North Korea Calls Clinton a "Schoolgirl"
Clinton says N. Korea running out of options on nukes
By ROBERT BURNS
Updated 7:35 AM EDT, Thu, Jul 23, 2009
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- faced with a fresh refusal by North Korea to end its nuclear weapons program -- became the subject of personal attacks by some of the country's leaders who called her a "funny lady" and a "school girl."
"We cannot but regard Mrs. Clinton as a funny lady as she likes to utter such rhetoric, unaware of the elementary etiquette in the international community," North Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "
"Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping."
The Foreign Ministry bristled at an earlier Clinton comment likening the regime to "small children" demanding attention.
Clinton said the U.S. will continue to insist that North Korea return to the bargaining table and verifiably dismantle its nuclear program.
At the same time, she held out the prospect of restoring U.S. diplomatic ties to North Korea and other incentives — actions the Obama administration would be willing to consider only if the North Koreans take irreversible steps to denuclearize.
North Korea's continued pursuit of its nuclear ambitions is sure to elevate tensions on the Korean peninsula and could provoke an arms race in the region," Clinton told a news conference after conferring with officials from 26 other countries and organizations.
She cited near unanimity on fully enforcing the latest U.N. sanctions against North Korea for its repeated nuclear and missile tests.Wrapping up a weeklong trip to India and Thailand, Clinton offered a somewhat more optimistic message about another trouble spot on the U.S. foreign policy agenda: Myanmar, the military-run southeast Asian nation also known as Burma.
"There is a positive direction that we see with Burma," she said. She praised Myanmar's government for committing to enforce the U.N. sanctions against North Korea, calling it important in light of Myanmar's suspected secret military links to North Korea.
And she suggested Myanmar may have played a role this month in persuading a North Korean cargo ship suspected of carrying weaponry in violation of the sanctions to return home instead of continuing to its destination, which U.S. officials said was probably Myanmar.
Clinton also called on Myanmar to unconditionally release democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is accused of violating the terms of her house arrest.
On North Korea, Clinton stressed a point she has made repeatedly — that a fully nuclear North Korea might compel other countries in Asia to follow suit. She mentioned no names, but Japan and South Korea are thought to be among those that might go nuclear under circumstances in which they felt threatened by the North and less than fully confident of protection under a U.S. nuclear umbrella.
Clinton also said, "I wanted to make very clear that the United States does not seek any kind of offensive action against North Korea." She said a North Korean delegate at Thursday's meeting complained of being subjected to U.S. nuclear threats, but she said this showed a disconnect with reality, given that U.S. nuclear weapons were removed from South Korea nearly 20 years ago.
She said the world — including China, which has been North Korea's most loyal supporter — has made it clear to Pyongyang that it has "no place to go."
"They have no friends left that will protect them from the international community's efforts to move toward denuclearization," she said.
She said the U.N. sanctions will be applied as strictly and fully as possible.
"The bottom line is this: If North Korea intends to engage in international commerce its vessels must conform to terms" of the U.N. sanctions, "or find no port," she said. "Our goal in enforcing these sanctions and others proposed earlier is not to create suffering or destabilize North Korea. Our quarrel is not with the North Korean people."
Turning to another major security problem, Clinton held a one-on-one meeting with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and said afterward that the Pakistani military's progress in fighting Taliban insurgents has been "encouraging" but incomplete.
Clinton said she hoped to learn more about the situation when she visits Pakistan this fall.
Qureshi told reporters that the military operations have been successful, and said he asserted that public opinion in Pakistan has changed decisively against extremism.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC Washington
First Published: Jul 23, 2009 2:04 AM EDT
You Might Like
You have 2000 characters left
