ID :
42862
Wed, 01/28/2009 - 07:27
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/42862
The shortlink copeid
Clinton describes 6-way talks as essential to ending N. Korea's nuke ambitions By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that the six-party talks are "essential" to ending North Korea's nuclear weapons ambitions.
Clinton made her remark in her first appearance at a State Department news
briefing since taking office Thursday.
Clinton was repeating her remarks made at her confirmation hearing before the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week that she would engage North Korea
directly as well as through the six-party talks to address the communist nation's
alleged uranium-based nuclear program and suspected nuclear proliferation as well
as its declared plutonium-producing reactor.
She also said that she would employ "smart power" that "requires reaching out to
both friends and adversaries, to bolster old alliances and to forge new ones."
The top U.S. diplomat was echoing the pledge made by U.S. President Barack Obama
during his swearing-in ceremony last week that he would "work tirelessly to
lessen the nuclear threat with old friends and former foes."
Obama has said during his election campaign that he will meet with North Korean
leader Kim Jong-il to address the threats from North Korea, which detonated its
first nuclear device in 2006 and has test fired long-range missiles. The missiles
are believed to have the capability to reach the western part of mainland
America.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said last week that the Obama
administration "is reviewing its options with regard to North Korea."
Wood did not set a timeline for the reviewing process, saying it would "be a
review of a wide range of things: documents, speaking with, you know, experts,
speaking to previous administration officials. That's all part of a review."
Under a series of six-party deals in the past years, North Korea agreed to
denuclearize in return for massive economic aid, normalization of ties with
Washington and Tokyo and establishment of a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.
The six-party process, however, hit a snag in the latest round last month when
Pyongyang refused to agree to a verification protocol for its nuclear facilities.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
Clinton made her remark in her first appearance at a State Department news
briefing since taking office Thursday.
Clinton was repeating her remarks made at her confirmation hearing before the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week that she would engage North Korea
directly as well as through the six-party talks to address the communist nation's
alleged uranium-based nuclear program and suspected nuclear proliferation as well
as its declared plutonium-producing reactor.
She also said that she would employ "smart power" that "requires reaching out to
both friends and adversaries, to bolster old alliances and to forge new ones."
The top U.S. diplomat was echoing the pledge made by U.S. President Barack Obama
during his swearing-in ceremony last week that he would "work tirelessly to
lessen the nuclear threat with old friends and former foes."
Obama has said during his election campaign that he will meet with North Korean
leader Kim Jong-il to address the threats from North Korea, which detonated its
first nuclear device in 2006 and has test fired long-range missiles. The missiles
are believed to have the capability to reach the western part of mainland
America.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said last week that the Obama
administration "is reviewing its options with regard to North Korea."
Wood did not set a timeline for the reviewing process, saying it would "be a
review of a wide range of things: documents, speaking with, you know, experts,
speaking to previous administration officials. That's all part of a review."
Under a series of six-party deals in the past years, North Korea agreed to
denuclearize in return for massive economic aid, normalization of ties with
Washington and Tokyo and establishment of a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.
The six-party process, however, hit a snag in the latest round last month when
Pyongyang refused to agree to a verification protocol for its nuclear facilities.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
