Six-Party Talks in Beijing Push for Implementation Steps
21 December 2006
State's Hill says negotiations reinforce importance of alliance relationships
Washington – On the fourth day of the resumed Six-Party Talks, the head of the U.S. delegation expressed hope that some solid results designed to achieve a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula could be achieved soon.
Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said North Korea’s claim that it detonated a nuclear device October 9 underlines the urgent need to find a way to implement elements of the September 2005 joint statement. That statement of principles -- agreed to during the last round of negotiations by North Korea, Japan, China, the United States and Russia -- is designed to bring about an end to North Korea’s nuclear programs. It also offers North Korea various economic, security and diplomatic incentives to do so, including the normalization of U.S.-North Korean relations. (See related article.)
Hill told reporters in Beijing on December 21 that hammering out implementation measures during formal negotiations “is always much more difficult than a discussion of principles.” Successful implementation must translate into actually changing the situation on the Korean Peninsula, he added.
Not only is it important for the talks to achieve the main goal of verifiably removing the threat of nuclear weapons from the peninsula, Hill said, but the talks also “reinforce our alliance relationships.” Hill, who is assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, has been meeting bilaterally with other participants on the fringes of the talks.
The formal multilateral negotiations – the first in 13 months -- offer the United States and China a significant opportunity to work together on eliminating North Korea’s nuclear threat, an issue of central concern to both nations “and one that absolutely has to be solved,” Hill said. (See related article.)
If U.S.-Chinese efforts succeed, it will set the stage for mutual efforts on various other world issues in the years ahead, Hill said. China and the United States have a strong and engaged relationship, and “the Six-Party process is very much part of that,” Hill added.
Resolving the problem posed by North Korea’s nuclear ambitions will “require a great effort” by China, Hill said. Because the United States cannot solve the problem alone, he said, it has to be worked out in the context of a multilateral framework. “We need the six parties,” he added.
During a December 20 assessment of the six-delegation talks, Hill said the trend was positive but acknowledged that successful negotiations take time. On December 19, he said members of the North Korean delegation should demonstrate their willingness at the negotiating table “to reach a deal on beginning the implementation of the joint statement.”
No nation will accept a North Korea equipped with nuclear weapons, Hill said. “They don’t need nuclear weapons.”
What the North Koreans do need is food and modern infrastructure, including roads, airports and schools, he said.
Separate talks by U.S. and North Korean officials also are under way to resolve financial concerns that the North Koreans have expressed. Hill said there already has been a considerable exchange of information during these discussions. According to the State Department, a U.S. delegation led by Daniel Glaser, the deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury for terrorist financing and financial crimes, met with the North Koreans through December 20. State characterized the meetings as "businesslike and useful." The U.S. delegation left December 21, but looks forward to meeting with the North Koreans again -- probably in January 2007 in New York.
Transcripts of Hill’s most recent remarks are available on the State Department Web site.
For more information about U.S. policy, see The U.S. and the Korean Peninsula.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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