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Top U.S. Nuclear Negotiator Demands Pyongyang Shut Down Nuclear Reactor as Condition of Visit
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, Washington’s top envoy to stalled North Korea nuclear talks, said yesterday that he would not make a trip to Pyongyang unless North shut down its main nuclear reactor, the Washington Times reported today (see GSN, July 19). “We would consider a trip if it would serve our interest to do so,” Hill said. “But our concern is that North Korea is continuing to run a nuclear reactor whose purpose is to make bombs, and to be talking to them while they are making bombs doesn’t appear to be in our interest,” he said, referring to the nuclear facility at Yongbyon. Hill dismissed complaints from some experts that Washington has not attempted to engage North Korea sufficiently. “We’ve met with them in separate rooms, at very big conference tables, in a very dignified setting. We’ve had plenty of bilateral meetings,” he said. “This is about some misplaced concept that somehow we don’t give them enough respect. I think they are really trying to gut the process,” he said, referring to the multilateral nuclear disarmament forum. Hill added that a U.N. Security Council resolution adopted Saturday condemning Pyongyang’s recent missile launches was not enough “to address the threat posed by North Korea” and that a “diplomatic track” must also be employed (Nicholas Kralev, Washington Times, July 20). A South Korean official said yesterday that Washington could reinstate full economic sanctions against North Korea in response to its missile tests earlier this month, the Associated Press reported. U.S. Treasury Undersecretary Stuart Levey told South Korean officials recently that tough, Korean War-era sanctions could be reimposed, a Foreign Ministry official said. Washington reduced sanctions when Pyongyang established a long-range missile test moratorium in 1999. The move reopened trade in commercial and consumer goods, eased investment restrictions, and allowed for travel and personal and commercial financial transactions (Jae-Soon Chang, Associated Press I/The China Post, July 20). Chief Japanese Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said today that North Korea must be forced to resume nuclear talks and stop missile launches, AP reported. “North Korea must be made to understand that if it does not alter its stance, there will be bad consequences,” he said. “We must create a situation that North Korea has no other choice than to take some big decisions,” Abe added (Hiroko Tabuchi, Associated Press II, July 20). Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said yesterday that Tokyo planned to launch two satellites this year to monitor North Korea’s military activities but that it would wait to impose more sanctions on the country, AP reported. “North Korea should take the [U.N. Security Council] resolution and the [Group of Eight] chairman’s statement seriously. I think it’s better for us to wait and see,” Koizumi said (Hiroko Tabuchi, Associated Press III/Yahoo!News, July 19). Meanwhile, Chinese Gen. Guo Boxiong said yesterday that his country is doing everything possible to persuade Pyongyang to reach settlements on its nuclear and missile programs, Agence France-Presse reported. “The D.P.R.K. is a sovereign state. It has its own assessment of the situation, and its own way of doing business,” Guo said. “China cannot possibly force the D.P.R.K. to do anything or not to do anything,” he said. “However, bearing in mind the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula as well as the goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, China still tries every means in its power to persuade the D.P.R.K.,” he said. Guo added that the North Korean missile launches took the Chinese leadership by surprise (Agence France-Presse I/ChannelNewsAsia.com, July 19). Japanese and Chinese officials are scheduled to conduct security talks today in Beijing, AFP reported. Officials plan to “discuss the two countries’ security and defense policies, and the region’s condition in general,” the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that North Korea’s missile tests would be on the agenda (Agence France-Presse II, July 19). South Korea’s top nuclear negotiator is holding meetings on North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs in Tokyo today, the Japanese Foreign Ministry announced (Agence France-Presse III, July 20).
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