Clinton pledges to continue six-party talks to denuclearize N. Korea

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details, background throughout)
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Friday
reconfirmed that the Obama administration will continue six-party talks to
denuclearize North Korea.

"We will need to work together to address the most acute challenge to stability
in Northeast Asia, North Korea's nuclear program," Clinton said in a forum in New
York two days before embarking on a four-nation Asian tour Sunday. "The Obama
administration is committed to working through the six-party talks, and I will
discuss with South Korea, Japan and China how best to get the negotiations back
on track."
The North Korean nuclear issue is among the priorities on her Asian tour, her
first overseas travel since taking office in late January. South Korea, Russia,
China and Japan are also members of the six-party talks on ending North Korea's
nuclear ambitions.
The on-and-off multilateral talks, which began in 2003, stalled again in December
when North Korea would not agree to a verification procedure for its nuclear
facilities, saying it would agree to that at a later stage.
Barack Obama has said he will continue the talks and would not dismiss the
possibility of meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il as part of bilateral
engagement to resolve concerns over North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic
missiles.
"If North Korea is genuinely prepared to completely and verifiably eliminate
their nuclear weapons program, the Obama administration will be willing to
normalize bilateral relations, replace the peninsula's long-standing armistice
agreements with a permanent peace treaty, and assist in meeting the energy and
other economic needs of the North Korean people," Clinton said.
She was describing the benefits North Korea can get from six-party deals struck
in 2005 and 2007.
Clinton said earlier this week that she hopes the Obama administration will be
able to engage North Korea "in the weeks and months ahead" through bilateral and
multilateral talks.
She urged the North to return to the global nonproliferation regime as part of a
six-party deal for denuclearization.
"The North Korean government has committed to abandoning all nuclear weapons and
to return at an early date to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons," she said. "We continue to hold them to those commitments."
The secretary, meanwhile, warned North Korea not to destabilize regional security
with repeated threats.
"We believe we have an opportunity to move these discussions forward, but it is
incumbent upon North Korea to avoid any provocative action and unhelpful rhetoric
towards South Korea," she said.
North Korea in recent weeks has been threatening South Korea with scrapping
bilateral ties, nullification of a western sea border and a possible military
conflict, which analysts see as signals directed at the fledgling Obama
administration.
Obama has already named special envoys to the Middle East and Afghanistan and
Pakistan, respectively, raising speculation that North Korean issues have been
sidelined by more urgent issues, such as the economic crisis and the Middle East.
"As to the envoy, we'll be ready to announce our envoy to North Korea soon, but
again, I think you'll understand that we would like to consult with our partners
in the six-party talks before we do so," she said.
Stephen Bosworth, former ambassador to South Korea and currently dean of the
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, said Friday that he has
been asked to serve as a special envoy to North Korea, and that the posting will
take effect in a few days.
"So much of it depends upon the choices that they make," she said, referring to
the possibility of inviting the North Korean Philharmonic to New York to enhance
mutual trust.
"We will look at all of these individual decisions, like the philharmonic coming
here, for example, and consider whether or not that does help us to try to change
the atmosphere, to increase the connections between North Koreans and certainly
Americans," she said.
Clinton also said she will discuss the economy and other regional and bilateral
issues in Asia while there next week.
"Like the financial crisis, other issues also require bilateral as well as
regional and global approaches," she said. "The United States is committed to
maintaining our historic security alliances in Asia and building on those
relationships to counter the complex global threats we face."
She thanked South Korea and Japan for having agreed to enhance their assistance
in Afghanistan, where Obama is poised to reinforce U.S. troops against Taliban
insurgents who have been gaining strength in recent months.
"I'm very pleased that Japan and South Korea this week agreed to joint assistance
for reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, and that both countries continue to
work with us on global security, especial in combating piracy off the Horn of
Africa," she said.
Turning to the pending free trade agreement with South Korea, Clinton said the
fledgling Obama administration has not yet fixed a position on the politically
sensitive issue.
Many Congressional Democrats oppose the deal because of trade unions, their
support base, which fear possible job cuts from the ratification of the deal
signed in June 2007.
South Korea's parliament also has not yet approved the deal, citing the Democrats
in Congress and the White House, who lean toward protectionism.
"I hope that this is an area where, you know, Obama will take a fairly assertive
position vis-a-vis the U.S. Congress," she said. "But again, we are back into the
realm of trade, and that conversation here in Washington still seems to be a
little bit unclear in my mind."
Clinton took note of the sensitivity of the issue, saying "I think the Obama
administration ... (especially on) the trade agreement with South Korea, is going
to feel some deep emotions and some intense scrutiny from the Korean public, as
well as from the government."
Thousands of South Koreans took to the streets in the summer of last year
opposing the resumption of U.S. beef due to fears of mad cow disease.
"The United States and South Korea are both committed to expanding trade in a
manner that benefits both of our countries, and we will work together to that end
... In South Korea you have a president who's been embattled from about two or
three months into his new administration," she said. "And so I think you've got a
dynamic in South Korea with a conservative president trying very hard to win the
hearts and minds of his own public, but also trying to work with the United
States."
hdh@yna.co.kr
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