Fresh nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea are still possible but only if the communist state ends "dangerous provocations" and shows good faith, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday. Gates, ending an Asian tour with a brief stopover in Seoul, said the process must start with talks between the two Koreas. Seoul has rejected as insincere Pyongyang's recent dialogue offers, which come less than two months after a deadly bombardment of a South Korean island.
The United States and close ally South Korea also accuse Pyongyang of torpedoing a South Korean warship last March with the loss of 46 lives, a charge it denies. Gates, speaking before talks with Defence Minister Kim Kwan-Jin, said they would discuss close co-ordination to deter future provocations. Washington bases 28,500 troops in the South.
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