Clinton reaffirms pledge for N. Korea's nuclear dismantlement

By Hwang Doo-hyong

WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday reaffirmed her pledge to denuclearize North Korea through six-party talks, dismissing concerns that the Barack Obama administration may take a softer line to focus on nonproliferation.

"I want it known very clearly that we remain absolutely committed to the
denuclearization of North Korea, that North Korea entered into an agreement to do
that," Clinton said on ABC's "Good Morning America."
She was talking in Tokyo, the first stop on her weeklong Asian tour that began
Sunday and will take her to South Korea, China and Indonesia as well.
"And if they proceed as they had already agreed, and verifiably and completely
eliminate their nuclear program, there are benefits," Clinton said. "That's a
quid pro quo."
In a separate interview with MSNBC, she said that "I want to make it as clear as
I can, as I have on numerous occasions, that if the North Koreans do decide to
fulfill their obligations and achieve denuclearization and end proliferation,
there are opportunities awaiting them which I think would be very attractive."
Concerns have lingered that the Obama administration will focus on
nonproliferation rather than on the North's denuclearization due to the failure
of previous U.S. administrations to quell North Korean nuclear ambitions, first
discerned in the early 1990s.
Clinton told a news conference in Tokyo earlier in the day that she regrets that
the former Bush administration scrapped the Agreed Framework signed under the
administration of her husband, Bill Clinton, in 1994, aimed at the freezing of
North Korea's plutonium-producing reactor in return for economic benefits.
"If we could turn the clock back, we would not have let that occur," she said.
The Bush administration did not honor the framework agreement, citing North
Korea's suspected uranium-based nuclear program in violation of the agreement,
paving the way for the North to produce scores of kilograms of plutonium capable
of making several nuclear warheads.
North Korea detonated its first nuclear device in 2006, prompting the alarmed
Bush administration to hurriedly agree on a six-party deal for the North's
nuclear dismantlement in exchange for energy and economic aid and diplomatic
recognition by Washington and Tokyo.
Ironically, the six-party deal failed to specifically touch on the alleged
uranium program, which had triggered the scrapping of the 1994 agreement.
The multilateral talks have since been on and off before hitting the latest snag
in December, when North Korea refused to agree to a verification regime for its
nuclear facilities.
At the press conference, Clinton repeated her proposal to normalize ties with
Pyongyang, establish a peace treaty to replace a fragile armistice on the Korean
Peninsula and provide massive economic aid -- all stipulated by the six-party
process -- if the North denuclearizes itself.
"But the decision as to whether North Korea will cooperate in the six-party
talks, end provocative language and actions, is up to them and we are watching
very closely," she said.
She was talking about the threats made by North Korea in recent weeks to cut off
all ties with South Korea and launch a long-range missile theoretically capable
of reaching the continental U.S.
"The possible missile launch that North Korea is talking about would be very
unhelpful," Clinton said.
Clinton's arrival in Tokyo Monday coincided with other provocative remark from
North Korea: that it had the right to develop space technology, an apparent
justification of its imminent ballistic missile launch.
The North launched a Daepodong I long-range missile in 1998 and sent part of its
debris into seas south of Alaska, leading then-President Clinton to send
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to Pyongyang in the first such visit by any
U.S. top diplomat, and pledged himself to make a trip to the capital of the
reclusive communist state.
President Clinton did not keep the pledge due to lack of time in his waning
months, and recently said he regretted that.
The second long-range missile firing came in the summer of 2006, just months
before the North's first nuclear test in October of that year. The second missile
test was seen as a failure as it flew for less than a minute before plunging into
seas between North Korea and Japan.
Since then, North Korea is said to have refined its long range missile technology.
Secretary Clinton, who will be in Seoul Thursday, said last week that she hoped
to engage North Korea "in the weeks and months ahead" through bilateral and
multilateral talks, although she said her Asian trip includes neither a stop in
Pyongyang nor a meeting with North Korean officials.
The outgoing U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific,
Christopher Hill, visited Seoul Sunday to prepare for Clinton's visit. Hill, who
concurrently serves as chief U.S. nuclear negotiator over the past four years,
said in Seoul that he discussed with South Korean officials "the concerns we have
about (North Korean) behavior of late."
Hill flew to Tokyo Monday to accompany Clinton.
"Obviously, we've had real concerns about the behavior of the North Koreans
recently, especially their public statements about South Korea, which are simply
unhelpful, unconducive to the kind of atmosphere we are interested in creating in
the region," he said.
He also visited Beijing Saturday to meet with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu
Dawei.
"We talked about the six-party process, what to do in the coming weeks," he said
about his meeting with Wu in Beijing. "Secretary Clinton will be here next week
and I am sure that one of the issues that she will talk about is the six-party
process."