Says strategy extends beyond rogue states to trade routes, companies
North Korean leader Kim Jon Il has not made the "strategic choice to move away from the destructive legacies of the past and place his people first," says John Bolton, the State Department's top arms control official.
In a speach delivered to the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations October 19, Bolton said that Kim "still fails to recognize what Libya determined -- that his pursuit of weapons of mass destruction makes North Korea less, not more, secure."
The six-party talks, which include North Korea, South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and the United States, are still the best venue to realize the shared goal of a Korean Peninsula permanently free of nuclear weapons, Bolton said.
The Bush administration's nonproliferation strategy, Bolton said, is more a policy of "counterproliferation" and extends to the trade routes and entities that are engaged in supplying the countries of greatest proliferation concern.
New law provides for special envoy to coordinate international dialogue
President Bush has signed the "North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004" which calls for him to appoint a special envoy for human rights in North Korea.
The envoy would coordinate international efforts to improve human rights in Burma and support censure by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights of Pyongyang's human rights abuses.
Excerpts from recent statements made by
U.S. officials about North Korea
Resumption of the six-party talks regarding North Korea's denuclearization will be high on Secretary Colin Powell's list of topics for discussion during his upcoming visit to Japan, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Korea.
State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters October 18 that Powell, during his October 22-26 trip to Asia, will confer with senior officials in the three countries about North Korea's "willingness to attend talks or if they're still stalling." He added that Powell's trip will also serve "to remind people that we have a significant and comprehensive proposal on the table, and North Korea needs not only to come back to talks, but to be ready to deal with that proposal."
Participants of the six-party talks are North Korea, South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and the United States.
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