Posted on 01/18/2008 8:24:36 PM PST by TigerLikesRooster
U.S. disavows envoy's harsh view of N.Korea talks
By Paul Eckert, Asia Correspondent
Fri Jan 18, 3:29 PM ET
The State Department on Friday distanced itself from a presidential envoy's remarks that North Korea was not serious about its nuclear disarmament commitments and would keep its atomic weapons after the Bush administration leaves office next year.
Jay Lefkowitz, President George W. Bush's special envoy on North Korea human rights, said on Thursday that Pyongyang's failure to meet a key deadline in the nuclear agreement "signals that North Korea is not serious about disarming in a timely manner."
In a speech to the conservative American Enterprise Institute, Lefkowitz said it was "increasingly clear that North Korea will remain in its present nuclear status when the administration leaves office in one year."
He called for a reassessment of the six-party talks in which the United States and four regional powers since 2003 have been trying to persuade North Korea to abandon a nuclear weapons program it had secretly pursued for decades and which culminated in a nuclear bomb test in late 2006.
But State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Lefkowitz, while an envoy for human rights, was not authorized to speak for the government about the six-party talks.
"His comments certainly don't represent the views of the administration," he told reporters. "He was expressing his own opinion."
The flap over Lefkowitz's comments -- delivered at a think tank that is home to some strident critics of the six-party nuclear deal -- recalls the early years of discord in the Bush administration between officials who favored diplomacy with Pyongyang and those who urged more confrontational measures.
'A FORUM, MECHANISM AND OPPORTUNITY'
Under the February 2007 pact, North Korea had last fall begun disabling three main nuclear facilities -- an aging reactor, a plant that makes nuclear fuel and another that turns spent fuel into arms-grade plutonium.
But Pyongyang disappointed its diplomatic partners when it missed an end-2007 deadline for presenting an inventory of its nuclear facilities. It later asserted that it had already accounted for the programs and blamed Washington for delays.
McCormack said Washington remained committed to the talks in which the United States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea seek to end North Korea's nuclear programs in exchange for economic aid and diplomatic support.
"We believe that the six-party talks provide a forum, mechanism and opportunity to realize a goal of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula," he said.
White House spokesman Tony Fratto, asked about Lefkowitz's remarks, said: "It's unfortunate that we're still waiting for the declaration," referring to the North Korean nuclear inventory expected by December 31. "We hope to get there."
Lefkowitz also faulted South Korea and China for continuing heavy flows of unconditional bilateral aid to North Korea even as Pyongyang escalated the nuclear crisis.
"One key assumption that turned out to be incorrect was that China and South Korea would apply significant pressure to North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons. Instead, they seem to prefer the status quo to unknown change," he said.
But Fratto said the five nations still shared "a great deal of unanimity in dealing with North Korea."
"We do believe that the five parties of the six-party talks -- who are encouraging North Korea to relinquish their nuclear program -- stand together and are unified in that effort," he said.
(Additional reporting by Sue Pleming and Jeremy Pelofsky; Editing by Xavier Briand)
Ping!
Somebody want Chia Pet get everything
Thank you for the ping.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.