The U.S. official, Christopher Hill, at North Korean nuclear talks made a stern statement on Sunday that complete eradication of the communist regime’s atomic program remains far from satisfactory levels. But in the same breathe he also welcomed the country’s decision to invite inspectors.
Hill suggested that the participants in the talks namely, U.S., China, Russia, Japan and the Korean-duos, should do some introspection and move on to fully implement a February agreement and the eventual denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
As it appears on the face of it, the whole episode appears a bit murky with a tinge of foul play on the either side. North Koreans had declined to move its February promise to shut down the Yongbyon reactor until it received $25 million in funds that were frozen in a Macau bank. This led to mud throwing and leveling accusations against Banco Delta Asia of helping North Korea’s government pass fake $100 bills and launder the money from weapons sales.
Washington’s hostility can be gauged by the fact that Washington had claimed the financial freeze. Meanwhile, North Korea boycotted the six-nation talks for more then a year, and this boycott came as a blessing in disguise for the Koreans. As a matter of fact, this was the time when it conducted its first-ever atomic bomb test last October.
South Korea welcomed the latest developments, but also said it was too nascent a stage to celebrate.
“This is good news ... (but) this is not the time to get excited,” South Korean chief nuclear envoy, Chun Yung-woo, told The Associated Press.
“North Korea may bring up another issue to stall the progress like it has done before,” Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso cautioned.
We should not swing between elation and desperation until the disarmament is fully achieved.
Image: Flickr
Via: Usatoday
