Multilateral Diplomacy Key to Korea Nuclear Issue, U.S. Says
09 July 2006
State's Burns says China must assert its influence with North Korea
Washington -- The United States is pursuing a set of tough-minded and complex diplomatic initiatives in cooperation with the international community that is designed to pressure North Korea to end its nuclear weapons programs and return to the Six-Party Talks, according to R. Nicholas Burns, the U.S. State Department’s under secretary of state for political affairs.
In a series of television news appearances July 9, Burns stressed repeatedly that the goal of these multilateral diplomatic efforts is to pressure North Korea into dismantling its nuclear weapons and adhering to the agreement it signed on September 19, 2005, in the Six-Party Talks with South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and the United States.
On NBC’s Meet the Press, Burns said that the United States is supporting a "very aggressive" U.N. Security Council resolution that condemns the North Korean missile launches on July 4 as a "threat to international peace and security," and prohibits all trade in nuclear or missile technology.
The lead U.S. negotiator in the Six-Party Talks, Ambassador Christopher Hill, has been traveling to Asian capitals this week, Burns pointed out, and both President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have been talking extensively to foreign leaders. (See related article.)
Burns termed the recent announced that China is sending a senior delegation to Pyongyang, North Korea, "a very interesting development." He added: "You know, frankly, we think it's time for China to use its influence with North Korea …. China now has an opportunity to put its best foot forward to send the North Koreans a direct message that these missile tests cannot be tolerated."
The United States is quite willing to talk directly with the North Korean, Burns said, but only in the context of the Six-Party Talks. "We really don't see the logic in turning this into a test of wills between two countries," he said on Meet the Press. The fact is that China should have the same interest -- and that is to stop the North Korea nuclear program. Our allies, Japan and South Korea, have the same interest, and the Russians do as well."
Burns refused to speculate whether Russia and China would support the proposed Security Council resolution, but said on CNN Late Edition that both nations have an obligation to pressure North Korea to desist from missile tests and come back to the negotiating table.
MISSILE LAUNCHES
The seven North Korean missile launches conducted on July 4 were not only provocative and reckless, Burns said on Meet the Press, they were also unsuccessful. Along with four intermediate-range missiles, he said, North Korea tried to fire a long-range ballistic missile, the Taepodong, which failed and crashed into the Sea of Japan.
"We obviously have an opportunity now for diplomacy," Burns said, "and an opportunity to use the combined strength of all these countries to provide some leverage against the North Koreans, and that's what we will continue to try to do in the coming days and coming weeks."
On CBS's Face the Nation, Burns stressed that the missile launches triggered not only outrage and concern in countries like Japan, but increased North Korea's isolation throughout the world.
As a result, Burns said, the United States believes that "concerted, aggressive, tough-minded diplomacy by the international community can convince the North Koreans to cease and desist," and return to the Six-Party Talks agreement of 2005.
Another consequence, Burns predicted on Face the Nation, will be greater interest in missile defense by countries such as Japan. "You're seeing a lot of support in Asia for what the United States has been doing under President Bush to engineer a missile defense capability that can be effective in countering whatever the North Koreans decide to do in the future," he said.
IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Asked about the growing nuclear threats of both North Korea and Iran on Fox News Sunday, Burns said that complex international diplomacy requires time and patience, and a single snapshot of the world situation on one day can be deceptive. In both instances, according to Burns, the United States has assembled international coalitions that can wield strong diplomatic pressure.
In Iran, he said, the United States has built an effective coalition with Europe, China and Russia. "The Iranians thought they could divide us, and they miscalculated," he said on Fox News. "We are now creating a coalition to stop them from doing that. I think we're far better off in dealing with Iran now than we were just a couple of years ago."
Burns observed that the Iranians will meet with European representatives on Tuesday, July 11, and that Secretary Rice meets in Paris the following day, July 12, with European, Russian, and Chinese officials.
"We offer them two paths -- negotiations or Security Council action, Burns said on Fox News. "The Iranians can choose, but the time to choose has come."
Transcripts of Under Secretary Burns' July 9 interviews with NBC's Meet the Press, Fox News Sunday, CNN Late Edition, and CBS’ Face the Nation are available on the networks’ Web sites.
For texts and transcripts from the most recent round of Six-Party Talks, see Six-Party Talks, Beijing, China, 2005.
For more information on U.S. policy, see U.S. and the Korean Peninsula and East Asia and the Pacific.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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