N. Korea Stalls on Response to Proposal for Peace Talks

For the second straight day, North Korea failed Saturday to resume scheduled talks with the United States and South Korea on a Korean peninsula peace proposal.

In an effort to keep their initiative from collapsing, the Americans and South Koreans persuaded the North Koreans to hold lower-level contacts aimed at getting the crucial senior-level dialogue back on track.

But that three-hour effort was unsuccessful, and a U.S. spokesman announced that “there will be no meeting at the heads-of-delegation level today.”

The chief U.S. negotiator, Charles Kartman, flew back to Washington. However, some of his assistants remained in New York to continue working-level contacts with the North Koreans.

There is “some possibility” senior negotiators from the three sides would meet Monday, but “nothing has been agreed at this point,” the U.S. spokesman said.

He would not discuss the reasons for the delay. “The bottom line is they [North Koreans] don’t feel they are in a position yet to come and meet” and provide their response, he said.

Han Song Ryol, a member of the North Korean delegation, said his group was awaiting directions from Pyongyang. Interagency consultations in Pyongyang and the fact that it is the weekend, when officials cannot easily be reached, are the reason for the delay, he said.

Han said his delegation proposed holding another meeting Monday.

A U.S.-South Korean proposal for four-way peace talks seeks to close the books on the 1950-53 Korean War by replacing the fraying armistice with a peace treaty. The talks would also include China.