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Clinton tells NKorea to stop provocations
2009-02-20
SEOUL (AFP) - A frank US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned North Korea to stop being provocative, saying its "war of words" with the South would not help it forge a new relationship with Washington. Clinton, who suggested the North's bellicose rhetoric stems from a possible power struggle, told reporters in Seoul on Friday that any ballistic missile launch by the communist state would be in breach of UN resolutions. She also named Stephen Bosworth, a career diplomat, to oversee Washington's North Korea policy -- a new high-level post designed to pressure Pyongyang on disarmament and human rights. Speaking in a tougher tone than general after talks with her South Korean counterpart Yu Myung-Hwan, Clinton urged the North to live up to its previous commitments and dismantle its nuclear weapons programme. She said the development of democracy and prosperity in South Korea was "in stark contrast to the tyranny and poverty across the border to the North." On what is her first foreign trip as chief US diplomat, she hailed Seoul's resolve and determination "in face of the provocative and unhelpful statements and actions by the North." "North Korea is not going to get a different relationship with the United States while insulting and refusing dialogue with the Republic of Korea," she told a press conference here, using the official name for the South. Several political analysts suspect Pyongyang is taking a tougher stance as it competes for US President Barack Obama's attention with other hotspots such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and the Middle East. "We are calling on the government of North Korea to refrain from being provocative and unhelpful in a war of words that it has been engaged in because that is not very fruitful," Clinton added. She has been unusually candid in suggesting the North is playing hard amid a possible struggle to succeed leader Kim Jong-Il, who is widely believed to have suffered a stroke last August. "When you are thinking about the future dealings with a government that doesn't have a clear succession -- they don't have a vice president, they don't have a prime minister -- there is something there to think about," she said. "But we are dealing with the government that exists right now. That government is being asked to re-engage with the six-party talks to fulfill the obligations they agreed to. We expect them to do so." Seoul says that the North is currently preparing to test its longest-range missile, the Taepodong-2, which is theoretically capable of reaching Alaska. Pyongyang signalled Monday that it would go ahead with the launch, claiming it had a right to pursue "peaceful" space research. Separately, the North's military said Thursday that an armed clash with the South could break out at any time. Cross-border tensions are high, with North Korea assuming an increasingly belligerent posture towards Seoul's conservative government. President Lee Myung-Bak has rolled back his predecessors' policy of largely unconditional aid and engagement with the North and has linked major economic aid to progress on denuclearisation. Clinton reassured Seoul, a key US ally and host to about 28,500 US troops, that "there is no issue on which we are more united than North Korea." North Korea conducted its first ever nuclear weapons test in October 2006. It later agreed to disable its atomic programme in return for energy aid and diplomatic concessions. However six-nation talks, which group the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, have been stalled for months amid arguments over how to verify the denuclearisation process. Asked in Seoul about a possible missile launch, Clinton said that under UN resolution 1718, "North Korea must stop all activities concerning ballistic missile programmes." Foreign Minister Yu echoed her comments, saying that "if the North fires a missile -- even if it claims it is a satellite -- it would constitute a clear breach of UN resolution 1718."
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