While North Korea\u2019s fulfillment of the initial phase of the \u201cFebruary 13th Agreement\u201d continues to be delayed, the U.S. and Japan are raising voices that supplemental sanctions is necessary if North Korea fails to act. <\/p>\n
Condoleeza Rice, the Secretary of State of the United States, disclosed after the conference with the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Aso on the 1st, \u201cWe are awaiting North Korea\u2019s immediate fulfillment of the February 13th agreement. Our patience is not infinite.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Secretary of State Rice\u2019s statement is a similar one to the one she revealed after U.S. President George Bush\u2019s top summit with Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo on the 27th: \u201cThe patience of the six party talk nations is not infinite.\u201d As a competent minister of North Korean policy, she strongly urged North Korea\u2019s action for the second time. <\/p>\n
Foreign Minister Aso also pressed, \u201cIn case North Korea does not show any response within the next several days, initial steps have to be taken.\u201d The Japanese media relayed that Secretary of State Rice also expressed the opinion of taking a hard-line countermeasure, if necessary, in order to pressure fulfillment of the agreement by North Korea. <\/p>\n
Regarding this, there has been indication that the Bush administration, who has taken an optimistic view of the fulfillment of the initial stages of the February 13th agreement, may be using this as a countenance for avoiding the hard-line party\u2019s attack first on the appeasement policy towards North Korea. <\/p>\n
Even though they are saying \u201cour patience has a limit,\u201d the fact that they are not proposing a timetable for fulfillment of promises has birthed such apprehensions. <\/p>\n
However, there are indications that the statement will not be used as a countenance or as a bluff. It means that one cannot just wait for a signal from Pyongyang while North Korea indefinitely delays the agreement\u2019s fulfillment. <\/p>\n
The Bush administration, after the midterm elections last November, weakened the power of Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and other neo-conservatives who had assumed leadership of a hard-line policy towards North Korea. The administration caused a huge change in the North Korea policy by putting forward Secretary of State Rice, who has advised two-party talks with North Korea, and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill on the front line. <\/p>\n
So, the six-party talks have opened and until the conclusion of the February 13th agreement, it was predicted that there would be a thoroughly consistent order of \u201caction by action.\u201d Until the start of the working group meeting in New York for the normalization of U.S.-North Korea relations, according to the February 13th agreement, a premature forecast regarding U.S.-North Korea\u2019s amity was presented. <\/p>\n
However, even though the initial stage deadline has completely passed, an \u201call stop\u201d has been put out due to the transfer issue of 250,000,000 dollars in North Korean BDA funds. Finding common grounds between U.S.\u2019s position that \u201cit has carried out all it can\u201d in relation to the BDA issue and North Korea\u2019s position of demanding \u201cinternational currency transactions\u201d like before the freeze is not an easy one. <\/p>\n
In the midst of this situation, Korea University\u2019s North Korean Studies Professor Yu Ho Yul expressed in a phone conversation with Daily NK on the 2nd, \u201cThe possibility of North Korea satisfying the initial stages of the February 13th agreement is high\u201d and \u201cdespite this, there is the possibility of additional sanctions if North Korea delays the fulfillment of a detailed agreement. However, the timeline of imposing additional sanctions is not clear.\u201d <\/p>\n
Professor Yu said, \u201cThe U.S. can carry out detailed UN sanctions and can come up with new ways such as currency sanctions or economic sanctions. If North Korea makes additional requests related to the BDA problem, then the U.S. will pull out its \u2018pressure card.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Chun Sung Hoon, the Senior Researcher at the Reunification Research Institute said, \u201cWithin the U.S., a split opinion coexists regarding the possibility of the Bush administration turning to a hard-line North Korea policy in the case that North Korea does not carry out the February 13th agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n
He explained, \u201cIf the North Korea nuclear issue becomes worse, there is an assertion that China and South Korea will come forward to resolve the problem through cooperation. There is also the view that on one hand, the change in Bush administration\u2019s North Korea policy is merely a tactical transformation. The strategic purpose remains the same, so it can command a hard-line policy again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While North Korea\u2019s fulfillment of the initial phase of the \u201cFebruary 13th Agreement\u201d continues to be delayed, the U.S. and Japan are raising voices that supplemental sanctions is necessary if North Korea fails to act. Condoleeza Rice, the Secretary of State of the United States, disclosed after the conference with the Japanese Minister of Foreign […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":4071,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wikipediapreview_detectlinks":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[644],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-analysis-and-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\n