[USFK Forums] North's repentance not deemed enough [JoongAng]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Monday, February 27, 2006

North’s repentance not deemed enough

The JoongAng Daily

February 27, 2006 ㅡ As Pyongyang and Washington prepare for what the United States calls “briefings” about its reaction to North Korea’s counterfeiting of U.S. currency, the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, Alexander Vershbow, told the JoongAng Ilbo last week that promises of repentance from the North will not be enough. Action, not words, was his theme.

“There have been some signals in the last few weeks indirectly indicating that North Korea is beginning to acknowledge that there is a problem and they need to take steps to address the issues,” Mr. Vershbow told the JoongAng Ilbo and JoongAng Daily on Wednesday.

The U.S. envoy to Seoul has been a strong critic of the North in his four months on the job here, and in turn has joined more senior U.S. officials in Pyongyang’s rogues’ gallery. Pyongyang media outlets took special exception to the label of “criminal regime” that the ambassador used recently in referring to the government there.

Mr. Vershbow declined to use the words again. “Looking back at that episode, my main concern is that it may have diverted attention from the real issue that I wanted to address ― illicit activities by the North Korean regime,” he said. Conceding that the substance of the issue may have been obscured by his rhetoric, he added,

“Since that time, I have left it to academics and journalists to describe North Korea. I think that it is better understood by North Korea that the issues will not go away.”

Mr. Vershbow said North Korea would probably continue to deny regime involvement in counterfeiting, but its recent Foreign Ministry statement that it would participate in international efforts on money laundering and other financial crimes, added to other unspecified signals, gives the United States some hope that “something is beginning to change.”

U.S. assertions that North Korea was involved in a series of illegal financial activities have stalled the six-nation nuclear disarmaments talks, which were last held in September. A joint statement at the end of that round held out hope of a breakthrough on the nuclear issue, but those hopes were dashed when Washington added to its array of sanctions against the North by squeezing Pyongyang’s access to the international financial system.

Last week, the U.S. State Department announced a possible prelude to a resolution, saying a North Korean delegation led by Li Gun, the director general of North American affairs at Pyongyang’s foreign ministry, would meet in New York on March 7 with Treasury and State Department officials and National Security Council staffers. Pyongyang has not characterized the talks, but Washington calls them an explanation of why the sanctions were imposed ― not a negotiating session leading to a lifting of the sanctions. For that to happen, Washington says, the illegal activities must be demonstrated to have ended.

“Now that the North Koreans have, after all these months, taken up our proposal for a meeting to discuss the issues involved with illicit activities, it could be at least part of the way back to the table,” Mr. Vershbow said, the “table” referring to the six-party talks. “That was one of the reasons why the proposal was made way back in November.”

Asked what it would take for Washington to close the counterfeiting issue ― perhaps a promise by a senior North Korean not to do it again? ― Mr. Vershbow stressed that Pyongyang must prove that its offending actions had ended. “The question I was asked was if a promise not to do it again is enough, and the answer is no. Promises are not enough,” he said. “The key thing is that North Korea has the responsibility to demonstrate that its conduct has changed.”

He declined to say what might satisfy the United States in that regard, leaving it up to the North Koreans to prove that it had mended its ways,. “[It is] hard to say what will be sufficient,” Mr. Vershbow mused. “We are realistic about how much we can expect from the North Korean regime in terms of statements. That is why we are pressing more on the action than words.”

He urged the North to follow the example of the Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi by coming clean about its nuclear establishment, but added, “That would be the best case, but we are realistic.” He also denied speculation that Iran had bumped North Korea from the American agenda. He also said he had been questioned about whether focusing on things such as kidnapping has shifted Washington’s priorities in its dealings with North Korea, and answered that nuclear questions remain the most immediate challenge.

On other issues, Mr. Vershbow said he wanted to continue improving the U.S. alliance with South Korea, rejecting worries here that “strategic flexibility” of the U.S. forces would endanger the South’s security. He recalled that during the Gulf War, some U.S. forces here were withdrawn temporarily.

He was also enthusiastic about concluding a free trade agreement with Korea before U.S. negotiating authority expires in mid-2007, a deadline that would require the pact to be concluded in about 12 months. “We do have enough time,” he said, but acknowledged that the timetable was ambitious. “Failure is not an option,” he said, quoting what he called a slogan of U.S. negotiators for the talks, and adding that the deadline would focus attention on both sides.

He also dismissed the possibility of excluding sensitive products like agricultural goods from the pact. The agreement must be comprehensive, he said. He also said he was optimistic that the requirement that Korean visitors to the United States have a pre-issued visa could be ended by the end of 2007.


by Ser Myo-ja



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