WASHINGTON -- The Barack Obama administration's nonproliferation guru emphasized Thursday that North Korea should take "some real, practical" measures towards denuclearization for the resumption of dialogue.Rose Gottemoeller, nominee to be undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, voiced the need to keep putting pressure on Pyongyang in cooperation with Beijing.
"The North Koreans have to take some real steps to prove that they are indeed ready to begin the process of denuclearization," she said in a Senate confirmation hearing. "We have to see some practical steps. And I think that it is important to continue to press them on that."
Gottemoeller has served as acting undersecretary for arms control and international security since February 2012, leading the Obama government's global nonproliferation drive. She described addressing the nuclear programs of North Korea and Iran as one of the Obama administration's top priorities.
"The diplomatic full-court press from the State Department has contributed to the unprecedented international consensus on maintaining sanctions and other pressure on both states. We must continue to push," she said.
She noted China's attitude in recent months with regard to the North Korea issue.
"I will say that in recent months we've seen an uptick in the cooperation with China on dealing with dual-use items and dealing with trade in such items. And so they are improving as a partner. And I think that that is a very, very positive step," she said.
Gottemoeller was referring to Beijing's publication earlier this week of a long list of equipment and chemical substances to be banned from export to North Korea amid concerns that those could be used for nuclear weapons programs.
In New York, Secretary of State John Kerry also hailed Beijing's action as he met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly session.