HOME	Where the World's Views of America Come into Focus

By Brian Lee

April 25, 2005

Original Article (English)

The top U.S. envoy to six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear arms program indicated Saturday that Washington was considering options other than negotiations, and a senior official in Pyongyang blamed Washington for the "collapse" of the talks, and said that the North would continue to build its nuclear arsenal.

"We have a situation where the five countries are willing to attend and one continues not to, and we have to solve this problem -- one way or the other," said U.S. Envoy Christopher Hill, who arrived Saturday in Seoul for his first stop of a trip to key countries involved in the stalled talks.

Hill leaves Tuesday for Beijing, after which he is scheduled to go to Tokyo before returning to Seoul.
Speaking to reporters at Incheon International Airport, Hill said that the United States remains committed to solving the nuclear crisis through the six-party talks, but said he doubted Pyongyang was willing to solve the issue at that forum.

His remarks were in line with recent comments from senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who said last week that Washington is willing to refer the nuclear issue to the United Nations Security Council for possible sanctions if there is no progress.

Over the weekend, U.S. newspapers, quoting unnamed U.S. officials, said there was increasing concern in Washington that Pyongyang was preparing to test a nuclear bomb. Early last week, the North shut down its Yongbyon reactor, raising fears that it might be removing its fuel rods to process the plutonium for weapons.

Mr. Hill would not comment on those reports.

Yesterday, North Korea's Central News Agency quoted Vice Marshal Kim Yong-chun, a member of the North's powerful National Defense Commission, as saying, "The U.S. brought the six-party talks to a collapse ... The army and people of the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's formal name] will never remain passive onlookers to U.S. moves to isolate and stifle the DPRK, but will steadily bolster its nuclear deterrent to cope with the enemies' reckless moves for military aggression."

The six-party talks, which involve the United States, China, Japan, Russia and both Koreas, have been stalled since September. On Feb. 10, North Korea raised the stakes by declaring outright that it had nuclear arms and that it would stay out of the talks indefinitely.

Mr. Hill is scheduled to meet today with Song Min-soon, South Korea's chief envoy to the talks, Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon and Lee Jong-seok, a senior official at the National Security Council.