According
to Sundaytimes.co.za,
dated, June 6, 2005: SEOUL - North Korea acknowledged a rare meeting
with the United States earlier this month and announced it would contact
Washington when the time was right to update its position on the nuclear
stand off. At the meeting in New York, Washington reiterated that it
recognize North Korea as a sovereign state and has no intention to invade
the country, an unidentified North Korean foreign ministry spokesman
said. (1)
The
US wants North Korea to resume talks on its nuclear weapons programme.
The last six-party talks were held in June 2004. Joining the US and
North Korean officials were delegates from Japan, South Korea, China
and Russia. The last meeting between the US and North Korea took place
on 13 May, also in New York.
The
United States was represented by Joseph DeTrani, the U.S. special envoy
to the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions, and by Jim
Foster, director of the State Department's Office of Korean Affairs,
said another U.S. official in Washington, who asked not to be named.
Representing
North Korea were U.N. Ambassador Pak Gil Yon and a deputy, Han Song
Ryol, a State Department official said. Both men declined comment as
they returned to their U.N. mission after the meeting. No six-party
talks have been held since June 2004. The six governments participating
in those negotiations are China, Japan, South Korea and Russia in addition
to North Korea and the United States. (5)
Before
the North Korea acknowledged a rare meeting with U.S, the White House
spokesman Scott McClellan declared on April 18, 2005 that the US could
take North Korea to the UN Security Council, with unspecified punitive
consequences, if it failed to resume six-party talks over its nuclear
programs. (2)
The
following questions and answers were from the Press Gaggle by Scott
McClellan Aboard Air Force One En route Columbia, South Carolina.
Q
Any reaction to the story that North Korea may be preparing to ramp
up its development of nuclear weapons again?
MR. McCLELLAN: First of all, all parties in the region have made it
clear to North Korea that they want to see a nuclear-free peninsula.
North Korea previously made a commitment to come back to the six-party
talks so that we can move forward on the proposal that we previously
outlined. And North Korea's failure to follow through on that commitment
and its provocative words and actions only further isolate it. And so
we continue to join with our partners in the region calling on North
Korea to come back to the talks so that we can talk about how we move
forward in a substantive way on the proposal that we outlined.
Q:
Are you giving any thought to taking them to the United Nations Security
Council?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, if North Korea refuses to come back to the six-party
talks, then I fully expect we would consult with our partners in the
region about the next steps, and that's certainly one possibility.
Q How much longer are you going to let this go on?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we're continuing to work closely with our partners
in the region and urge North Korea to return to the six-party talks.
They made a commitment to do so and we want to see them follow through
on that. But, again, if they -- you know, I don't know that we've set
a timetable, but if they refuse to come back to the talks, then we would
have to consult with our partners and look at the next steps.
A
day later, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice repeated the warning
in an interview with “Fox News”. After pointedly reminding Pyongyang
that the US had “a very strong military alliance on the Korean peninsula,”
she added: “Now we reserve the right and the possibility of going to
the Security Council... [and] of putting other measures in place, should
it be necessary.”
US
repeated a previous warning that Pyongyang would regard any UN sanctions
as “a declaration of war”, adding: “We are fully ready to cope with
everything in a do-or-die spirit and have already prepared all countermeasures
against the sanctions.”
The
Bush administration is well aware that North Korea has threatened to
respond to any blockade as an act of war. That will not stop it from
pursuing an aggressive policy that has the potential to trigger military
conflict in what has historically been one of the most hotly contested
and volatile areas of the globe. (3)
It
is positive to see the world and U.S recognizes
the serious problem about the North Korea nuclear
weapons.
North Korea's talks with US shows the world's positive attention!
Reference:
1)
Retrieved in June 6, 2005
http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/zones/sundaytimesNEW/basket7st/basket7st1116822941.aspx
2)
Retrieved in June 6, 2005
Press Gaggle by Scott McClellan Aboard Air Force One En route Columbia,
South Carolina,
Dated
April 18, 2005
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/04/20050418.html#3
3)
Retrieved in June 6, 2005
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/may2005/nkor-m03.shtml
4)
Retrieved in June 6, 2005
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/korea_north_dc;_ylt=AtQhp39v01mXC1XVJCZc_gWCscEA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
5)
Retrieved in June 6, 2005
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4615669.stm
Reported
by catch4all.com, Sandra Englund se@catch4all.com June 6, 2005
