By Ryu Jin & Reuben Staines
Staff Reporters

President Roh Moo-hyun and U.S. President George W. Bush will send a message to North Korea through the outcome of their summit scheduled for Friday that will have a significant influence on Pyongyang’s decision whether to return to the six-party nuclear talks, a Seoul official said yesterday.

``The upcoming summit will anyhow affect the attitude of North Korea,’’ the senior government official, who is deeply involved in the nuclear negotiations, said on condition of anonymity. ``North Korea is going to watch the outcome of the summit closely. And the two leaders will be keeping that in mind.’’

However, he refused to elaborate what the message might be, denying speculation that Roh will put forward concrete proposals or enticements for the North in the hopes that Bush would sign off on them during the White House summit.

``Basically, the two leaders will reconfirm the principle that a nuclear North Korea cannot be tolerated and that the problem should be resolved in a peaceful manner,’’ he said. ``They will have comprehensive and in-depth discussions on the issue.’’

The summit comes amid signs that Pyongyang is ready to return to the nuclear talks after nearly a year of stalling.

North Korea indicated its desire to restart the multilateral talks during an informal diplomatic contact in New York on Monday but declined to set a firm date, U.S. officials confirmed.

Joseph DeTrani, Washington’s deputy chief negotiator in the multilateral talks, visited Pak Gil-yon, North Korea’s top diplomat to the United Nations, to discuss the standoff in their second direct consultation in a month.

Commenting on the development, the South Korean official said the ``ball is still in the North’s court,’’ hinting that the reclusive communist nation will give its final answer soon after the summit.

Seoul earlier reacted cautiously to the hopeful reports, noting that Pyongyang had expressed a willingness to resume talks before but continued to delay.

However, Wang Guangya, China’s ambassador to the United Nations, was optimistic that a new round of six-party negotiations could convene in Beijing ``in the next few weeks.’’

In Tokyo, Foreign Ministry spokesman Akira Chiba said Japan would also welcome North Korea’s return to the talks.

He echoed Washington in praising the Chinese for its mediating role. ``I think China’s role is very important,’’ Chiba said. ``China has many contacts with North Korea and I believe that they are in a position to communicate with them better than the other parties.’’

Roh departs for Washington today for the summit with Bush and will remain in the U.S. for just one day. It is about seven months since the two leaders last meeting on the sidelines of an economic forum in Chile.

Before leaving, the president invited top American military officials including Gen. Leon J. LaPorte, U.S. Forces Korea commander, and Lt. Gen. Charles C. Campbell, chief of staff of the Combined Forces Command (CFC), for lunch at the presidential office of Chong Wa Dae.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki-moon described the summit as the ``most important in a decade.’’ He said the Roh-Bush meeting would deal with bilateral issues related to their military alliance in addition to the nuclear issue.

jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr