SINGAPORE, November 11 (RIA Novosti) - The U.S. has decided to send an envoy to North Korea to persuade the communist regime to resume denuclearization talks, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday.
Speaking at a news conference after a ministerial meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum members in Singapore, Clinton said that Stephen Bosworth would not negotiate with North Korea but would seek to pave the way for its return to the six-party talks.
"We have made the purpose and parameters of this visit clear to the North Koreans. This is not a negotiation. It is an effort to pave the way toward North Korea's return to the six-party process," Clinton said.
The six-party negotiations over North Korea's nuclear program, which involve Russia, the United States, China, Japan and the two Koreas, stalled late last year when Pyongyang missed a deadline to hand over nuclear data as part of a deal under which the North was promised economic aid and diplomatic incentives.
"Let me emphasize that our expectations of Pyongyang have not changed and will not change, nor has our commitment to the six-party process. We will use diplomacy and we will work closely with our partners to find a peaceful path to our shared objective on the Korean peninsula," Clinton said.
