Posted on 02/10/2005 5:43:21 PM PST by blam
Rice warns North Korea over nuclear talks
(Filed: 10/02/2005)
Condoleezza Rice, the American secretary of state, has called on North Korea to return to talks on nuclear disarmament following the country's first public admission that it has nuclear weapons.
A North Korean propaganda poster
Earlier, the North Korean foreign ministry issued a statement saying that it had suspended participation in talks for "an indefinite period" after scrutinising George W Bush's inaugural and state of the union speeches.
Dr Rice who is in Luxembourg as part of her European tour, said: "We are trying to give the North Koreans a different path. We are confident that of course the United States and its allies can deal with any potential threat from North Korea. And North Korea I think understands that.
"But the fact of the matter is that the world has given them a way out and they should take that way out."
The North Korean foreign ministry claimed that nuclear weapons were a necessary defence against American aggression.
A statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency said: "We have manufactured nukes for self-defense to cope with the Bush administration's evermore undisguised policy to isolate and stifle the [North]."
North Korea expelled UN weapons monitors in 2002 and its claim to have nuclear weapons has not been independently verified.
It is not known to have tested a nuclear bomb, although international officials have long suspected it has one or two nuclear weapons and enough fuel for several more.
Dr Rice said: "The North Koreans have been told by the president of the United States that the United States has no intention of attacking or invading North Korea."
Since 2003, the United States, the two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia have held three rounds of talks in Beijing aimed at persuading the North to abandon nuclear weapons development in return for economic and diplomatic rewards. No significant progress has been made.
A fourth round scheduled for last September was canceled when North Korea refused to attend, citing what it called a "hostile" U.S. policy.
I thought the North Koreans would love Rice. It beats tree bark.
heh heh
Build a wall around those crazy f***s. Let them see what their stupid communist mentality gets them and their starving people. Here is an extreme, but good example of what Marxism can lead to...HELLO HILLARY, YOU BETTER RE-WRITE YOUR SPEECHES...
Nope, I'm afraid Kim Jong Iw won't wuv Secwetawy Wice....
Be Seeing You,
Chris
Warning Warning, I'm warning you!
LOL. That's good.
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