hankyoreh

north of Seoul

By Lee Jae-hoon

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that the United States would place new sanctions on North Korea, including asset freezes and blocking financial deals. Clinton also said that the United States would give U.N. Security Council resolutions 1718 and 1874 new, more stringent authority to force North Korea to end its illegal activities.

Clinton issued these statements during an afternoon press conference held in an annex of the Central Government Complex following the first round of South Korea-U.S. “2 plus 2” talks, while noting that Robert Einhorn, U.S. State Department special advisor for nonproliferation and arms control would shortly plan visits to U.S. allies, including South Korea, to discuss the execution of sanction measures.

Clinton said the United States has not yet pursued restarting the six-party talks, and that North Korea should admit responsibility for the sinking of the Cheonan, show the intention to denuclearize, and suspend its provocative and belligerent behavior.

The South Korean and U.S. governments said in a joint statement announced after the meeting, “The ministers reaffirm the mutual responsibilities and steadfast commitments of the two countries founded on the ROK-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty, which has served as the bedrock of the allied partnership. The ministers are committed to maintaining a robust combined defense posture capable of deterring and defeating any and all North Korean threats, including recently announced bilateral plans to conduct a series of joint military exercises over the coming months in the ROK and off the east and west coasts of the Korean Peninsula.” They also said, “The ministers urge North Korea to take responsibility for the attack on the Cheonan. They also call upon North Korea to refrain from further attacks or hostilities against the ROK and underscored that there would be serious consequences for any such irresponsible behavior.”

The statement also stressed, “The ministers urge North Korea to abandon all its nuclear programs and its pursuit of nuclear weapons in a complete and verifiable manner, and to demonstrate its genuine will for denuclearization with concrete actions.”

The United States also welcomed South Korea’s deployment of a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) to Afghanistan, while South Korea reconfirmed its intention to support the security, governance and development of Afghanistan.

Both countries agreed to develop the Joint Vision for the Alliance of the United States of America and the Republic of Korea to complete the new Strategic Alliance 2015, which includes the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) to South Korea (delayed to December 2015), by this year’s Security Consultative Meeting. In regards to the South Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), both countries pledged to “work toward ratification, as discussed by the two presidents in Toronto last month.”

Meanwhile, China announced opposition once again to the ROK-U.S. joint naval drills scheduled for next week in the East Sea.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Qin Gang posted a comment on the ministry’s official website that stated, “China strongly opposes foreign warships and combat aircrafts’ entry into Chinese coastal waters in an attempt to deteriorate our security.”

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