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U.S. and Allies to Tie North Korea’s Rights Record to Nuclear Talks U.S. and Allies to Tie North Korea’s Rights Record to Nuclear Talks
(about 3 hours later)
SEOUL, South Korea — The top nuclear envoys of the United States, South Korea and Japan agreed on Wednesday to ratchet up pressure on North Korea, including a more effective and creative enforcement of sanctions on the impoverished country.SEOUL, South Korea — The top nuclear envoys of the United States, South Korea and Japan agreed on Wednesday to ratchet up pressure on North Korea, including a more effective and creative enforcement of sanctions on the impoverished country.
The three allies also said that their efforts to curtail North Korea’s nuclear weapons ambitions would now include doubling pressure on North Korea to improve its human rights record — a highly delicate topic that they have so far kept separate from their nuclear negotiations with the North. The three allies also said that their efforts to curtail North Korea’s nuclear weapons ambitions would now include increasing pressure on North Korea to improve its human rights record — a highly delicate topic that they have so far kept separate from their nuclear negotiations with the North.
“We agreed on the importance of enhancing pressure and sanctions on North Korea even as we keep all diplomatic options on the table and open,” said Sung Kim, Washington’s top representative to the six-nation talks aimed at negotiating an end to the North Korean nuclear weapons program.“We agreed on the importance of enhancing pressure and sanctions on North Korea even as we keep all diplomatic options on the table and open,” said Sung Kim, Washington’s top representative to the six-nation talks aimed at negotiating an end to the North Korean nuclear weapons program.
“We also agreed on the importance of working with the international community to address the grave human rights situation in North Korea,” Mr. Kim told reporters in Seoul as he emerged from a meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, Hwang Joon-kook and Junichi Ihara.“We also agreed on the importance of working with the international community to address the grave human rights situation in North Korea,” Mr. Kim told reporters in Seoul as he emerged from a meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts, Hwang Joon-kook and Junichi Ihara.
The six-nation talks, which also involve North Korea, China and Russia, have been dormant since 2008. In the interim, fear has been growing that the North has been increasing its stockpile of plutonium and uranium fuel for nuclear weapons.The six-nation talks, which also involve North Korea, China and Russia, have been dormant since 2008. In the interim, fear has been growing that the North has been increasing its stockpile of plutonium and uranium fuel for nuclear weapons.
Mr. Kim’s trilateral meeting in Seoul followed the test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile by North Korea this month and its subsequent claim that it had been building nuclear warheads small enough to be mounted on a long-range missile.Mr. Kim’s trilateral meeting in Seoul followed the test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile by North Korea this month and its subsequent claim that it had been building nuclear warheads small enough to be mounted on a long-range missile.
Mr. Ihara said that the allies shared a “sense of urgency” over what Mr. Hwang later called the “seriousness in the advancement of North Korea’s nuclear capability.”Mr. Ihara said that the allies shared a “sense of urgency” over what Mr. Hwang later called the “seriousness in the advancement of North Korea’s nuclear capability.”
Mr. Kim and Mr. Hwang were to meet with Beijing’s top nuclear negotiator, Wu Dawei, in the Chinese capital later this week to urge China, North Korea’s largest trading partner, to use its economic leverage to curb its behavior.Mr. Kim and Mr. Hwang were to meet with Beijing’s top nuclear negotiator, Wu Dawei, in the Chinese capital later this week to urge China, North Korea’s largest trading partner, to use its economic leverage to curb its behavior.
Officials here said that other options under discussion included tightening inspections of cargo traveling in and out of North Korea and squeezing the source of hard currency North Korea earns through the tens of thousands of workers it sends to factories, building sites, logging camps and other work sites in China, Russia and countries in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.Officials here said that other options under discussion included tightening inspections of cargo traveling in and out of North Korea and squeezing the source of hard currency North Korea earns through the tens of thousands of workers it sends to factories, building sites, logging camps and other work sites in China, Russia and countries in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
The North Korean workers are estimated to earn hundreds of millions of dollars a year but toil in poor, sometimes slavelike, working conditions and have most of their wages confiscated by their government, according to former workers and rights groups.The North Korean workers are estimated to earn hundreds of millions of dollars a year but toil in poor, sometimes slavelike, working conditions and have most of their wages confiscated by their government, according to former workers and rights groups.