Hillary Talks Tough on North Korea

American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned North Korea during her visit in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, that unless Pyongyang authorities start a dialogue with South Korea, as well as forgo researching and developing nuclear weapons, its relations with the United States will not be improved.

Seoul is Hillary’s third stop of her first overseas trip since she became the American secretary of state. At the same time, she announced the appointment of former American Ambassador in South Korea Stephen Bosworth as the special envoy for North Korea who will be the American negotiator of the “Six-party talks.”

Hillary arrived in the Seoul airport on the evening of the 19th, met with the Foreign Minister of South Korea Yu Myung-hwan on the morning of the 20th, and had a lunch meeting with the President Lee Myung-bak. Hillary and Yu Myung-hwan held a joint press conference afterwards stating the democratic and prosperous South Korea and the tyrannous and deprived North Korea make a sharp contrast; North Korea’s refusal to dialogue with South Korea and insult on Seoul would not improve its relations with the U.S.

Rumors claim that North Korea is preparing to test long-range ballistic missiles. Hillary said according to the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718, North Korea should cease all activities related to the ballistic missile program; If Pyongyang test and fire long-range missiles, the U.S. would consider that aggressive.

Hillary also indicated that Pyongyang should implement its pledge, which is to abandon the nuclear weapons program. The Six-party talks that is committed to resolving the Korean Peninsula crisis should also get back on the right track.

The public has drawn a lot of conjectures regarding North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s health, as some reported Kim Jong-il had suffered from a stroke in 2008. Hillary stated on her way from Jakarta, Indonesia to Seoul that there are continuous signs which show the mysterious leading group of Pyongyang might change soon.

U.S. officials rarely discussed the issue of the North Korean leader openly in the past. Hillary pointed out in the very beginning that even if Pyongyang is able to inherit power peacefully and smoothly, that would “create more uncertainty” all the same; as the new leadership comes to power, they would probably create more provocative situations in order to consolidate their power.

The fact that the American secretary made such comment will certainly provoke an intense response from Pyongyang authorities. Yet, the North Korean government has only remained in its confrontative position and “the North Korean armed forces are fully prepared to fight with South Korea.”

It is widely believed that Kim Jong-il is gradually drawing out and South Korea, China, the U.S. and other countries are pondering how to deal with the subsequent North Korean regime. Hillary’s talk responded sufficiently in this regard. Korean Daily News reported that Seoul eliminated certain problems through Hillary’s frank talk which people worry about, such as North Korea would only dialogue with the U.S. so as to seal off South Korea and that the U.S. intends to recognize North Korea as a nuclear state.