U.S. will not ease sanctions despite North’s gestures
Published: 15 Oct. 2009, 07:12
The United States has no intention of easing sanctions on North Korea to try to bring Pyongyang back to the six-party denuclearization talks, and will not meet directly with North Korea unless it commits to returning to the table, senior U.S. officials said yesterday.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said pressure on North Korea will not be lifted at this juncture and the impending bilateral talks between the two countries are not linked to easing any sanctions.
“We have absolutely no intention of relaxing or offering to relax North Korean sanctions at this point whatsoever,” Clinton said in Moscow, where she met with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Earlier this month, North Korean and Chinese state media reported that the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il expressed willingness to return to the six-party talks, depending on the progress made through bilateral dialogue with the United States. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was visiting Kim at the time. The North announced earlier this year that it would never return to the six-party table and declared the talks “dead.”
The United States has insisted that the ultimate goal remained the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and that the bilateral meeting would only serve as a means to facilitate the resumption of the six-party talks.
In Beijing yesterday, Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told reporters that Pyongyang must first commit to rejoining the six-party setting before it can meet directly with Washington.
“The United States will not entertain direct negotiations between the United States and North Korea absent a six-party commitment,” Campbell said.
Campbell also questioned North Korea’s intentions behind its reported willingness to return to the six-party table. “Diplomacy with North Korea is very challenging and sometimes it’s difficult to know exactly what’s going to transpire in terms of your interactions with Pyongyang,” he said. “The Chinese indicated that they think they heard from North Korea that they are prepared to accept that framework. But again, we will have to test that, explore that and see if that is indeed the case.”
North Korea has followed up its conciliatory gestures by launching five short-range missiles Monday. But the State Department in Washington said the latest missile firing doesn’t alter the U.S. objective.
By Yoo Jee-ho [[email protected]]
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said pressure on North Korea will not be lifted at this juncture and the impending bilateral talks between the two countries are not linked to easing any sanctions.
“We have absolutely no intention of relaxing or offering to relax North Korean sanctions at this point whatsoever,” Clinton said in Moscow, where she met with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Earlier this month, North Korean and Chinese state media reported that the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il expressed willingness to return to the six-party talks, depending on the progress made through bilateral dialogue with the United States. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was visiting Kim at the time. The North announced earlier this year that it would never return to the six-party table and declared the talks “dead.”
The United States has insisted that the ultimate goal remained the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and that the bilateral meeting would only serve as a means to facilitate the resumption of the six-party talks.
In Beijing yesterday, Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told reporters that Pyongyang must first commit to rejoining the six-party setting before it can meet directly with Washington.
“The United States will not entertain direct negotiations between the United States and North Korea absent a six-party commitment,” Campbell said.
Campbell also questioned North Korea’s intentions behind its reported willingness to return to the six-party table. “Diplomacy with North Korea is very challenging and sometimes it’s difficult to know exactly what’s going to transpire in terms of your interactions with Pyongyang,” he said. “The Chinese indicated that they think they heard from North Korea that they are prepared to accept that framework. But again, we will have to test that, explore that and see if that is indeed the case.”
North Korea has followed up its conciliatory gestures by launching five short-range missiles Monday. But the State Department in Washington said the latest missile firing doesn’t alter the U.S. objective.
By Yoo Jee-ho [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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