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North Korea Issues Warning on U.N. Talks
Iâm sure this reads better at KCNA. EFL.North Korea on Saturday warned that any moves to discuss its suspected nuclear weapons programs at the United Nations would ``hamstringââ efforts for dialogue and be a ``prelude to war.ââ
Heck, everyone knows what a silly accusation THAT is! ``The U.S. intention to bring up the nuclear issue ... at the U.N. at any cost is a grave criminal act to hamstringââ North Koreaâs efforts at opening a dialogue, the official KCNA news agency said. ``Any move to discuss the nuclear issue at the U.N. Security Council is little short of a prelude to a war,ââ it said, reiterating past comments. Weâre up to, what, 867 preludes now? Meanwhile, the United States and Japan are discussing forming a multinational inspection team to ensure North Korea eliminates its nuclear weapons development program, the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japanâs largest circulation daily, reported Sunday. That team would include Russia and China. This is rather, multilateral, of us. U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton began working on the details of the plan with senior Japanese officials Friday after receiving word North Korea had agreed to six-way talks, the paper reported. On Thursday, Bolton criticized the Security Council, saying its credibility was at stake because it had failed to take up the North Korean nuclear issue. China, the Northâs closest ally and a permanent member of the Security Council, had thwarted previous U.S. attempts to have the council condemn the North over its nuclear ambitions. An early U.N. discussion of North Korea seems unlikely. Even South Korea, a U.S. ally, has said all diplomatic options should be exhausted before the Security Council considers the issue. South is still weak in the knees, I see. Washington long has pushed for multilateral talks on the issue, saying it wants Pyongyang to end its nuclear programs. North Korea has insisted on one-on-one talks with the United States, through which it hopes to win a security guarantee. But North Korea on Friday agreed to multilateral talks, saying it would push for direct talks with the United States on the side. Washington said bilateral talks were a possibility. The acceptance of an American proposal for a broader discussion involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia was seen as a concession. Steve DenBeste says that this is the crucial concession and that the NKors are done for. Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Saturday that Beijing was key to resolving the dispute. ``China more than any other country can exert long-term influence and long-term pressure on North Korea,ââ he said. As in, turn off the oil and watch the NKors squeal like a pig. On Friday, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Pyongyang might consider freezing its nuclear programs if multilateral talks go well and if it receives an assurance from the United States that it will not be attacked. Kofi is hopelessly behind, as usual. No date has been set for the talks, which are expected to be held in China, and no decision has been made on the level of the officials who will attend. An unidentified official at South Koreaâs presidential office said talks could open ``late this month or early next month,ââ according to Seoulâs Yonhap news agency. The last time the United States and North Korea had official talks was in April in Beijing, but they have had unofficial talks in New York since then, via North Korean diplomats at the United Nations. No, we had no official talks in April, we had shuttle talks with the Chinese getting covered with spittle, not us. And then we walked out. Posted by: Steve White 2003-08-03 |
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