ID :
56966
Thu, 04/23/2009 - 09:49
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/56966
The shortlink copeid
Clinton calls on N. Korea to return to six-party talks
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, April 22 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Wednesday urged North Korea to refrain from provocative acts and return to the six-party nuclear disarmament talks.
"We are prepared to resume the six-party talks," Clinton told a House Foreign
Affairs Committee hearing. "We have to be strong, patient and consistent and not
give in to the kind of back and forth and the unpredictable behavior of the North
Korean regime."
She was addressing North Korea's rocket launch early this month and its threats
to boycott the multilateral nuclear talks for good, restart its nuclear
facilities being disabled under a six-party deal, and strengthen its nuclear
arsenal.
In defiance of the U.N. Security Council's condemnation of what the North called
a satellite launch, Pyongyang expelled international inspectors from its nuclear
facilities and jeopardized the joint industrial park in the North's border town,
Kaesong, by threatening to terminate preferential treatment for South Korean
companies there.
The North's moves are seen by many as an attempt to shift to bilateral talks with
the U.S. to make a breakthrough in the six-year-old, on-and-off multilateral
talks, which hit the latest snag in December over North Korea's refusal to agree
to a verification protocol for its nuclear facilities.
U.S. President Barack Obama as well as Clinton have said they will seek bilateral
engagement with North Korea while continuing the six-party talks.
North Korea, however, refused to accept Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special envoy for
North Korea, in early March when he toured Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo to discuss
ways to persuade the North to come back to the table.
Clinton had expressed regret that Bosworth could not visit Pyongyang.
Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, recently said
that if North Korea restarts its disabled reactor for production of weapons grade
plutonium, it will take just months for North Korea to add to its presumed
arsenal of several nuclear warheads.
North Korea, which detonated its first nuclear device in 2006, is reportedly
preparing to conduct another nuclear test in a dramatic demonstration of its
power to draw the attention of the Obama administration, which has not yet
solidified its North Korea policy.
Obama has been reaching out to former U.S. foes, like Iran, Cuba and Venezuela,
in what is called the "remedy diplomacy" to balance the unilateral "cowboy
diplomacy" pursued by the former Bush administration.
WASHINGTON, April 22 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Wednesday urged North Korea to refrain from provocative acts and return to the six-party nuclear disarmament talks.
"We are prepared to resume the six-party talks," Clinton told a House Foreign
Affairs Committee hearing. "We have to be strong, patient and consistent and not
give in to the kind of back and forth and the unpredictable behavior of the North
Korean regime."
She was addressing North Korea's rocket launch early this month and its threats
to boycott the multilateral nuclear talks for good, restart its nuclear
facilities being disabled under a six-party deal, and strengthen its nuclear
arsenal.
In defiance of the U.N. Security Council's condemnation of what the North called
a satellite launch, Pyongyang expelled international inspectors from its nuclear
facilities and jeopardized the joint industrial park in the North's border town,
Kaesong, by threatening to terminate preferential treatment for South Korean
companies there.
The North's moves are seen by many as an attempt to shift to bilateral talks with
the U.S. to make a breakthrough in the six-year-old, on-and-off multilateral
talks, which hit the latest snag in December over North Korea's refusal to agree
to a verification protocol for its nuclear facilities.
U.S. President Barack Obama as well as Clinton have said they will seek bilateral
engagement with North Korea while continuing the six-party talks.
North Korea, however, refused to accept Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special envoy for
North Korea, in early March when he toured Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo to discuss
ways to persuade the North to come back to the table.
Clinton had expressed regret that Bosworth could not visit Pyongyang.
Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, recently said
that if North Korea restarts its disabled reactor for production of weapons grade
plutonium, it will take just months for North Korea to add to its presumed
arsenal of several nuclear warheads.
North Korea, which detonated its first nuclear device in 2006, is reportedly
preparing to conduct another nuclear test in a dramatic demonstration of its
power to draw the attention of the Obama administration, which has not yet
solidified its North Korea policy.
Obama has been reaching out to former U.S. foes, like Iran, Cuba and Venezuela,
in what is called the "remedy diplomacy" to balance the unilateral "cowboy
diplomacy" pursued by the former Bush administration.
