SEOUL, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- The United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will likely hold bilateral talks in early December, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency on Monday quoted a senior government official as saying.
"The bilateral meeting appears most likely to be held after the Thanksgiving holiday, which falls on Nov. 25-29," the official said on condition of anonymity.
There were also some reports saying that the U.S. State Department is expected to either officially or unofficially reveal details of the bilateral talks such as the date, venue and concrete ways on late Monday or early Tuesday (local time) at the earliest.
The reports also said Washington had originally planned to hold talks with Pyongyang during the period of Nov. 20-24 soon after President Barack Obama's Asian trip and ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, but later rescheduled the meeting.
As Obama will hold a summit with his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak on Nov. 19 during his stop in Seoul, and discuss with Lee the DPRK issues, Washington has to review Pyongyang's reaction towards the message sent by the two leaders, another government official said.
A group of U.S. experts from the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) are also scheduled to visit Pyongyang during Nov. 21-24, the reports added.
Bilateral talks with Pyongyang available only under six-party framework: Obama aide
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Obama administration would hold direct talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) only if Pyongyang fulfilled its commitments under the six-party framework, one of U.S. President Barack Obama's top advisers said Friday.
The U.S. is ready to talk to the DPRK "in the context of the six-party talks with the explicit goal of denuclearization and with a recognition that its previous commitments to denuclearize and return to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, notably those in 2005, remain valid," said Jeff Bader, senior director for East Asian Affairs on the National Security Council. Full story
DPRK blames U.S., S Korea for converting military plan
PYONGYANG, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) lashed out on Monday at the United States and South Korea for converting a military concept plan to a detailed operations plan which aimed to cope with an emergency situation in DPRK.
An article carried by the official newspaper Rodong Sinmun called the U.S. and South Korea's behavior of converting the "Concept Plan 5029 (CONPLAN 5029)" to "Operations Plan 5029 (OPLAN 5029)" "a dangerous move" and "an unendurable defiance on politics and military affairs." Full story
