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North Korea: U.S. Demands Verifiable End to North Korean Nuclear Program The United States will not hold formal talks with North Korea until the North “completely and verifiably” dismantles its nuclear weapons program, a senior U.S. official said this morning. “It’s pretty hard to see how we can have conversations with a government that has blatantly violated its agreements,” Undersecretary of State John Bolton told a Washington conference on terrorism sponsored by the Hudson Institute. Bolton said North Korea’s suspected uranium enrichment program is “a cause of grave concern” (Barry Schweid, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, Nov. 1) The United States has said it will not block the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, which oversees the Agreed Framework, from proceeding with a shipment of heavy fuel oil to North Korea this month (see GSN, Oct. 31). White House officials said the shipment will be allowed to proceed because officials have not yet decided whether to terminate the shipments altogether. “There are many aspects to the agreement and we need time to consult with our allies,” a senior State Department official said (Nicholas Kralev, Washington Times, Nov. 1). North Korean Diplomacy North Korea’s ambassadors to its two closest allies — Russia and China — spoke out yesterday, rejecting U.S. demands and proposing a nonaggression treaty, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, Oct. 30). North Korea has a right to develop nuclear weapons in response to U.S. aggression, said Pak Hui Chin, the ambassador to Russia (see GSN, Oct. 25). Pyongyang revealed the existence of its nuclear weapons program when a U.S. delegation visited Pyongyang in early October (see GSN, Oct 17). “We unambiguously told the U.S. presidential special envoy that, facing a growing nuclear threat from the U.S., we have the right to possess not only nuclear, but even more powerful weapons in order to defend our sovereignty and the right to survive,” news agencies quoted Pak as saying. “If the U.S. tries to crush us with tough policy, we will retaliate to this with super toughness.” While Pak reserved the right to develop nuclear weapons, he denied that North Korea has actually done so, calling U.S. allegations “groundless.” Meanwhile, Russia said that it has no evidence that North Korea is developing nuclear weapons, but it admonished Pyongyang for failing to clearly reply to U.S. charges, officials said. North Korea’s recent statements on the nuclear issue have contained “some ambiguity,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov said. “Such ambiguity is very dangerous, because it leads to mutual suspicions and may negatively influence the situation on the Korean peninsula,” he said (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo.com, Nov. 1). North Korea’s Ambassador to China Choe Kim Su today echoed Pak’s assertion on North Korea’s right to develop nuclear weapons, but he also reiterated calls from Pyongyang to create a U.S.-North Korean nonaggression pact. “To sign a nonaggression treaty will be the most realistic and rational way to resolve security concerns,” Choe said during a rare press conference (Agence France-Presse, Nov. 1). North Korea Speaks Out The Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s state-owned news service, again charged yesterday that the United States, not North Korea, has violated several international nuclear agreements, including the 1994 Agreed Framework and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The NPT calls on non-nuclear states to abandon nuclear weapons projects in exchange for assurances that nuclear powers will not use such weapons. The treaty also calls upon the nuclear states to reduce their arsenals, but the United States has decided to stockpile many nuclear weapons for an indefinite period and to develop new weapons, the agency said. “By doing so, it erased the core of all international agreements on nuclear disarmament, including the NPT,” KCNA said. The agency also called for a U.S.-North Korean nonaggression treaty, calling the proposal a “realistic and reasonable one.” “The proposal is a realistic and reasonable one as it is the best measure to bridge over the current crisis. It is also a just proposal because it is aimed to defend the destiny and the interests of the Korean nation, the peace on the Korean Peninsula and the rest of the world,” KCNA said. “There is no reason for the U.S. styling itself the ‘world’s only superpower’ to fail to accept this just proposal if it has no intention to invade the D.P.R.K. [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea]” (Korean Central News Agency, Oct. 31). U.S. Diplomatic Efforts The United States also has launched a new round of diplomatic efforts in Northeast Asia, planning three visits by former and current U.S. officials to the region over the next two weeks (see GSN, Oct. 22). Donald Gregg, a former U.S. ambassador to South Korea is scheduled to visit North Korea Nov. 2-6, according to the Korea Times (Bae Keun-min, Korea Times, Nov. 1). U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith is scheduled to begin a two-day visit to Seoul Nov. 6, according to the South Korean Yonhap news agency. While there, Feith is expected to meet with South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jun and Foreign Minister Choi Sung-hong (Yonhap/BBC Monitoring, Nov. 1). U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is scheduled to travel to South Korea Nov. 10-12 to attend an international conference of foreign ministers, according to Yonhap. Powell is also expected to meet with Choi and South Korean president Kim Dae-jung (Yonhap/Korea Times, Nov. 1). “Fundamental” Differences Between Iraq, North Korea U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage Wednesday defended the differing U.S. approaches to Iraq and North Korea, which are both feared to possess weapons of mass destruction. There are “fundamental” differences between the two countries, he said (see GSN, Oct. 21). Iraq has shown itself to be an “unrelenting enemy” of not only the United States, but also its neighbors and Israel, Armitage said during a radio interview. Iraq is working hard to develop weapons of mass destruction and has used them both against its neighbors and its own people, he said. “On North Korea, on the other hand, you’ve got a country which has had a rough equilibrium or stability on the peninsula for about 50 years,” Armitage said (U.S. State Department release, Oct. 31). For further information, see:
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