Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special envoy for DPRK policies, arrived in South Korean on Friday, as part of his three-nation Asian trip on the six-party talks and nuclear issue on Korea peninsula, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency said.
"I have no comment now. I'll comment on Sunday," Bosworth said upon arrival at the Incheon Airport, located west of Seoul.
The envoy is scheduled to stay in the nation for three days, during which he plans to meet with Wi Sung-lac, the South Korean envoy to the six-nation talks, and Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan, as well as other senior officials engaged into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) issues.
After leaving the country, Bosworth will visit Japan, the final destination of his current tour which began from Beijing.
During Bosworth's current trip to Asia, "he will reaffirm our commitment to the September 2005 Joint Statement and the six-party process. He will discuss the role of bilateral talks with North Korea within the context of the six-party process," U.S. State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly said earlier.
In the Sept. 19, 2005 Joint Statement, the six parties to the talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue -- the DPRK, the United States, China, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Russia -- unanimously reaffirmed the goal of a verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner.
However, the DPRK quit the six-party nuclear disarmament talks in April and conducted its second nuclear test in May.
Although it has been circulated that Bosworth may make a stopover at Pyongyang, Kelly dismissed the rumors, firmly saying " Bosworth has no plans to travel to Pyongyang or to meet with North Korean (DPRK) officials."
The DPRK has been reported to have invited Bosworth to bilateral negotiation, but the U.S. has been firm on continuing dialogue only within the six-party talks framework, Yonhap said.
(Xinhua News Agency September 4, 2009)
