BALI, Indonesia — Tentative steps by North and South Korea to repair relations are not enough to warrant renewed multination nuclear disarmament talks, the U.S. said Saturday at an Asian security conference, where it also took a tough line on resolving tensions in the South China Sea.
Declaring the United States a “resident power” with vital strategic interests throughout the Asia-Pacific region, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said North Korea must do more to improve ties with the South before Washington will consider resuming talks aimed at getting Pyongyang to abandon nuclear weapons in return for concessions.
In addition, Clinton laid out specific guidelines for the peaceful settlement of competing territorial claims in the South China Sea, saying recent threats and flare-ups are endangering the security that has driven the region’s economic growth and prosperity.
The ASEAN Regional Forum that brought together 27 nations from North America, Asia and Europe opened with a buzz early Saturday, with South Korea’s foreign minister, Kim Sung-Hwan, and the North’s Pak Ui Chun chatting and walking casually into the conference hall together.
A day before, their top nuclear negotiators met for the first time since disarmament talks collapsed in 2008 when Pyongyang walked out to protest international criticism of a prohibited long-range rocket launch.
By reopening dialogue, they paved the way for the potential return, eventually, to efforts by the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia to end the crisis.
Since the last round of talks, North Korea has conducted a second nuclear test and revealed a uranium enrichment facility that could give it another way to make atomic bombs. Recent threats against Seoul’s conservative government include a vow to retaliate over soldiers’ use of pictures of the ruling North Korean family for target practice.
