(3rd LD) U.S. to maintain sanctions on nuke-armed N. Korea: Clinton

(ATTN: ADDS Kelly's remarks in 8th para)
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton insisted
Wednesday that the United States will not lift sanctions on North Korea nor
normalize ties unless Pyongyang takes irreversible steps toward its
denuclearization.

In a speech to a forum hosted by the U.S. Institute of Peace at the Renaissance
Mayflower Hotel here, Clinton addressed the U.N. sanctions imposed on the North
after its nuclear and missile tests.
"Current sanctions will not be relaxed until Pyongyang takes verifiable,
irreversible steps toward complete denuclearization," she said. "Its leaders
should be under no illusion that the United States will ever have normal,
sanctions-free relations with a nuclear-armed North Korea."
The top U.S. diplomat also said that the U.S. is ready to have bilateral talks
with North Korea if they lead to resumption of the six-party talks on ending its
nuclear ambitions.
"Within the framework of the six-party talks, we are prepared to meet bilaterally
with North Korea," she said. "But North Korea's return to the negotiating table
is not enough."
Her remarks come as Ri Gun, North Korea's deputy chief to the nuclear talks, is
in Beijing on his way to San Diego and New York for possible talks with U.S.
officials on the sidelines of seminars.
Ri is expected to meet with Sung Kim, special envoy for six-party talks, on
preparations for a possible visit to Pyongyang by Stephen Bosworth, special
representative for North Korea policy, for a breakthrough on the stalled nuclear
negotiations.
On the question who will represent the U.S. side in the seminars, State
Department spokesman Ian Kelly said, "We have not made any decisions on that."
Another U.S. official, asking anonymity, however, said that Sung Kim will likely
go.
North Korea extended the invitation to Bosworth in August when former U.S.
President Bill Clinton visited the North Korean capital to win the release of two
American journalists.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao flew to Pyongyang earlier this month to meet with
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who expressed his intention to come back to the
six-party talks, which Pyongyang has been boycotting.
Kim, however, linked the North's participation to the outcome of bilateral talks
with the U.S., which has yet to make a decision on whether to send Bosworth to
Pyongyang.
In the forum to address nonproliferation policy, Clinton singled out North Korea
and Iran as policy failures, describing "the range and intensity of current
nuclear proliferation challenges" as "alarming."
"The international community failed to prevent North Korea from developing
nuclear weapons. We are now engaged in diplomatic efforts to roll back this
development," she said. "Iran continues to ignore resolutions from the United
Nations Security Council demanding that it suspend its enrichment activities and
live up to those international obligations."
She added, "Thwarting the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and Iran is critical
to shoring up the nonproliferation regime."
Clinton also said that the U.S. is seeking a new strategic arms reduction treaty
(START) with Russia for significant reduction of the nuclear arsenal of both
sides so it could help prevent nuclear proliferation in North Korea and other
countries.
"We are under no illusions that this START agreement will persuade Iran and North
Korea to end their illicit nuclear activities; but it will demonstrate that the
United States is living up to its Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty obligation to
work toward nuclear disarmament," she said.
In a related move, Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and
Pacific Affairs, expressed concerns over possible nuclear proliferation to
Myanmar by North Korea.
"There are troubling questions about military ties between Burma and North Korea
... which Secretary Clinton has spoken about publicly, as well as nuclear weapons
proliferation concerns stemming from that relationship," Campbell told a House
Foreign Affairs Committee earlier in the day.
In July, Clinton expressed "growing concerns" over "military cooperation between
North Korea and Burma, which we take very seriously," but said that Myanmar has
also joined international efforts to sanction North Korea.
She was apparently referring to a North Korean cargo ship that was possibly
heading to Myanmar, but returned home after being pursued by U.S. Navy vessels.
The vessels were operating under an interdiction mandate imposed by the U.N.
Security Council in response to North Korea's second nuclear test on May 25. The
first was in 2006.
hdh@yna.co.kr
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