Powell Urges North Korea to Resume Talks

On what might be his last official visit to Asia as secretary of State, Colin L. Powell made a plea today for North Korea to rejoin six-nation negotiations aimed at eliminating its nuclear weapons program. But he was adamant that the Bush administration would not sweeten its proposal to lure Pyongyang back to talks.

“Let’s get going,” he said in the South Korean capital. “This is the time to move forward and bring this matter to a conclusion and

Several of the other parties to the talks, which include China, South Korea, Japan and Russia, have urged the United States to throw in food or energy assistance to get the recalcitrant Pyongyang regime to the table. But at a news conference here with South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon, Powell said: “We’ve showed flexibility on our side. We are waiting for a response.”

The same message was conveyed at earlier stops in Beijing and Tokyo. The U.S. has said it would provide aid and other concessions only after Pyongyang agreed to dismantle its nuclear program.

On Monday, Powell asked Chinese leaders to use their “considerable influence” over Pyongyang to revive negotiations for the “denuclearization” of the Korean peninsula.

The six nations have met three times but have made little progress. The North Koreans are thought to be waiting for the outcome of the U.S. presidential election before agreeing to any further negotiations. Democratic candidate Sen. John F. Kerry has said he would prefer one-on-one talks with Pyongyang rather than the multi-party approach taken by the Bush administration.

The North’s official KCNA news agency said today that it was impossible to hold talks now and repeated its accusation that Washington’s policy toward the communist country is hostile. The North also accused the Bush administration of trying to win votes in next week’s presidential election by blaming Pyongyang for a delay in the nuclear talks.

North Korea is also wary of U.S. participation in multinational naval exercises, which were to start Monday off the coast of Japan, and has taken issue with a law recently signed by President Bush forbidding all but humanitarian aid to Pyongyang.

Although North Korea was the main focus of Powell’s trip, other issues such as human rights in China and Beijing’s ties with Taiwan were on the agenda too.

On Monday in Beijing, he acknowledged that he made little headway on the politically sensitive issue of Taiwan, which the Chinese have viewed as a part of their territory since the split following the 1949 civil war.

The secretary said he encouraged Chinese leaders to respond to Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian’s call for renewed discussion with the mainland. But Powell admitted that he hit a roadblock in trying to promote dialogue, as the Chinese leadership repeated its criticism that Chen’s comments were “not forthcoming.”

The Chinese also objected to a U.S. plan to sell $18 billion of weapons to Taiwan.

Although Powell stressed the administration’s commitment to the “one China” policy, he said the U.S. considered the potential sale -- Taipei has yet to place its order -- as part of its responsibility “to make sure that Taiwan was capable of defending itself.”

Discussion of human rights was apparently more fruitful as Powell announced that, after discussions with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, both sides agreed to resume a dialogue on the issue.

Human rights activists say China should reform its authoritarian political system, and be prodded to expand personal freedoms, allow independent labor unions and make other improvements.

China broke off human rights discussions in March when the White House said it would seek a U.N. resolution criticizing Beijing for backing away from a previous pledge to make reforms.

Powell said he also discussed with Li the plight of a New York Times researcher in Beijing who faces the death penalty for allegedly supplying state secrets to foreigners.

The researcher, Chinese journalist Zhao Yen, was taken into custody last month after the New York Times broke a story that former President Jiang Zemin would step down as head of the Chinese military.

Zhao was charged last week and faces the death penalty if found guilty.

Powell said he asked Li to look into the matter and see if Zhao could be released.

“He noted ... that the person was a Chinese citizen and the matter was being looked into in [accordance] with Chinese law,” Powell said, describing the exchange as “pretty candid.”

Demick reported from Seoul and Frammolino from Beijing.