| News Channels |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| Quick Links |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| Entertainment |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| MAO Exclusives |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| Weather |
| |
|
| |
| Contest Entry |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
| Rice says U.S. open to negotiations | | By: Sue Pleming | | .JPG) Thu Oct 19, 2006 7:59 AM ET
(Pic)- Secretary of State Condoleezza answers questions at a joint news conference with her South Korean counterpart Ban Ki-moon in Seoul October 19, 2006. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday that Washington was open to negotiations with North Korea to defuse the crisis over its nuclear test, while China sent a special envoy to Pyongyang for talks.
Rice said it was important to implement U.N. sanctions imposed after North Korea's October 9 test but Washington was not seeking a "quarantine or a blockade" of the impoverished country.
"We want to leave open the path of negotiations. We don't want the crisis to escalate," she told a news conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon in Seoul.
However, she said the United States hoped a Chinese envoy visiting Pyongyang had been successful in telling North Korea that it must return to talks on ending its nuclear programs.
"I hope it (China) has been successful in saying to North Korea that there is really only one path, which is denuclearization and dismantlement of its programs."
China, the communist state's strongest backer, said that Tang Jiaxuan, a state councilor and former foreign minister, had delivered a message to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao gave no details of the message delivered from President Hu Jintao during the visit of "major significance".
A senior U.S. official traveling with Rice to Seoul from Tokyo said he believed the Chinese envoy had gone to North Korea to tell the reclusive country not to conduct another test.
Its first test brought worldwide condemnation and U.N. sanctions aimed at choking off its weapons programs.
"I'm pretty convinced that the Chinese will have a very strong message about future tests," said the official, who asked not to be identified.
Tang arrived in Pyongyang on Wednesday with Chinese Vice Foreign Ministers Dai Bingguo and Wu Dawei, who is also China's chief negotiator to long-stalled the six-party talks to end North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
The U.S. official said Rice would urge South Korea to fully implement the U.N. resolution passed last weekend imposing financial and weapons sanctions against North Korea.
"What I do think is very important is everyone take stock of the leverage we have to get North Korea to return to the six-party talks and negotiate seriously the dismantlement of its nuclear weapons programs," Rice said.
But in Beijing, her next stop, spokesman Liu warned against "wilfully" expanding the sanctions. "Sanctions are a signal, not the goal," he told a news conference.
China, the closest Pyongyang has to an ally, backed the U.N. resolution and has said it will carry out cargo inspections but not searches at sea to intercept arms and related material.
MORE TESTS?
Rice began her trip to the region in Japan on Wednesday as intelligence experts said satellites had spotted an increase in activity at a suspected nuclear test site in North Korea.
U.S. and South Korean officials said there was no sign another test was imminent. But a South Korean lawmaker and parliamentary intelligence committee member, Chung Hyung-keun, said the North could be preparing three or four more tests.
"Checking indications coming from intelligence agencies of different countries, it is certain that the North will conduct three or four additional nuclear tests in the future," Chung told SBS radio.
Washington is worried that Japan and South Korea might build up their own weaponry in response to North Korea's nuclear test.
In Japan, Rice assured Asian allies that the United States stood ready to protect them, and the official traveling with her to Seoul said she would reaffirm Washington's commitment to defend South Korea in case of attack from the North.
The Korean peninsula was divided after World War Two and fought a war from 1950 to 1953, with the North backed by China and the South by U.S.-led United Nations forces.
As Rice headed to Seoul, North Korea warned the South against cosying up to the United States.
"There is no room within the (unified Korean) nation for such flunkeyist traitors selling off the dignity and sovereignty of the nation, root and all, to outsiders while acting as their puppet," the Communist Party daily Rodong Sinmun said.
(Additional reporting by Jack Kim and Jon Herskovitz in Seoul, Lindsay Beck in Dandong and Matt Spetalnick in Washington)
===============================
The future of marketing is online! Call 478-474-3482 or e-mail us today for great advertising opportunities!
Get a FREE business webpage (or website link) and free advertising with a listing and link in our Business and Website Directory! Finding area businesses has never been easier! Our website gets over a million visitors every month! Make sure you're business is easy to find!
Go to FightGlobalWarming.com for tips on what you can do.
You can post any unlimited classified ad at MAO for only $20 for 30 days! Click here to post your ad now right online!
Boost your Biz! Click here to find out how to get a whole years worth of premium advertising for only $100!
GO BACK HOME
| |
|
|
|
|
| Current Weather |
|
 |
| Local Forecast |
| Post Your Ad
Now! |
 |
| Advertisement |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Partners |
 |
 |
| We support the United Way |
|
 |
|
|
| Click The Seal Above To Make Payments To MAO! |
|
|
|
