U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday praised South Korea for getting North Korea to end its 13-month boycott of nuclear disarmament talks by pledging energy aid, and expressed hope for an end to the international standoff with the communist nation. The United States and South Korea are "very optimistic that our joint efforts to improve the security situation on the Korean Peninsula could indeed bear fruit, although of course there is still much work to be done," Rice said during a visit to Seoul. "The agreement of the North Koreans to come back to the talks is a very good step but only a first step," she said, appearing at a news conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon. "We look forward to a strategic decision by the North Koreans to abandon their nuclear weapons." Seoul's new plan to deliver electricity directly to the North is "a very creative idea" and "gives an opportunity for the North Koreans to address questions of their energy needs," Rice was quoted as saying by The Associated Press on Wednesday. Seoul was the last stop of Rice's Asian tour before her scheduled return to Washington later Wednesday.
