US insists on multilateral DPRK talks

SEOUL: The United States said yesterday that disarming the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) of its nuclear weapons required a multilateral solution, rejecting calls for it to drop Six Party Talks for one-on-one dialogue with Pyongyang.

US special representative on DPRK Stephen Bosworth held a third day of talks with Republic of Korea (ROK) officials to discuss ways to press Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table, after arriving here on Friday.

His visit came as DPRK announced experimental uranium enrichment was entering the completion phase, in a defiant response to tougher UN sanctions imposed after its May 25 nuclear test and separate missile launches.