U.S. Girds for Talks in North Korea

By JAY SOLOMON

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's special representative to North Korea is set to hold his first bilateral meetings with Pyongyang this week, in the administration's highest-level dialogue with the country to date.

But signs that the communist state may be prepared to return to international disarmament negotiations were overshadowed by U.S. concerns that it could seek new conditions to the talks.

Stephen Bosworth, a career diplomat and negotiator, was expected to arrive in Pyongyang on Tuesday for two days of meetings, with the goal of persuading North Korea to rejoin talks aimed at getting it to give up its nuclear-weapons program.

"Everyone should keep their expectations low heading into this meeting," said a U.S. official briefed on the visit. North Korea "is a long-term national-security problem for the U.S."

North Korean diplomats and academics have been indicating to interlocutors in recent months that Pyongyang expects the U.S. in any future negotiations to accept Kim Jong Il's government as a nuclear-weapons state. U.S. officials briefed on its stance said North Korea believed it should be treated like India or Pakistan in any future talks -- as a recognized nuclear power operating outside the United Nations' Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The Obama administration has said it would never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea.

Mr. Bosworth will be accompanied by a small interagency team, including the State Department's Sung Kim.

U.S. officials said they didn't know who Mr. Bosworth would meet during his trip. Kim Jong Il hasn't directly engaged Washington on the nuclear issue, though he did discuss it with former President Bill Clinton in August.

The Obama administration is interested in learning about North Korea's economy in light of Pyongyang's decision to revalue its currency last week. U.S. officials also said they'll continue to push for information on North Korea's alleged support for the nuclear programs of Syria and Myanmar.

North Korea had initially rejected Mr. Obama's calls for negotiations. It tested a second nuclear device in May, and a string of long- and short-range missiles.

Kim Jong Il's health problems also have complicated Washington's North Korea policy. Pyongyang's strongman is widely believed to have suffered a stroke late last year that incapacitated him for several months. U.S. officials believe Mr. Kim has taken initial steps to designate his third son, Kim Jong Un, as his political heir.

U.S. officials said that Kim Jong Il's health has improved markedly over the past six months and that he appeared firmly in control of North Korea's national-security apparatus. Mr. Kim has met with a number of senior Chinese officials in Pyongyang in recent weeks and held a three-plus hour meeting with Mr. Clinton in August.

Mr. Bosworth's mission is focused on persuading North Korea to rejoin the six-nation diplomatic process, U.S. officials said. In addition to North Korea, other nations in the talks are the U.S., China, Russia, South Korea and Japan.

North Korea pulled out of the forum this year after balking at the disarmament measures it agreed to with the Bush administration and the four other negotiating powers. Pyongyang then announced it would discuss the nuclear issue only in one-on-one talks with Washington.

U.S. officials said North Korea's position appeared to have softened in recent months. Pyongyang told Chinese officials it would consider a resumption of six-party talks provided it would have direct contact with the U.S. within the forum. North Korean academics and officials delivered a similar message to an October gathering of American Asia specialists in San Diego.

U.S. officials worry, however, that Pyongyang is trying to alter the terms of any future six-party negotiations. North Korean officials and academics, these officials say, now talk of a need for global disarmament rather than disarmament just by North Korea.

Write to Jay Solomon at jay.solomon@wsj.com