[USFK Forums] N. Korea Should Stop 'Inflammatory' Comments, U.S. Says [Bloomberg]

[C. Y. Lee]

Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Wednesday, March 22, 2006

North Korea Should Stop `Inflammatory' Comments, U.S. Says

March 22 (Bloomberg) -- North Korea should stop making ``inflammatory'' comments and return to six-nation talks on dismantling its nuclear weapons program as soon as possible, the U.S. State Department said.

North Korea's government said yesterday it has the ability to carry out a pre-emptive strike, according to the official Korea Central News Agency. The Korean People's Army said in a statement a week ago a preemptive strike capability ``is not the monopoly of the U.S.,'' KCNA reported at the time.

``The president, secretary of state and others have made it very clear that the United States has no plans to invade or attack North Korea,'' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said yesterday in Washington. The U.S. wants North Korea to ``engage in serious discussions, as opposed to making these kinds of inflammatory statements.''

The resumption of the six-party talks has been prevented by the U.S. imposing sanctions over allegations of money laundering and counterfeiting by North Korean companies, the North Korean government has said. Talks in November ended without an agreement after negotiators in September called for a nuclear-free Korean peninsula and economic cooperation with North Korea on energy, trade and investment.

North Korea should ``return to the six-party talks at the earliest possible date and engage in those discussions in a serious manner,'' McCormack said, according to an e-mailed State Department transcript. The talks involve the U.S., North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia.


Self-Defense

Military exercises carried out by the U.S. and South Korea on the Korean peninsula have compelled North Korea to strengthen its self-defense capability, KCNA said yesterday. North Korea ``has the right to preempt an attack as the most effective and positive act for self-defense,'' the army said in its statement.

North Korea earlier this month tested two short-range missiles, a move that the U.S. government said served as a reminder of the threat posed by the country and the standoff over persuading the North Koreans to abandon their nuclear weapons.

The U.S. is ``spreading sheer lies'' with its allegations against North Korea of counterfeiting, drug smuggling, human rights abuses and developing weapons of mass destruction, the army said, according to KCNA.

The U.S. and North Korea held talks in New York on March 7 over the freezing by the U.S. of the assets of eight North Korean companies it implicated in helping the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Missile Tests

North Korea on March 8 test-fired two short-range ground-to- ground missiles within its own territory near the Chinese border, Japan's private broadcaster NTV said on its Web site at the time.

The missiles had upgraded technology that included the use of solid fuel to make transport easier and increase their accuracy, Japan's Kyodo Newswire reported last week, citing U.S. General Burwell Bell, commander of the U.S. forces in South Korea, as telling the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee in Washington.

North Korea continues to develop a three-stage Taepodong missile, which ``could be operational within the next decade'' and provide the country with the capability to directly target the U.S., Bell said during a U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee meeting on March 7.


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