California Lawmaker in N. Korea for Talks

As a California congressman critical of North Korea’s human rights record arrived on a visit to the communist state Saturday, the regime said it was willing to abandon its nuclear weapons programs if the U.S. would drop its “hostile policy.”

The statement, which echoed earlier remarks, appeared to be timed for the visit by Rep. Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo), the ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee.

“Our consistent stance is to denuclearize the Korean peninsula and resolve the problem through dialogue,” a spokesman for North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said. “If the United States really wants to resolve the nuclear problem through dialogue, it should show through action that it is giving up a hostile policy aimed at toppling our system, and take the road toward coexistence.”

The statement was carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, which was monitored by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

On Saturday, North Korea cited the North Korean Human Rights Act passed by Congress in October as a key example of U.S. hostility. The legislation allows Washington to spend up to $24 million a year in humanitarian aid for North Koreans, including those fleeing their country.

Lantos, a key sponsor of that legislation, arrived in Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, on Saturday. On a stopover in Beijing, Lantos said he would discuss human rights issues and the North’s nuclear program with officials of the secretive communist regime. He was expected to leave Pyongyang on Tuesday.

Three rounds of talks by the United States, North and South Korea, China, Japan and Russia to discuss Pyongyang’s nuclear program have produced no breakthroughs. Pyongyang has said it is holding out on rejoining the six-party talks to wait for President Bush’s North Korea policy to take shape during his second term.

A bipartisan congressional delegation organized by Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) will travel to Pyongyang after Lantos’ visit.