US in bid to contain North Korea

HANOI—The United States on Thursday said it wants a clear sign North Korea will take concrete steps toward giving up its nuclear weapons programs as they prepare for the next round of talks on the issue.
“I do think that, after having set off a nuclear test, that the North Koreans need to do something to demonstrate that they actually are committed to denuclearization that goes beyond words,” U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.
Speaking to reporters at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Vietnam, Rice said there was deep skepticism among the group’s 21 members that North Korea actually intended to abandon the pursuit of nuclear weapons.
North Korea agreed to resume talks on ending its nuclear weapons programs three weeks after its October 9 nuclear test. Diplomats hope the talks among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States will occur by the end of the year but not date has been fixed for them.
Asked if she would put off talks until certain North Korea would take steps to show its commitment to denuclearization, Rice said: “I don’t think it makes sense for us to have talks unless we think that it’s going to be fruitful. It certainly doesn’t make sense just to go back to talk.”
Rice made the remarks after having breakfast at a hotel in Hanoi with more than a dozen foreign ministers attending the APEC meetings.
President Bush on Thursday warned North Korea against transferring nuclear weapons or material to other countries, saying such an act would be considered a “grave threat” to the United States.
ADVERTISEMENTThe standoff over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program is atop the agenda in most of the meetings the president will have during his eight-day, three-nation Asian trip, which kicked off with a speech in Singapore.
“The transfer of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea to states or non-state entities would be considered a grave threat to the United States and we would hold North Korea fully accountable for the consequences of such action,” Bush said in the speech at the National University of Singapore.
Ahead of its Oct. 9 nuclear test, North Korea pledged not to launch a first strike or allow its bomb technology to be spread outside the country. Bush also urged allies in the region to stand firm against a nuclear-armed North Korea and enforce U.N. sanctions against the country for conducting a nuclear weapon test last month.
“For the sake of peace, it is vital that the nations of this region send a message to North Korea that the proliferation of nuclear technology to hostile regimes or terrorist networks will not be tolerated,” he said.
Bush leaves Friday for Vietnam where he will attend the summit of the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. On Thursday, APEC foreign ministers including U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed a “carrots and sticks” approach to pressure North Korea to drop its nuclear weapons program.
They also expressed the hope that the six-party talks — involving China, Japan, Russia, the two Koreas and the U.S. — will make genuine progress in ending North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons.
Bush said the five nations involved in talks with North Korea “are speaking with one voice.” “The only way for North Korea to move forward, for the good of their people, is to abandon its nuclear weapons programs and rejoin the international community,” he said.
The president described as “encouraging” North Korea’s announcement on Oct. 31 that it was prepared to return to the negotiating table after a one-year boycott.—Agencies