US extends hand to North Korea, seeks dialogue

Mar 7, 2009, 12:28 GMT

   Seoul - The new US government reached out Saturday to North Korea, saying it wanted dialogue, despite a series of threats the North has made against South Korea, a close US ally.

   'We are reaching out now,' US envoy Stephen Bosworth said upon his arrival in South Korea. 'We want dialogue.'

   At the same time, however, he called on the Stalinist country to halt its preparations for what the United States and South Korea said is a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile as well as end its threats against South Korea.

   'Everyone would be much happier if they would drop that line of rhetoric,' Bosworth told reporters on the third and final stop of an Asian tour after he visited Japan and China.

   His arrival in South Korea came two days after North Korea indirectly threatened South Korean civilian aircraft, saying it could no longer guarantee their safety in or near its airspace, causing airlines to reroute their flights.

   'I don't think the warning was very helpful,' said Bosworth, who was making his first trip to the region after being named US President Barack Obama's special envoy on North Korean policy.

   The latest warning from Pyongyang came after North Korea repeatedly threatened the South this year with destruction, accusing it of engaging in a confrontational inter- Korean policy.

   The aircraft threat from North Korea was issued immediately before the United States and South Korea plan on Monday to start 11 days of joint military exercises. Pyongyang has continuously criticized the annual manoeuvres as a prelude to an invasion.

   South Korea has said its neighbour has also been preparing for weeks for a test of a Taepodong-2 missile, potentially capable of reaching the western US coast and carrying a nuclear warhead.

   A missile launch would be 'very ill-advised,' said Bosworth, a former US ambassador to South Korea.

   North Korea has insisted it is preparing to launch a satellite, not a missile.

   Meanwhile, one of North Korea's few allies, China, called on North Korea Saturday to exercise restraint amid the rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

   'We hope all parties do more that is conducive to peace and stability,' Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said in Beijing.