WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 (Yonhap) -- The United States announced Wednesday that Stephen Bosworth will quit his part-time job as Washington's top envoy on Pyongyang as the two sides plan to hold another round of high-level talks next week in Geneva.
After two and a half years of service, Bosworth will be replaced by Glyn Davies, the U.S. ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, who will work on a full-time basis, according to the State Department.
It emphasized that the replacement does not mean a major shift in the U.S. policy on North Korea.
"It's important to stress this is a change in personnel, not a change in policy," department spokesman Mark Toner said at a press briefing. "And our goal is to ensure a smooth transition and to reinforce the continuity in U.S. policy toward North Korea."
Bosworth will attend the two-day Geneva meetings with the North from Monday along with his successor, Davies, he added.
"Ambassador Bosworth is going to lead the delegation to the meetings in Geneva as well as introduce Ambassador Davies to the DPRK delegation," to be headed by Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan, Toner said. North Korea's official name is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
He said the upcoming talks mark a "continuation of the exploratory meetings to determine if North Korea is prepared to fulfill its commitments under the 2005 joint statement of the six-party talks."
Bosworth and Kim had talks in New York in late July, in which the U.S. laid out a set of initial steps North Korea should take for the resumption of the six-way talks, which also involve South Korea, China, Russia and Japan.
The measures reportedly include the return of IAEA inspectors to the North's main nuclear facilities, a halt to the reclusive communist nation's uranium enrichment program and a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests.
A senior South Korean official said the Geneva talks are intended to listen to Pyongyang's response to the demands.
He expressed skepticism that the six-way talks will resume anytime soon despite the meetings between Washington and Pyongyang.
On Bosworth's departure, the official said he seems to have made the decision for personal reasons.
Bosworth serves as dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University in Boston.
Sung Kim, former special envoy for the six-way talks, had handled day-to-day affairs on North Korea before being named as U.S. ambassador to Seoul in June. Kim was confirmed by the Senate last week.
The State Department announced that Clifford Hart, a career diplomat, will replace Kim.
In Pyongyang, meanwhile, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il said he hopes for the quick resumption of nuclear talks without preconditions.
"Our principled position remains unchanged that the six-way talks should be quickly resumed without preconditions," Kim said in a written interview with Russia's Itar-Tass news agency, according to the North's state media.
In April 2009, the North said it would not participate in the disarmament-for-aid talks any more and conducted a second nuclear test a month later.
