White House names 6-way talks among major foreign policy achievements

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 (Yonhap) -- The outgoing Bush administration on Sunday
included six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions among its
major foreign policy achievements, saying North Korea's nuclear reactor is being
disabled under an aid-for-denuclearization deal.

The Bush administration has "established the Six Party Talks framework in
partnership with China, South Korea, Japan, and Russia" and "obtained a
commitment from North Korea to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear
programs," the White House said in a fact sheet carried on its Web site.
"Since November 2007, USG (U.S. government) experts have supervised North Korea's
activities to disable its plutonium production capability," it said, referring to
the Feb. 13, 2007 agreement signed by the parties involved that calls for
dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear facilities in return for economic aid and
diplomatic recognition by the U.S. and Japan.
The latest round of the six-party talks ended without an agreement on
verification of North Korea's nuclear facilities, due to its refusal to allow the
collection of samples from its main nuclear reactor.
North Korea has said it will agree to the sampling in the third and last phase of
the denuclearization deal in which the North is supposed to dismantle all of its
nuclear programs and facilities.
The five other parties insist that the sampling should be part of the disablement
of the North's nuclear facilities, the second phase of the deal, under which
Pyongyang is supposed to get 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil.
The fact sheet, titled "President Bush Has Kept America Safe," also noted the
establishment of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) and other
multilateral coalitions to stop weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferation
that strengthens "our ability to locate and secure nuclear and radiological
materials around the world."
PSI aims to prevent shipments of missiles and other WMD parts and technology by
intercepting vessels suspected of carrying WMD-related materials to and from
countries like North Korea. South Korea has not yet fully joined the PSI in order
not to provoke the North with which Seoul is seeking reconciliation.
The Bush administration has also "dismantled and prevented the reconstitution of
the A.Q. Khan proliferation network, an extensive, international network that had
spread sensitive nuclear technology and capability to Iran, Libya, and North
Korea," the fact sheet said.
Khan, currently under house arrest, recently said in an interview that the
Pakistani government had allowed him to transfer uranium-based nuclear technology
to North Korea so Pyongyang could provide in return its long-range missile
technology to Islamabad.
Other foreign policy achievements cited in the fact sheets are joining forces
with European partners to "limit Iran's ability to develop weapons of mass
destruction and ballistic missiles and finance terrorism" and persuading Libya to
"disclose and dismantle all aspects of its WMD and advanced missile programs,
renounce terrorism, and accept responsibility for prior acts of terror."
Also cited were removal of the Taliban insurgents from power in Afghanistan,
freeing Iraqis from the rule of Saddam Hussein, capturing or killing hundreds of
al Qaeda leaders and operatives in more than two dozen countries with the help of
partner nations.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said late last month that six-party
talks are the only way to achieve North Korea's denuclearization, citing
Pyongyang's common strategy of exploiting division in the international
community.
"A lot has been achieved" in the multilateral talks over the past half year, the
outgoing secretary said on NBC's "Meet the Press," including the shutdown of the
North's main nuclear reactor, presentation of its nuclear list and blowing up of
the cooling tower of the North's main nuclear reactor.
"I think more will be achieved, but it's really only going to be achieved in the
context of the six parties," she said.
In a New Year's message, North Korea skipped its usual accusations of the U.S.
and pledged to denuclearize itself, fueling speculation that Pyongyang is
awaiting the Barack Obama administration for continuation of the six-party talks.
"The independent foreign policy of our Republic to denuclearize the Korean
Peninsula and defend the peace and security of Northeast Asia and the rest of the
world is demonstrating its validity more fully as the days go by," the North's
message said Thursday.
Rice was supposed to discuss with Chinese officials the North Korean nuclear
issue later this week, but canceled her last trip to Beijing as secretary of
state due to a worsening situation in the Gaza Strip where Israeli ground forces
are in an all-out war with Hamas.
"Due to events in the Middle East, Secretary Rice will not be able to travel to
Beijing, China, as she had expected," the State Department said in a statement,
adding Deputy Secretary John Negroponte will travel to Beijing Wednesday in
commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral
diplomatic ties.
Bush began engaging actively the North in 2006 when Pyongyang detonated its first
nuclear device.
hdh@yna.co.kr
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