Coincident with the Chinese visit and security talks in Washington, the North Korean Foreign Ministry, using the initials of its country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, issued a statement on Saturday saying: "Because the United States insists on its hostile policy toward the DPRK and refused to co-exist with the DPRK, the DPRK has no justification to take bilateral, one-to-one talks on the nuclear issue of the Korean peninsula with the United States now."
Asked about that during a joint news conference with the Japanese on Saturday, Rice's response was tart. "I don't think we offered one-on-one talks with the North Koreans," she said. "What there is, is the six-party talks."The joint declaration ratcheted up the tone of statements directed at North Korea, accusing it of posing "a direct threat to the peace and stability of the Northeast Asia region, including Japan."
It added that the Japanese and US ministers agreed to continue sharing intelligence information on North Korea "with a view to maintaining preparedness for any situation."
But the Japanese foreign minister, Machimura, seemed to agree with the Chinese when he said he saw "no prospects as to when" the North Koreans will return to the talks. Rice, asked if she thought the Chinese had been ineffective in their dealings with North Korea, said: "This is obviously a difficult matter. It would have been resolved before had it not been difficult."
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