U.S. warns of continued sanctions unless N. Korea returns to 6-way talks

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, July 17 (Yonhap) -- The United States Friday urged North Korea to
return to the six-party talks on ending its nuclear programs, but warned of
aggressive implementation of punitive actions until then.
"If North Korea wants to return to that process, we will be supportive of that.

Until that time, we are aggressively implementing the provisions of (U.N.
Resolution) 1874 and we are continuing doing things that we believe have an
impact on North Korea," Philip Crowley, assistant secretary of state for public
affairs, told a news conference.
Crowley was discussing the U.N. Security Council's imposition of fresh sanctions
on North Korea Thursday by listing five North Korean officials and as many North
Korean firms subject to a travel ban and asset freeze for their involvement in
nuclear and missile development programs.
The additional sanctions mandated by Resolution 1874, adopted in early June after
North Korea's second nuclear test, brought to eight the number of North Korean
firms sanctioned by the U.N.
Crowley dismissed criticism that the U.S. has been doing nothing to woo North
Korea back to the talks.
"We are not waiting for North Korea," he said. "We are aggressively doing things
so that they pay a price for this recalcitrance, but also we tried to take steps
to ensure that they are less able to proliferate technology and weapons elsewhere
in the world."
Crowley was apparently referring to the Resolution 1874, which calls for cargo
interdictions on the high seas as well as financial sanctions and an arms embargo
to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and missiles from the North.
He reiterated the U.S. position of seeking the complete denuclearization of North
Korea.
"We would like to see North Korea to return to the process and begin to take
irreversible steps towards denuclearization of the peninsula," he said. "That is
our goal and is a shared goal of China, Russia, South Korea and Japan."
He expressed support for the six-party talks, which Pyongyang has said it will
boycott unless the U.N. apologizes for sanctions it imposed for its nuclear and
missile tests.
"We have supported the six-party process, which is exactly a useful mechanism,"
he said. "However, North Korea has indicated it is right now not prepared to come
back to that."
North Korea's ceremonial head of state, Kim Yong-nam, president of the Presidium
of the Supreme People's Assembly, said Wednesday that the six-party talks "came
to a permanent end" because the U.S. and others refused to respect North Korea's
"sovereign rights."
"But the door to negotiation is open," Crowley said. "However, if North Korea
wants to come back through that door, it will have to do so by taking very
specific steps. We are not focused on half-way measures. We have a bottom line
here. That is the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Wednesday called for patience.
While speaking to a forum just before embarking on a weeklong trip to Thailand
and India, Clinton emphasized the need to develop "a tougher joint effort toward
the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," adding,
"Cultivating these partnerships and their full range takes time and patience; it
also takes persistence."
While in the Thai resort island of Phuket for the annual ASEAN Regional Forum
next week, Clinton is scheduled to meet with her Asian counterparts to discuss
North Korea's recent provocations and other regional and global issues.
ASEAN stands for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Clinton, however, has no immediate plans to meet with North Korean officials,
U.S. officials said, adding they also do not expect a five-way meeting that
excludes Pyongyang.
Reports said North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun will not attend the forum
in Thailand on July 22-23, but will send an ambassador-at-large.
Kurt Campbell, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific,
is visiting Seoul and Tokyo ahead of the forum to meet with officials on ways to
persuade North Korea to return to the six-party talks.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)