- Title: JAPAN: U.S. nuclear envoy Stephen Bosworth visits to discuss North Korea concerns
- Date: 24th November 2010
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (NOVEMBER 23, 2010) (REUTERS) ***CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** TOKYO IMPERIAL HOTEL SIGN READING IMPERIAL HOTEL U.S ENVOY TO NORTH KOREA STEPHEN BOSWORTH ARRIVING IN FRONT OF REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English)U.S ENVOY TO NORTH KOREA STEPHEN BOSWORTH SAYING "Needless to say, we regard this development with great seriousness. We do not consider it a crisis but it is a very serious development. We believe that the North Koreans are in violation of an substantial number of international agreements that they have entered into, and are in violation of U.N. Security Council Resolutions." (SOUNDBITE) (English)U.S ENVOY TO NORTH KOREA STEPHEN BOSWORTH SAYING "We have to take in to account what we now know about the uranium enrichment programme and that is something I will be talking about to our friends in Beijing about, how best to do this. But we are not calling in to question our overall approach to this, which is an approach based upon a multilateral effort, closer coordination with the other four countries involved, and a commitment to dialogue and a continued pursuit of the implementation of the joint statement September 2005." REPORTER ASKING BOSWORTH A QUESTION (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. ENVOY TO NORTH KOREA STEPHEN BOSWORTH SAYING "We are certainly going to maintain the existing sanctions until the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) as is called for U.N. resolution 1874 made significant progress in the implementation of their commitments to denuclearisation." BOSWORTH LEAVING THE ROOM
- Embargoed: 9th December 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan, Japan
- Country: Japan
- Reuters ID: LVA673BFALRL0X1EW7WG9PBFQGR4
- Story Text: The top U.S. envoy on North Korea headed to Beijing on Tuesday (November 23) to consult with Chinese authorities in response to fresh concerns about Pyongyang's uranium enrichment programme.
"We have to take into account what we now know about the uranium enrichment programme and that is something I will be talking about to our friends in Beijing about, how best to do this. But we are not calling in to question our overall approach to this, which is an approach based upon a multilateral effort, closer coordination with the other four countries involved, and a commitment to dialogue and a continued pursuit of the implementation of the joint statement September 2005," the U.S. Special Representative for North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, told reporters in Tokyo.
The latest flurry over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions follows comments over the weekend by Siegfried Hecker of Stanford University that he had been shown more than 1,000 centrifuges during a tour of the Yongbyon nuclear complex this month. North Korea said they were operational.
Pyongyang's nuclear programme is seen as a threat to U.S. allies Japan and South Korea, and a proliferation risk given North Korea's long history of selling missile technology abroad.
Bosworth repeated what he told reporters in Seoul on Monday (November 22) that the situation was seriuos but not yet a crisis.
"Needless to say, we regard this development with great seriousness. We do not consider it a crisis but it is a very serious development. We believe that the North Koreans are in violation of an substantial number of international agreements that they have entered into, and are in violation of U.N. Security Council Resolutions," he said adding sanctions will continue to be maintained against Pyongyang.
"We are certainly going to maintain the existing sanctions until the DPRK (Democratic People's Republich of Korea) as is called for U.N. resolution 1874 made significant progress in the implementation of their commitments to denuclearisation." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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