North Korea Wants Condoleezza Rice’s Visit

Japanese daily newspaper Mainichi reported yesterday that North Korea’s nuclear negotiator Kim Gye Gwan requested U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill that he should ask U.S. State of Secretary Condoleezza Rice to visit Pyongyang.

The daily cited a source familiar with developments of the six-party talks and analyzed that North Korea seemed to make a use of Rice’s visit as a stepping stone for improving its bilateral relations with the United States.

Kim reportedly made such a request when he had a meeting with Hill to discuss North Korea’s nuclear declaration in Beijing from May 27 to 28. The Japanese daily added Hill did not give an immediate answer.

In her speech to the Heritage Foundation on Wednesday, Rice said, “North Korea will soon give its declaration of nuclear programs to China, the chair of the denuclearization working group. President Bush would then notify Congress of our intention to remove North Korea from the State sponsors of terrorism list, and to cease the application of the Trading with the Enemy Act.”