U.S. has never accepted N. Korea as nuclear power: Hill

SEOUL, Feb. 15 (Yonhap) -- The outgoing top American nuclear envoy stressed Sunday that his country does not regard North Korea as a nuclear power, countering growing speculation that Washington might have lowered the bar in dealing with the communist state's nuclear ambitions.

"We do not and have never accepted North Korea as a nuclear weapon state I want
to make that very clear," Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told
reporters after meeting with Seoul's top nuclear negotiator Kim Sook in Seoul.
The Barack Obama administration has yet to chart a concrete strategy on
Pyongyang. But Washington's primary goal on the North Korean nuclear program has
been thrown into question since the U.S. Joint Forces Command in Hawaii was found
late last year to have categorized North Korea as a nuclear power along with
China, India, Pakistan, and Russia.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in a recent contribution to the journal
Foreign Affairs that "North Korea has built several bombs." The U.S. government
has played down the report and comments as part of a "military contingency plan"
without any political and diplomatic implications.
Hill urged North Korea to fulfill its commitment under the landmark six-nation
deal signed Sept. 19 2005 under which North Korea should dismantle all of its
nuclear programs in return for economic assistance and political incentives from
South Korea, the U.S., China, Russia, and Japan.
"I think what needs to be done ... is that the Sept. 05 Joint Statement needs to
be fulfilled and the DPRK (North Korea) needs to get on with this and complete
the denuclearization," Hill said. He arrived in Seoul earlier in the day for what
he described as the last trip here as Washington's representative to the on-again
and off-again six-way talks.
"We have had interruptions and interruptions that have slowed this down too
much," he said, when asked whether he is satisfied with what he has done since he
took the post four years ago.
Hill refused to elaborate, saying the main purpose of his trip was to prepare for
a visit by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton later this week, not to have an
"exit interview."
He declined to comment on media reports that he will be tapped Washington's
ambassador to Baghdad.
The six-way talks are stalled as North Korea rejected the U.S. proposal to
inspect its nuclear program which it declared last June.
lcd@yna.co.kr
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