|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
North Korea: U.S. Congressmen Call to End Agreed Framework In reaction to Pyongyang’s recent acknowledgement that it has been working on enriching uranium, five members of the U.S. Congress yesterday called on President George W. Bush to end the 1994 Agreed Framework in which North Korea had consented to end its nuclear weapons program in exchange for energy assistance (see GSN, Oct. 29). “First and foremost, it seems that since North Korea’s covert nuclear program is a blatant violation of the Agreed Framework, the accord is nullified,” the lawmakers said in a letter sent to the White House. “In that regard, we strongly believe that the U.S. should cease support for the Korean Energy Development Organization and that U.S. fuel-oil shipments should be permanently terminated” (see GSN, Oct. 21). Senators John Kyl (R-Ariz.), Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) and Robert Smith (R-N.H.) as well as Representatives Christopher Cox (R-Calif.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.) signed the letter. The letter calls on Bush to use all available means, including economic sanctions and an end to the construction of two light-water nuclear reactors for North Korea under the framework, to force Pyongyang to comply with international obligations. “We hope that the United States will be able to implement the full range of economic and diplomatic sanctions to compel North Korean compliance with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty,” the letter says. The United States should work with its allies “to prepare for a future beyond the current Stalinist regime in Pyongyang,” the lawmakers said in the letter. “We see no viable alternative given the proven failure of subsidizing North Korea and of relying upon that country’s promises” (Bill Gertz, Washington Times, Oct. 31). For further information, see:
| ||||||||||
Back to top
