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April 4, 2009

US Envoy: N. Korean Missile Test 'Requires Consequences'
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Stephen Bosworth hopes N. Korean launch will not scuttle nuclear
disarmament talks; suggests additional UN sanctions could put Pyongyang
in 'escalation mode' 
Stephen Bosworth speaks to the media in Seoul, South Korea, 09 Mar
2009The Obama administration's special representative for North Korea,
Stephen Bosworth , said a missile test by Pyongyang in defiance of a
U.N. Security Council resolution requires some consequences. Bosworth
said he still hopes North Korea will reconsider and not conduct the
missile launch. But he said if the widely-expected test does proceed, he
also hopes that it will not produce any long-term interruption in the
Chinese-sponsored negotiations aimed at a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.
Bosworth, a retired diplomat and academic named to the envoy post in
February, had a measured response to what North Korea says will be the
launch of an experimental satellite between Saturday and next Wednesday.
The envoy said the launch of a long-range missile, under whatever guise,
would be a provocation, and a violation of U.N. Security Council
resolution 1718 approved after North Korea's 2006 nuclear test and would
require some consequences. But in comments at Washington's Foreign Press
Center, he also said that after, in his words, "the dust settles"
following the missile episode, the six-party negotiations should
resume."We would hope, and believe strongly, that everyone has a
long-term interest - regardless of this short-term problem, in getting
back to the negotiations in the six-party process as expeditiously as
possible. I'm not able to predict when that might occur. But we will be
talking vigorously with our partners in the process to try to bring that
about," he said. Stephen Bosworth, U.S envoy for six-party talks (L),
and Sung Kim, special envoy for N. Korea arrive at Beijing International
Airport, 03 Mar 2009 North Korea has threatened to quit the disarmament
talks if it is hit with new U.N. sanctions after a missile test.
Bosworth said it is hard to predict North Korean behavior, saying they
might, or might not go into a "mode of escalation" in response to U.N.
penalties. Bosworth made his first trip to the region in the envoy post
last month but was
 not invited to visit North Korea. He none-the-less said the Obama
administration - in keeping with its interest in dialogue with long-time
U.S. adversaries - wants bilateral contacts with North Korea and said
such contacts would not harm the six-party process."The six-party talks,
we believe, must be at the center and forefront of our efforts to deal
with the issues of North Korea and their nuclear program. So that will
not change," he stressed. "We will continue to have bilateral contacts
with the North Koreans. We are prepared to open that channel at any
point. Now, I don't think that bilateral contacts of the sort that have
occurred in the past - and that I believe will occur in the future -
will weaken the six-party process. I think indeed, it is possible they
will strengthen the six-party process," he said. Bosworth said there are
ways to overcome the main stumbling block in the six-party talks, over
verifying the declaration of its nuclear holdings North Korea made last
year, and that he is not frustrated by the impasse. He also said the
Obama administration - on a separate track -- is fully engaged, through
Sweden which handles U.S. diplomatic affairs in Pyongyang, to gain the
release of two U.S. journalists detained by Pyongyang authorities last
month. He said there is "no higher priority" in the United States'
foreign policy than the protection of its citizens abroad. 


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