The US has ruled out economic concessions to woo North Korea back into negotiations to halt its nuclear weapons program and said it was keeping a close watch on illegal activities by the Pyongyang government.
As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice continued consultations Monday with negotiating partners, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said all the partners agreed "the North Koreans should not be rewarded for causing difficulties in the reconvening of the talks."
At the same time, he said US law enforcement agencies were working with other governments to try to counter illicit international activities by North Korea.
The pressure tactic, he said, includes tracking narcotics and smuggling activities, counterfeiting and proliferation of weapons technology.
"We have been aware for some time of North Korea's illicit activities," he said. "They have been a concern to the United States and other nations for decades."
White House spokesman Scott McClellan declined, meanwhile, to say whether the US was consulting with its Asian friends to mount a quarantine against North Korea.
But, he said, "we have an obligation to help protect our allies. We have an obligation to protect our respective economies."
The latest ally to consult with Rice, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, asserted North Korea may be bluffing in claiming to have nuclear weapons.
He urged North Korea to resume negotiations "as a responsible member of the international community."
After meeting with Rice, the South Korean minister told reporters they had reconfirmed the importance of a peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue through talks jointly with the US, South Korea, Japan, China and Russia.
North Korea is demanding one-on-one negotiations with the US. It said it was suspending the six-party talks indefinitely and announced it had produced nuclear weapons.
The last round was held last June and ended with a decision to meet again in September. But there have been no further negotiations.
"We agreed to intensify our efforts among the parties concerned," Ban said. Rice made no statement.
South Korea and Japan have been inclined to try conciliation toward the Pyongyang regime, but the Bush administration is holding out for a decision to halt nuclear weapons production before Asian allies begin giving North Korea civilian electric power and other economic benefits.
As they sat on opposite sides of a working fireplace in Rice's State Department office, having their pictures taken, Ban remarked on Seoul's close relationship with the US. Similarly, Rice said the two sides have a "very, very strong friendship and alliance."
There was no hint of differences below the surface on how to approach North Korea.
With talks in suspension since last June, and North Korea now saying the break will last indefinitely, South Korea and Japan, which sends a delegation to Washington on Saturday, are hoping for agreement with the US on a productive way to proceed.
In Seoul earlier, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young noted North Korea has yet to conduct a nuclear test, unlike other nuclear powers such as India and Pakistan.
"I believe it is early for us to call the North a nuclear state," when it has not been independently confirmed, Chung said in a speech to parliament.
PRECARIOUS RELATIONS: Commentators in Saudi Arabia accuse the UAE of growing too bold, backing forces at odds with Saudi interests in various conflicts A Saudi Arabian media campaign targeting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has deepened the Gulf’s worst row in years, stoking fears of a damaging fall-out in the financial heart of the Middle East. Fiery accusations of rights abuses and betrayal have circulated for weeks in state-run and social media after a brief conflict in Yemen, where Saudi airstrikes quelled an offensive by UAE-backed separatists. The United Arab Emirates is “investing in chaos and supporting secessionists” from Libya to Yemen and the Horn of Africa, Saudi Arabia’s al-Ekhbariya TV charged in a report this week. Such invective has been unheard of
US President Donald Trump on Saturday warned Canada that if it concludes a trade deal with China, he would impose a 100 percent tariff on all goods coming over the border. Relations between the US and its northern neighbor have been rocky since Trump returned to the White House a year ago, with spats over trade and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney decrying a “rupture” in the US-led global order. During a visit to Beijing earlier this month, Carney hailed a “new strategic partnership” with China that resulted in a “preliminary, but landmark trade agreement” to reduce tariffs — but
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) purge of his most senior general is driven by his effort to both secure “total control” of his military and root out corruption, US Ambassador to China David Perdue said told Bloomberg Television yesterday. The probe into Zhang Youxia (張又俠), Xi’s second-in-command, announced over the weekend, is a “major development,” Perdue said, citing the family connections the vice chair of China’s apex military commission has with Xi. Chinese authorities said Zhang was being investigated for suspected serious discipline and law violations, without disclosing further details. “I take him at his word that there’s a corruption effort under
China executed 11 people linked to Myanmar criminal gangs, including “key members” of telecom scam operations, state media reported yesterday, as Beijing toughens its response to the sprawling, transnational industry. Fraud compounds where scammers lure Internet users into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments have flourished across Southeast Asia, including in Myanmar. Initially largely targeting Chinese speakers, the criminal groups behind the compounds have expanded operations into multiple languages to steal from victims around the world. Those conducting the scams are sometimes willing con artists, and other times trafficked foreign nationals forced to work. In the past few years, Beijing has stepped up cooperation
RSS