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China-Japan-Koreas
N.Korea Seeks Talks With U.S. Over Missile
2006-06-21
Bluff failed, huh?
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea said Wednesday it wants direct talks with the United States over its apparent plans to test-fire a long-range missile, a day after the country issued a bristling statement in which it declared its right to carry out the launch.

North Korea said in comments published Wednesday that its self-imposed moratorium on testing long-range missiles from 1999 no longer applies because it's not in direct dialogue with Washington, suggesting it would hold off on any launch if the U.S. agreed to new talks. "Some say our missile test launch is a violation of the moratorium, but this is not the case," Han Song Ryol, deputy chief of North Korea's mission to the United Nations, told South Korea's Yonhap news agency in an interview from New York. "North Korea as a sovereign state has the right to develop, deploy, test fire and export a missile," he said. "We are aware of the U.S. concerns about our missile test-launch. So our position is that we should resolve the issue through negotiations."

The North's official Korean Central News Agency also ran a report Wednesday on U.S. officials urging direct talks between Washington and Pyongyang in regard to the standoff over the North's nuclear weapons program.
Posted by:Steve White

#7  I think they are worried that a U.S. cruiser will knock it down in front of the whole world. That would chop them off at the knees.
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2006-06-21 16:09  

#6  Gregoire (sp) wants the troops home from Iraq now so they can protect Seattle from a nuke.

What an idiot.
Posted by: anonymous2u   2006-06-21 15:48  

#5  The U.S. said no, here's a few words from Bolton.
"You don't normally engage in conversations by threatening to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles, and it's not a way to produce a conversation because if you acquiesce in aberrant behavior, you simply encourage the repetition of it, which we're obviously not going to do,"
Posted by: Mike N.   2006-06-21 15:37  

#4  But I Ha' missile, and I will caw Arec Balren and Sann Penn to negroshate faw me. Stop Team America rye naw. I so ronery... even son in Germany wi girl at Eric Crappon concert.
He no wan be Pyongyang when ronnin dag Booshe
send own Nuuk.

Posted by: Kim Jung-il   2006-06-21 14:07  

#3   "Talk to the hand, Kimmie."
Posted by: N guard   2006-06-21 12:42  

#2  Tell them we need to think about it for a month or two. Of course, if the missile is already fueled, this would mean they will have to remove the fuel, which can be very hazardous. After they have defueled the missile, we can just say no. That should give us time to move several Aegis cruisers into position. Then they can start the refueling process again. And the cycle can continue.
Posted by: Rambler   2006-06-21 10:53  

#1  Tell them to talk to Japan first.
Posted by: anonymous2u   2006-06-21 10:50  

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