Washington: Observing that North Korea poses
an "infinitesimal threat" to the US directly, a senior Obama
Administration official on Tuesday said that America wants the
Communist nation to come back to negotiation table and take
"irreversible steps" towards "denuclearisation" of the Korean
Peninsula.
"We want to see North Korea take meaningful steps,
irreversible steps towards denuclearisation. As Secretary (of
Defence, Robert) Gates had earlier said we are not going to
resell the same horse over and over again, so that we want to
see North Korea come back to negotiations," the Assistant
Secretary of State for Public Affairs, Philip J Crowley, told
reporters in Washinghton.
"Clearly our long-term objective has not changed, which
is a denuclearised Korean Peninsula. And we want to see it
taking meaningful steps, irreversible steps towards
denuclearisation," he said.
Crowley, noting that nuclear-armed nation represents an
`infinitesimal threat` to the America directly, argued N Korea
through its provocative actions, does represent a significant
threat to the region.
"Its actions recently have been unhelpful, potentially
destabilising. What we want to avoid is something that would
precipitate, among other things, an arms race in Asia," he
said.
"We believe that we have a combination of capabilities
that mitigates the threat to us, but we recognise that North
Korea does pose a significant challenge to countries in the
region.
"That`s why we are committed to ongoing collaboration
with countries like Japan, countries like South Korea, others,
to try to do whatever we can to bring North Korea back to a
negotiating process and ultimately towards taking measurable
steps, irreversible steps, towards denuclearisation," Crowley
said.
Acknowledging that there is a new situation in the
region, he said US want to see N Korea come back to its
obligations that it made in 2005.
"We are obviously willing to do things if North Korea
themselves does their part, which obviously is coming back to
a negotiating process, reaffirming their obligations under the
2005 agreement, and taking irreversible steps towards
denuclearisation."
Noting that the ball is in N Korea`s court, he said, "I
do not think that we are against the concept of
action-for-action."
"But first and foremost, North Korea has to come back
to negotiations table."
"In other words, if they come back to a negotiation,
we are not going to reward them for that step. That is I
think, the difference reflecting just the reality of the
current situation," Crowley said.
Bureau Report
