| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
U.S. defends envoy over N. Korea
CRAWFORD, Texas (CNN) -- The United States has dismissed a declaration from North Korea that it would no longer deal with Undersecretary of State John Bolton as the U.S. chief negotiator. Bolton recently referred to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il as a "tyrannical dictator," prompting Pyongyang to reportedly call Bolton "human scum" and a "bloodsucker" and refuse to deal with him in upcoming six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear program. "He was speaking for the administration," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said of Bolton, "and I think his remarks last week reiterated things we've previously said. "The president of the United States in consultation with the Secretary of State and others makes the decision about who represents the United States in our delegation," he said. McClellan said details have not yet been worked out on the exact time and place of the six-way talks. But reports from both North and South Korea suggest the talks will begin in early September in the Chinese capital, Beijing. "Six-party talks for a solution to the nuclear issue between the DPRK (North Korea) and the U.S. will be held in Beijing soon thanks to the former's initiative and peaceful efforts," a statement issued by a spokesman for North Korea's Foreign Ministry said. "As the multilateral talks are slated to take place as called for by the U.S. side so far, the forthcoming talks will clearly show the world community whether the U.S. has a true willingness to make a switchover in its policy towards the DPRK or not," the statement, carried on the North's official news agency, said. Russia, South Korea, China, Japan, the United States and North Korea are all scheduled to attend the first diplomatic discussions about North Korea's nuclear program since April. The talks are aimed at resolving concerns over North Korea's nuclear weapons program. A South Korean government official on Monday said no firm timetable for talks has been confirmed. "So far nothing has been decided on where or when the six-way talks are to take place and in what form North Korea and the United States would hold dialogue," said Shin Eon-sang, assistant minister for unification policy at the Unification Ministry. "But the first round of talks are expected to be held in Beijing in early September," Shin was quoted as saying by South Korea's Yonhap news agency. North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has demanded economic aid as well as a nonaggression pact with the United States in exchange for shutting down his starving country's nuclear weapons program. North Korea has said it is reprocessing enough spent nuclear fuel rods into weapons-grade plutonium to build several nuclear weapons. U.S. officials have said they believe North Korea might have built one or two nuclear weapons. After North Korea agreed to freeze its nuclear program at Yongbyon in 1994, U.S. intelligence said it believed North Korea had enough plutonium to produce one or two nuclear weapons. -- White House Correspondent Dana Bash contributed to this report. Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
