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SLUG: 5-53194 Congress-North Korea
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DATE=3-6-03 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT TITLE=CONGRESS NORTH KOREA NUMBER=5-53194 BYLINE=DEBORAH TATE DATELINE=CAPITOL HILL CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: U-S lawmakers are keeping the pressure on the Bush administration to begin talks with North Korea to resolve the stand-off with that country. Correspondent Deborah Tate reports the Senate Foreign Relations Committee examined ways the United States could approach such dialogue. TEXT: In the wake of a series of provocative acts by Pyongyang, many lawmakers are urging the Bush administration to engage in direct bilateral talks with the North Koreans to ease tensions. Among them is the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Dick Lugar of Indiana: /// LUGAR ACTUALITY /// In my judgement, it is vital that the United States not dismiss bilateral diplomatic opportunities that could be useful in reversing North Korea's nuclear program, and in promoting stability. /// END ACT /// /// OPT /// The comments were echoed by the ranking Democrat on the committee, Senator Joe Biden of Delaware: /// BIDEN OPT ACTUALITY /// I do not know what we lose by talking. /// END ACT - END OPT /// Tensions between Washington and Pyongyang began to escalate last October, when the administration said North Korea admitted to having a program to enrich uranium in violation of international agreements. Since then, Pyongyang has expelled United Nations inspectors from the Yongbyon nuclear complex that had been frozen under a 1994 agreement with the United States, and fired up the reactor at the site. In the latest provocation, North Korean jets intercepted a U-S surveillance plane over international waters Sunday. The Bush administration has been reluctant to pursue bilateral talks with North Korea, saying it does not want to reward bad behavior. Instead, it favors a multilateral approach to diplomacy with Pyongyang. But foreign policy analyst Arnold Kanter of the Scowcroft Group is not impressed by that argument: /// KANTER ACTUALITY /// I think the debate about whether talks with the North Koreans should be multilateral or could be direct and bilateral is somewhere between irrelevant and distracting, and in no event should it be allowed to be a major stumbling block. /// END ACT /// Mr. Kanter said bilateral talks between Washington and Pyongyang could offer some important benefits: /// KANTeR ACTUALITY /// It might be a face-saving way for the North Koreans to stop their self-destructive march toward the brink. Second, countries that have thus far been unwilling or unable to press North Korea to meet our demands might see such an offer by us as a reason to engage Pyongyang in exactly the kind of concerted way that an effective multilateral approach demands. /// END ACT /// Foreign policy expert Robert Einhorn of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, also underscores the importance of bilateral talks, but says they must come with conditions: /// EINHORN ACTUALITY /// North Korea should pledge that while the talks are underway, it will not reprocess its spent fuel, and it will permit the international atomic energy agency to return to Yongbyon for the purpose of reapplying monitoring seals at its reprocessing facility. For its part, the United States should pledge that as long as those seals are intact, it will not engage in military action against Yongbyon and will not support United Nations sanctions against North Korea. /// END ACT /// Mr. Einhorn said U-S allies have important roles to play as well. He suggested China should make clear to North Korea that it will not use its veto to block United Nations sanctions if Pyonyang pursues the nuclear option. He said South Korea should be frank with its northern neighbor that if Pyongyang decides to become a nuclear power it would put a break on inter-Korean relations. (signed) Neb/dat/PT |
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