Clinton still hoping North Korea won’t conduct a nuclear test

Posted on : 2013-01-31 15:55 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Diplomatic efforts apparently underway by relevant countries to dissuade Pyongyang

By Park Hyun and Jeong Nam-ku, Washington and Tokyo correspondents

“We still hope that there is a way to convince the North Korean regime not to pursue this path,” said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Jan. 29 (local time). The comments came in response to signs that the North will conduct a third nuclear test.

At the Global Town Hall interview event, held at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., Clinton was asked what significant actions would be taken if North Korea made another provocation. “It’s going to be a lengthy consultation. I don’t want to preview what the outcome might be in terms of actions that would have to be taken,” Clinton said.

This indicates that, even as the US pressures North Korea by promising strong sanctions in response to a nuclear test, it is engaging in diplomatic efforts to persuade North Korea not to go forward with the test.

Hillary expressed her disappointment with Kim Jong-un, leader of North Korea, saying, “I had expected something would be different with a new, young leader in the North, and that’s why I’m disappointed.”

She was also critical of Kim. “We expected him to focus on improving the lives of the North Korean people, not just the elite, but everyone to have more education, more openness, more opportunity. And instead, he has engaged in very provocative rhetoric and behavior.”

After mentioning that they had implemented additional sanctions through the UN after North Korea launched its long-range missile, Hillary said, “I’ve had long conversations with my Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Chinese counterparts, because this is a threat to all of us.”

On Jan. 30, the Sankei Shimbun reported that the US had decided to reposition stealth fighters equipped with nuclear capabilities and two B2 strategic bombers to Guam at the end of January 2013. The Japanese newspaper quoted a Japanese government official as saying that this is “a message to North Korea about its announcement that it will test a nuclear weapon.”

US forces in Japan are already conducting surveillance flights using the WC-135 patrol craft operating out of Kadena Air Base in Okinawa.

 

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