kang also agreed that work on the old-style reactors would stop as soon as Pyongyang received assurances that the new ones were on their way, while the West would provide other energy sources during the lengthy construction. But now he insists that the North will go on building the old reactors until those other sources of energy arrive in the country -- and that the West should fork over $2 billion in cash to compensate Pyongyang for what it has already spent. Contrary to what he said in August, he now wants to select which country will supply...
...most serious backsliding involves the North's willingness to accept special inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency at the two sites suspected of containing waste from past bomb-building efforts. Gallucci thought Kang had firmly committed the North to permit these inspections -- crucial to confirming whether Pyongyang already has obtained plutonium to make bombs -- before any components for the new reactors arrived. But this week Kang insisted the North would never permit special inspections, and would only start talking to the IAEA about its past nuclear program once the new reactors were more than 50% complete. Kang also said...
...ominous new threat, he said Pyongyang wanted to insert new fuel rods into the reactor now, so it can generate more plutonium. While there is no sign the North has actually started refueling, Gallucci told Kang any attempt to do so would end all talks...
...dictated by uncertainty in Pyongyang. Donald Gregg, former U.S. ambassador to Seoul, suggests that Kim Jong Il "is asking for the world, because he has seen how highly we value his nuclear program." Other experts speculate that Pyongyang's intransigence reflects the growing strength of hard-liners, or that Kang is simply stalling until the succession to Kim Il Sung is settled. They note that the younger Kim has still not been formally named President or party chief. Jimmy Carter, who is pressing to return to Pyongyang to arrange a summit between North and South Korea, is holding off until...