“Bush Sent Kim a Letter to Prevent Deadlock”

U.S. President George W. Bush expects that the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il will reply to his private letter sent to Kim last week, said Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill.

On December 7, when asked by journalists whether there was a reply yet to the letter, Assistant Secretary Hill answered, “No. But besides handing over the private letter, I also spent hours talking with North Korean officials, and I believe they will show a response.”

Bush had telephone conversation with the Chinese President Hu Jintao on December 6 the evening after sending Kim Jong Il the letter and emphasized China’s role for the complete and exact listing of nuclear programs by North Korea.

“The Bush administration is waiting for a reply from Kim Jong Il,” said a reliable source in Washington. “Through a number of diplomatic channels, the U.S. administration unofficially sent messages to the South Korean government asking it to play a role in receiving a reply from North Korea as it did when President Bush sent out the letter Kim Jong Il.”

News sources also said, “The U.S. is making these moves because it is concerned about the possibility of deadlocks in the nuclear program declaration, although disabling of nuclear facilities is proceeding without much trouble.”

It has been known that North Korea explained the aluminum tubes it adopted for an HEU (highly enriched uranium) program as a part of its missile development, and fiercely denied Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s disclosure in his autobiography that Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan exported centrifugal separators to North Korea.

According to a source, a North Korean high-ranking official recently contended, “Autobiographies do not always tell the truth. We never imported a centrifugal separator. Let’s invite Dr. Khan to a meeting of the six-party talks and have a hearing. We are confident.”

srkim@donga.com