White House approaching N. Korea warily

WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- A U.S. official says the White House is approaching direct negotiations with North Korea warily, given Pyongyang's track record of broken promises.

Jeffrey Bader, senior director for East Asian affairs at the National Security Council, told The Wall Street Journal that North Korea, despite recent signals that it again wants to negotiate on denuclearization issues, is still engaged in old patterns of provocation and delay, the newspaper reported Sunday.

Bader said North Korean leader Kim Jong Il missed an opportunity to take advantage of U.S. President Barack Obama's openness to meeting directly with adversaries.

"Instead, dusting off its old playbook, North Korea abrogated its agreements, launched ballistic missiles, conducted a nuclear test, resumed reprocessing of spent fuel and threatened its neighbors," Bader told the Journal.

He insisted that as the administration decides whether to send an envoy to Pyongyang, "We are not in talks for talks' sake," citing two previous broken promises to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear plant after receiving U.S. payments.