United States May Add Missile Curbs To Six-Party Talks With North Korea, Clinton Predicts
North Korean moves to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile is “a matter of great concern” to the United States and its allies, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said as she continued her Asian tour.
She also said the United States is paying close attention to the possibility that Pyongyang may have a secret highly enriched uranium program to produce nuclear weapons, in addition to the plutonium weapons-production program that the North openly admits it has conducted.
En route to Seoul, South Korea, Clinton said the need for North Korea to agree to curb its missile program may mean the issue might be added to the Six Party Talks among China, Japan, North Korea and South Korea, Russia and the United States, or the matter may be discussed in some adjunct or separate forum.
Just how it will be handled, she will discuss with partners in the talks, she said.
Of course, North Korea may refuse to discuss the issue, she said.
A North Korean long-range missile launch this year would be the first since a long-range weapon, the Taepo Dong-2, failed shortly after a launch in 2006.
It is concerns about the aggressive North Korean ballistic missile development program that in part prompted the United States to begin developing a multi-layered ballistic missile defense shield. During that 2006 test, Navy surface ships equipped with Aegis weapon control systems and Standard Missile interceptors were poised to take down the long- range North Korean weapon, but it destructed before an intercept could be initiated.
U.S. military leaders took cold comfort in that failure, noting that six other missiles, with short- to medium-range capabilities, succeeded. And North Korea already has developed nuclear weapons, so as soon as they are downsized to fit atop a missile, then the prospect of Pyongyang wielding a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile would create fears not only among other Asian nations, but also in the United States, where cities would be within range of the weapon.
This scenario must be headed off, Clinton indicated.
“The ballistic missile discussion has to be pursued,” she said.
Persuading North Korea to surrender its nuclear weapons will be no easy matter, Clinton indicated, made even more challenging by the question of whether Kim will disappear from power. “This is a difficult undertaking, but we are committed to it and we’re going to be engaged in it, and I’m looking to guidance from both South Korea and then later in China about the best way to proceed,” Clinton said.
Another disquieting unknown is just how long North Korean leader Kim Jong Il will hold power, and whether he might abruptly be succeeded by individuals who would set out to stage some provocation against South Korea, Japan and the United States.
“Even authoritarian regimes are interested in public opinion,” she said.
The United States, in setting policy toward the Korean Peninsula, will be focusing on the security situation, she said, and on possible succession issues in North Korea.
Others in the Six Party Talks, especially South Korea, will expect the United States to use leverage to attempt restarting talks on how to rid the peninsula of nuclear weapons, and to prevent the threat of nukes across the globe.
“I’ll be emphasizing that as we meet with the government leaders,” Clinton said.
She noted this comes against a somber reality of Pyongyang wielding atomic devices, “not only possessing, we believe, some number of nuclear weapons, but showing very little willingness to get back on track” and hand the weapons over to international inspectors.
And – now, some of that is attributed to their own internal situation, which I will discuss with the South Koreans. But I think our goal is to try to come up with a strategy that is effective in influencing the behavior of the North Koreans at a time when the whole leadership situation is somewhat unclear. So you add to the already difficult challenge of working with the North Koreans, the uncertainties that come from questions about potential succession.”
She is worried as to what any successors to Kim might do.
“If there is a succession, even if it’s a peaceful succession, that creates more uncertainty and it also may encourage behaviors that are even more provocative as a way to consolidate power within the society,” Clinton explained.
“So we will spend a lot of time – I will – trying to determine from the South Koreans and the Chinese what their information is. Because obviously, they have a lot of sources that they can share with us, so we’re going to have to try to feel our way forward here.”
As for her final stop on the trip, Beijing, Clinton said the key was to assess Chinese intelligence about events in North Korea.
“North Korea is on China’s border, and I want to understand better what the Chinese believe is doable,” she said.
Nuclear Weapons
Clinton also was asked about reports that North Korea has run a secret highly enriched uranium (HEU) weapons production program, along with the publicly admitted plutonium production program for atomic bombs.
Traces of HEU were found on documents that North Korea turned over to the West, documents detailing the plutonium program and its components, such as the reactor at Yongbyon.
Reportedly, the North ran an HEU production program not far from the Yongbyon reactor that Pyongyang only partly dismantled. The reclusive regime has refused to proceed further with its promised dismantling of the reactor, and at times has threatened to reverse course and rebuild Yongbyon.
As far as the reported HEU program, which North Korea denies exists, Clinton said, “We’re always on the lookout for what the North Koreans might be doing, and it is a matter of ongoing concern.”
At the same time, Clinton is focused far more on the plutonium program and its nuclear weapons.
“We know for sure that they’ve reprocessed plutonium and produced fissile material,” Clinton said, condemning North Korea for going nuclear. “That is of grave concern. And there’s been such a concern on the part of some about the highly enriched uranium program that I worry that they’re straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel. I mean, let’s focus on what they’ve done and how much easier it is to reprocess plutonium.”
To be sure, however, Clinton made clear that any worthwhile agreement to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula would have to contain an agreement for the North to disclose and surrender any HEU program it may be conducting.
“Obviously, we’re concerned, and as we move forward in the Six-Party Talks, if we were ever at the point where we could create a verifiable and complete agreement, it would clearly include highly enriched uranium,” she said. “And the inspectors and the other means for testing would be charged with determining what, if anything, did exist.”
Aside from the reality of nuclear weapons, Clinton also made clear she objects to words that Pyongyang is launching at other nations, especially South Korea.
“There’s a lot of threatening talk coming from the North, and we just have to take it for what it is and try to figure out how we’re going to organize ourselves to deal with them going forward,” she said.