Draft ready on N. Korea talks
From CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux and State Department Producer Elise Labott
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The draft proposal will be given to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to pass on to Pyongyang.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States has agreed with South Korea, Japan and Russia on a proposal for a new round of talks aimed at persuading North Korea to scrap its nuclear program, senior administration officials have said.
The proposal has been sent to China for it to pass along to North Korea, the officials said, adding that U.S. President George W. Bush, when he meets Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Tuesday, will urge Wen to use Chinese influence to get Pyongyang to accept the proposal.
Officials said the talks -- to include the United States, South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and North Korea -- will likely happen in January, although one senior administration official said they could happen as early as next week if North Korea accepts the proposal.
"We are ready," the senior administration official said, but said there is only a "50-50 chance" of talks before the end of the year.
U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States was working with its partners in the talks "to try to prepare for another round of six-party talks, including preparing a draft document that might be used at those talks."
Boucher called the document a "draft statement" that deals with the process "whereby North Korea would completely, verifiably and irreversibly dismantle its nuclear weapons programs and whereby the six parties could provide security assurances to North Korea as they did that.
"I can't program every step of the way of what would, we would hope, be a coordinated series of steps," Boucher said. "But the intention is to go to the next round of talks and to begin addressing these issues in a way that's appropriate for the beginning of the process."
Although he did not know at what point China would show the document to the North Koreans, he said the United States "would expect to get commitments from them, in the terms of the talks and in terms of the documents that might be issued."
"We would look forward to six-party talks based on any understandings that can be reached in advance about draft statements," he said.
Boucher added, "Until we find out from the Chinese if they've been able to arrange anything, we won't know exactly when that might take place."
"At this point, there's nothing set ... The Chinese are working this one, and when they have something to tell us, I'm sure they will."
Boucher said China is trying to fulfill two roles: that of organizer of the talks and that of an interested party.
