U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told lawmakers Thursday that the Obama administration has "no interest and no willingness" to give North Korea further economic aid.
But Clinton said the administration has requested funds for economic aid to North Korea in case Pyongyang returns to nuclear talks and re-starts disablement measures. She said, in her words, that North Korea is "digging themselves into a deeper and deeper hole with the international community."
| And we keep filling it in for them, and giving them new shovels when required ... |
The United States last December halted fuel oil deliveries that it promised to North Korea under the disarmament talks after Pyongyang refused to agree to measures to verify disablement. Washington had already delivered at least 100,000 tons under the deal.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Thursday that North Korea seems very unlikely to return to the six-nation talks soon. But Wood said the United States still believes the aid-for-disarmament talks are the best way to achieve a denuclearized Korean Peninsula.
On Wednesday, North Korea threatened to test nuclear explosives and intercontinental ballistic missiles if the United Nations Security Council does not apologize for condemning Pyongyang's recent rocket launch. The North's Foreign Ministry said it will be forced "to take additional defensive measures" if an apology does not come immediately. |