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U.S. Japan Keep Pressure on North Korea
The United States yesterday again urged North Korea to keep to its February commitment to begin dismantling its nuclear weapons program, Reuters reported (see GSN, May 1). “We agree that we must continue to expect North Korea to immediately fulfill its initial action agreements,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said following a meeting with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso and Japanese Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma. “We don’t have endless patience. We do recognize that North Korea has continued to publicly affirm its obligation under the Feb. 13 agreement and to affirm its intention to carry through. We expect them to do so.” North Korea has yet to collect $25 million in formerly frozen funds from the Banco Delta Asia in Macau, which it has used as justification for delaying closure of the Yongbyon nuclear reactor and allowing international inspectors into the country. Pyongyang would receive 50,000 tons of fuel oil and related aid for taking those steps. The money matter proved “considerably more complicated than perhaps we had realized,” Rice said. “And so, we have been willing to step back and give some time for this to be resolved,” she said. The Bush administration believes it “has done what it needs to do” to end the dispute, Rice added (Reuters I/New York Times, May 1). Additional sanctions could be necessary should Pyongyang continue to delay progress on the nuclear deal, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said today. “If North Korea doesn’t carry out what it has promised, the situation that they are in — economically, food-wise — will not improve, and they have to understand that if anything, things will get worse,” he said during a news conference in Cairo. “North Korea still hasn’t done what it should for the initial steps. So keeping this in mind, depending on the circumstances, we may have to think of additional measures” (Elaine Lee, Reuters II/Yahoo!News, May 2).
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