DATE=8-13-03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=U-S-NORTH KOREA (S)

NUMBER=306458

BYLINE=DAVID GOLLUST

DATELINE=STATE DEPARTMENT

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday the United States is concerned about the plight of the North Korean people but is not putting forward economic aid proposals for Pyongyang. He spoke as senior U-S, Japanese and South Korean diplomats met in Washington to map strategy for the six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear program opening late this month in Beijing. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

TEXT: The preparatory talks convened here amid press speculation the Bush administration might be easing its opposition to concessions to North Korea that would precede the dismantling of its nuclear program. While the New York Times reported Wednesday this might include economic aid to the struggling communist state, Mr. Powell told reporters no such proposal was being put forward:

///Powell actuality///

The President has said many times that he is concerned about the welfare of the North Korean people. It concerns him that people are in need and starving, and that something can be done about it. But we have put no economic proposals forward at the moment of the kind that were referenced in some newspapers this morning.

///end act///

Officials said the three-way U-S-Japan-South Korea meeting, expected to continue Thursday, was aimed at developing a common strategy at the Beijing talks for the "verifiable and irreversible" end to the North Korean nuclear weapons program. (Signed)

NEB/DAG/PT/FC