| More from yesterday's Kimmie nuc-fest. |
 North Korea's declaration Thursday that it has nuclear weapons and is through for now talking about them brought widespread expressions of dismay and near-universal calls for the North to return to the six-party negotiations aimed at curbing its nuclear program. Russia, China, Japan and South Korea - four of the six parties - urged the North to return to the nuclear talks, as did the leaders of the United Nations and the European Union. The United States, the final party to the now-endangered negotiations, also called for a resumption of the talks.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking in Luxembourg at the end of her European tour, said that the leaders of a country already known as the "hermit kingdom" risked "deepening their isolation." Rice said the possession of nuclear weapons by North Korea or Iran would be "unacceptable." But her tone and language appeared designed to reassure listeners that there was no immediate danger. The White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, also offered a relatively sanguine statement. "We remain committed to the six-party talks," McClellan told reporters traveling with President George W. Bush. "We remain committed to a peaceful, diplomatic resolution to the nuclear issue."
| They can negotiate or they can starve, their choice. |
Foreign reaction overall appeared anxious but modulated in tone, perhaps reflecting a sense that little can be gained from bluster in dealing with the prickly, provocative and easily offended government of President Kim Jong Il. North Korea was infuriated when Bush included it in his "axis of evil" with Iran and Iraq. And last month Rice referred to North Korea as an "outpost of tyranny." But Bush, in his State of the Union message, barely mentioned North Korea, except to say that he was working with other countries to advance the talks. The administration sent a special envoy, Michael Green, last week to urge the leaders of China, South Korea and Japan to push for a resumption of the talks. |