WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Preliminary meetings have been held on addressing the North Korean nuclear-weapons program, reports said Thursday.
The New York Times reported senior U.S. diplomats convened with Japanese and South Korean officials Wednesday to map strategy for the six-party talks, which open Aug. 27 in Beijing.
As the meeting got under way, Secretary of State Colin Powell downplayed a published report the Bush administration was considering economic incentives for Pyongyang to give up its weapons ambitions.
The informal three-way meeting began amid speculation the Bush administration might be easing its long-held opposition to making concessions to North Korea before it dismantled its nuclear weapons program.
The Bush administration has insisted there be no benefits, diplomatic or economic, for Pyongyang without the "verifiable and irreversible" dismantling of its nuclear program.
It has ruled out a non-aggression pact with North Korea, a demand Pyongyang repeated Wednesday, but it has left open the prospect of less-formal written security guarantees.
