South Korea's chief nuclear envoy left for Washington on Thursday for talks on the North Korean nuclear standoff after China blocked the U.N. Security Council from adopting a report denouncing Pyongyang's uranium enrichment program.
Wi Sung-lac said he plans to discuss the next steps to deal with the uranium issue during a three-day trip to Washington that is expected to include meetings with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, six-party talks envoy Sung Kim and other officials.
"The overall North Korean nuclear issue will be discussed, but more of the focus will be on how to cope with the uranium enrichment program in the context of the Security Council and how to create the right conditions for resuming six-party talks," Wi said ahead of his departure.
China's move had been expected as it opposed the Security Council discussing the uranium issue, citing concern that it could aggravate tensions. Beijing, a veto-holding permanent member of the council, has insisted that the issue should be dealt with at six-party talks involving the two Koreas and regional powers.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi also called for an early reopening of the six-party talks when he held talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan in Seoul on Wednesday. Officials said China stuck to its existing position on the nuclear issue.
South Korea, the U.S. and other like-minded nations wanted to endorse the report, which would represent the international community's first official recognition of the illicit nature of the uranium program that the North claims is for peaceful purposes.
North Korea revealed in November that it was running a uranium enrichment facility, adding to international concerns about its nuclear capabilities. Uranium, if highly enriched, can be used to make weapons, prodiving Pyongyang with a second way of building atomic bombs after its existing plutonium-based program.
Pyongyang says the purpose of the facility is to produce fuel for a power-generating nuclear reactor and that the country has the right to peaceful use of nuclear energy. But few believe the claim by a regime that has pursued nuclear ambitions for decades and conducted nuclear tests twice.
A senior diplomatic source said that the U.S. views the North's uranium program "very seriously," emphasizing that South Korea should try to have the Security Council deal with the matter.
"The issue of dealing with the UEP at the Security Council is an attempt that we make with the backing of friendly nations," the source told reporters on condition of anonymity. "I believe things will work out well, but even if they don't, the country that raised objections will be evaluated by the international community."
On the possibility of North Korea carrying out a nuclear test, the source said that the U.S. does not rule out such a possibility, but it does not believe a test is imminent.