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No Negotiations on North Korea Sanctions, U.S. Says
The United States today announced that it would not discuss lifting sanctions on several North Korean entities in order to persuade Pyongyang to resume nuclear negotiations, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Dec. 6). Washington “is not going to negotiate over economic sanctions that have been imposed in accordance with U.S. law,” said U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Alexander Vershbow. “It’s up to North Korea to end the behavior that led to those sanctions.” The measures were taken because Pyongyang conducted exports “of dangerous military technology, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, the counterfeiting of U.S. currency and many other illicit activities,” Vershbow said. “Our enforcement of U.S. law should not be used to hold up the six-party talks,” he said. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe also said today that North Korea’s objections to the sanctions should not be used to undermine the disarmament negotiations. “The North Korean position is bringing up a problem that is outside the framework of the six-party talks and is not constructive,” he said (Kelly Olsen, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Dec. 6). Washington has called for an “informal” meeting of the six nations negotiating the nuclear issue to be held this month in South Korea, said Japan’s main opposition leader, Seiji Maehara. North Korea has not yet responded, however, to a proposal for a chief delegates meeting Dec. 19 on the resort island of Jeju, Maehara said (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Dec. 7)
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