North Korea warned Tuesday that attempts by members of the six-party talks on curbing the North's nuclear ambitions to impose fresh sanctions if it goes ahead with a planned rocket launch would ''deprive the six-party talks of any ground to exist or their meaning.''
| The six-party talks haven't done anything so far except allow the Norks to stall for time. We certainly haven't gained anything from continuing these talks the last fifteen years, whether part of the 'Six-Party' talks or directly with the Norks. |
''The attempts of Japan and the U.S., the parties to the six-party talks, to deny the DPRK's right to use space for peaceful purposes and infringe upon its sovereignty as a discriminatory measure diametrically run counter to the 'spirit of mutual respect and equality' enshrined in the Sept. 19 joint statement on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,'' a spokesman of the North Korean Foreign Ministry said, referring to a 2005 accord reached at the six-party talks, according to the North's Korean Central News Agency.
| The Norks continue to bang their rattle on the high-chair tray, confident that Bambi -- who doesn't yet have a full team at the Nork desk at State -- will back away from confrontation. If the Norks push hard enough they'll get a resumption of 'direct' talks with the U.S., which will allow them to make their demands publicly and loudly, and put us in the usual position of having to make concessions for the sake of the 'process'. This is why, even though Bambi has not said one word about shooting down the TD-2, the Japanese have made clear that they will. |
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