ID :
49763
Tue, 03/10/2009 - 08:39
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/49763
The shortlink copeid
U.S. repeats warning to N. Korea not to threaten S. Korea
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, March 9 (Yonhap) -- The United States Monday urged North Korea to
stop threatening South Korea over the ongoing South Korea-U.S. joint military
drills, saying the annual exercises should not serve as a threat to the North.
"What is a threat to the region is this bellicose rhetoric coming out of the
North," Robert Wood, State Department spokesman, said in a daily news briefing.
Wood was referring to the North's threat of a possible war in case the U.S. or
any other countries intercept what the North says is a rocket to put a
communications satellite into orbit.
South Korea and the U.S. see the rocket launch as a cover to test a long-range
ballistic missile capable of reaching the mainland U.S.
North Korea earlier in the day also severed a military hotline with South Korea,
saying the line will be cut off during the 12-day military exercises that began
Monday.
As a result, hundreds of South Korean staff members at their industrial complex
in the North's border city of Kaesong were stranded, unable to exchange
information on the products and personnel crossing the heavily fortified military
demarcation line bisecting the Korean Peninsula.
"The North is the party that is, you know, preparing to launch missiles, has
launched missiles in the past," the spokesman said. "Its actions are of concern
not just to the United States and the Republic of Korea, but to the entire
international community."
The spokesman said he hoped the North's belligerent rhetoric will not lead to an
armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula.
Wood described the North's threats as "unwarranted and counterproductive."
"North Korea needs to refrain from provocative rhetoric and actions that only
further destabilize the region," he said.
The spokesman reiterated that North Korea should return to the six-party talks on
ending its nuclear ambitions.
"We want to have a different type of relationship with the North, but the North
knows what it needs to do," he said. "And we want to get them back, as I said, in
that framework of the six-party talks, and go forward on denuclearization. And
this type of rhetoric is just not helpful."
Wood called on North Korea to agree to a verification regime for its nuclear
facilities, the stumbling block in the latest round of multilateral nuclear talks
in December.
"The North has verification responsibilities in the six-party framework," he
said. "As you know, they were not willing to provide in writing some of the
verification requirements that were needed to get us to the next phase. The onus
is on the North."
Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative on North Korea, is currently in
Seoul to reaffirm the new Barack Obama administration's willingness to promptly
resume the six-party talks toward the North's "complete and verifiable
denuclearization." Bosworth is on the last leg of his three-nation Asian tour,
which also took him to Beijing and Tokyo.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
WASHINGTON, March 9 (Yonhap) -- The United States Monday urged North Korea to
stop threatening South Korea over the ongoing South Korea-U.S. joint military
drills, saying the annual exercises should not serve as a threat to the North.
"What is a threat to the region is this bellicose rhetoric coming out of the
North," Robert Wood, State Department spokesman, said in a daily news briefing.
Wood was referring to the North's threat of a possible war in case the U.S. or
any other countries intercept what the North says is a rocket to put a
communications satellite into orbit.
South Korea and the U.S. see the rocket launch as a cover to test a long-range
ballistic missile capable of reaching the mainland U.S.
North Korea earlier in the day also severed a military hotline with South Korea,
saying the line will be cut off during the 12-day military exercises that began
Monday.
As a result, hundreds of South Korean staff members at their industrial complex
in the North's border city of Kaesong were stranded, unable to exchange
information on the products and personnel crossing the heavily fortified military
demarcation line bisecting the Korean Peninsula.
"The North is the party that is, you know, preparing to launch missiles, has
launched missiles in the past," the spokesman said. "Its actions are of concern
not just to the United States and the Republic of Korea, but to the entire
international community."
The spokesman said he hoped the North's belligerent rhetoric will not lead to an
armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula.
Wood described the North's threats as "unwarranted and counterproductive."
"North Korea needs to refrain from provocative rhetoric and actions that only
further destabilize the region," he said.
The spokesman reiterated that North Korea should return to the six-party talks on
ending its nuclear ambitions.
"We want to have a different type of relationship with the North, but the North
knows what it needs to do," he said. "And we want to get them back, as I said, in
that framework of the six-party talks, and go forward on denuclearization. And
this type of rhetoric is just not helpful."
Wood called on North Korea to agree to a verification regime for its nuclear
facilities, the stumbling block in the latest round of multilateral nuclear talks
in December.
"The North has verification responsibilities in the six-party framework," he
said. "As you know, they were not willing to provide in writing some of the
verification requirements that were needed to get us to the next phase. The onus
is on the North."
Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative on North Korea, is currently in
Seoul to reaffirm the new Barack Obama administration's willingness to promptly
resume the six-party talks toward the North's "complete and verifiable
denuclearization." Bosworth is on the last leg of his three-nation Asian tour,
which also took him to Beijing and Tokyo.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
