NORTH KOREA: The most senior US official to visit North Korea for two years said Washington remained committed to dialogue with the communist regime after he returned from three days of "frank" but "useful" talks in Pyongyang.
Mr James Kelly, US assistant secretary of state, said he had expressed Washington's "serious concerns" about the military and humanitarian issues which led President Bush to name North Korea as part of an "axis of evil".
Mr Kelly gave little indication of North Korea's response and made no suggestion that any agreements had been reached. "Our exchanges in Pyongyang were frank, as befits the seriousness of our differences, and they were useful too," he said Mr Kelly before returning to the US yesterday.
Diplomats in Seoul said no dramatic progress had been expected after such a long freeze in relations. "The purpose of the visit was for the two sides to set out their positions and build a foundation for future dialogue. There was no serious negotiation," said one.
Mr Kelly told North Korea that it could improve its relationship with the US by making a "comprehensive effort" to address Washington's concern about its weapons of mass destruction and missile development, missile exports, threatening conventional force posture, human rights failings and the "dire humanitarian situation".
Mr Bush has demanded inspections of North Korea's nuclear facilities to verify if the regime kept its promise to stop developing atomic weapons. Washington also wants a reduction in North Korea's 1 million-strong army and wall of artillery positioned along the tense border with South Korea, where 37,000 US troops are stationed.
Mr Kelly was the most senior US official to visit North Korea since Ms Madeleine Albright, then secretary of state, in October 2000.
The Japanese Prime Minister, Mr Junichiro Koizumi, won a breakthrough in bilateral relations with North Korea in September when he made a historic trip to Pyongyang, the first by a Japanese prime minister.