Obama Envoy ‘Encouraged’ by Talks with North Korea
Email ABC News' Alexander Marquardt reports: MOSCOW, RUSSIA — The Obama administration’s special envoy for North Korea said Monday he is ‘encouraged’ by the talks he had with North Korea last week and said that the US is ready to sign a peace agreement if the Korean peninsula is denuclearized. “I am encouraged by the fact that North Korea is ready to renew the six-party talks,” Stephen Bosworth told reporters in Moscow following a three-day trip to Pyongyang last week. "As to timelines, there are no timelines," he added. "I would only say that we and our partners in this process, we very much want to resume this work as soon as possible. We are prepared to do that and I know that other countries are as well," he told reporters. The goal of Bosworth’s trip to the Hermit Kingdom was to bring North Korea back to the six-party talks they backed out of last year (which included South Korea, China, Japan and Russia). Following the last meetings Friday, Pyongyang indicated that Bosworth was successful when they released a statement saying the two sides “reached a series of common understandings of the need to resume the six-party talks.” North Korea also agreed to cooperate with the U.S. to “narrow down the remaining differences.” Bosworth said Monday that the U.S. is ready to sign a peace agreement with North Korea but the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula is a key condition. A peace treaty was never signed following the Korean War, and would replace the 1953 armistice. Peace talks would reportedly also include South Korea and China. He also said that for the time being the U.S. will no longer negotiate with North Korea on a bilateral basis, instead relying on “certain channels” within the United Nations framework.
– Alexander Marquardt
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This reminds me of the pass a health care bill, any health care bill, so we can declare victory. Sign a peace agreement, any peace agreement so we can declare victory. I’d rather they do nothing at all than do the wrong thing over and over again.
Posted by: The Audacity of Copenhagen | December 14, 2009, 9:16 am 9:16 am
Credit where credit is due, the Bush administration’s multi-party talk format has proven to be a robust approach to dealing with North Korea. It is encouraging to see that the Obama administration doesn’t have a problem with sticking with policies that are working for the US. (And North Korea has recently been nicely regulated to the hobo swearing quietly on the bus – annoying, but not really scary.)
Posted by: jhw539 | December 14, 2009, 9:46 am 9:46 am
More rhetoric about nothing. NK is just like Iran, looking for leverage, and having zero intention of negotiating.
Posted by: Rick McDaniel | December 14, 2009, 9:53 am 9:53 am
I’d rather they do nothing at all
| Dec 14, 2009 9:16:37 AM
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Unsurprising.
Republicans and their echo chamber represent a do nothing at all mentality.
Pertaining to health care legislation, via Peter Orczag, “We are closer than ever before to passing fiscally responsible health reform legislation. So it’s not a surprise that the most reflexively and ideologically partisan commentators are lashing out.”
Posted by: Don't ever want to go back to the GOP-driven dark ages! | December 14, 2009, 10:05 am 10:05 am
Why the explosion (pardon the pun) of home-grown terrorist?
I thought Obama’s soft/smart power and kinder approach to terrorist would improve things.
Obama endlessly reminds the world that he has stopped torture and is closing GITMO. America’s image has been restored thanks to him.
Didn’t the terrorist, or whatever Obama calls them, get the message?
Posted by: larry | December 14, 2009, 10:27 am 10:27 am
NK knows Mr. Obama wants to show that he has restored the American status in world opinion. Like the Iranians, they will promise anything, then continue to do exactly as they please. They know there will be no meaningful consequences from Mr. Obama, so as not to damage the American reputation in world opinion. Maybe Mr. Obama could sent Mrs. Albright back over for some wonderful photo ops with Korean children.
Posted by: Terry | December 14, 2009, 11:10 am 11:10 am
Why the explosion (pardon the pun) of home-grown terrorist?
I thought Obama’s soft/smart power and kinder approach to terrorist would improve things.
Obama endlessly reminds the world that he has stopped torture and is closing GITMO. America’s image has been restored thanks to him.
Didn’t the terrorist, or whatever Obama calls them, get the message?
Posted by: larry
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ This is exactly why Obama will not release the findings on the Ft Hood Attack to Congress or the media.. ..He would then have to admitt we had a Terrorist attack on our soil by a muslim militant on HIS watch..
Posted by: welcome to Obamaville, fastest growing homeless community | December 14, 2009, 1:57 pm 1:57 pm
And North Korea has recently been nicely regulated to the hobo swearing quietly on the bus – annoying, but not really scary.
Posted by: jhw539 |
Your non-threatening hobo has nuclear weapons in his pocket. Can he sleep in your backyard tonight?
Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn | December 14, 2009, 2:04 pm 2:04 pm
This is exactly why Obama will not release the findings on the Ft Hood Attack to Congress or the media.. ..He would then have to admitt we had a Terrorist attack on our soil by a muslim militant on HIS watch..
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Hasan was in the military under Bush for YEARS and – despite Bush’s boasting about rooting out terrorists – was allowed to remain in the military.
Hasan made a presentation titled “The Koranic World View As It Relates to Muslims” in the U.S. Military during his senior year of residency at Walter Reed. The presentation, which was not well received . . . recommended that the Department of Defense “should allow Muslims Soldiers the option of being released as “Conscientious objectors” to increase troop morale and decrease adverse events.”
Again, this presentation was made ON GEORGE BUSH’s WATCH (June 2007), not Obama’s.
It seems Mr. Bush – the boastful rooter out of terrorists – missed this. And it seems your missing this too.
Lets give credit where credit is due.
Posted by: tierra | December 14, 2009, 2:58 pm 2:58 pm
Your non-threatening hobo has nuclear weapons in his pocket. Can he sleep in your backyard tonight?
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North Korea developed and successfully tested its first nuclear weapon on George Bush’s watch – not Obama’s.
Let’s give credit where credit is due.
Posted by: tierra | December 14, 2009, 3:00 pm 3:00 pm
Again, this presentation was made ON GEORGE BUSH’s WATCH (June 2007), not Obama’s….
Posted by: tierra |
Are you advocating faith based profiling or just good old race based profiling?
And I take it you hold Clinton responsible for 9/11.
Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn | December 14, 2009, 3:49 pm 3:49 pm
Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn | Dec 14, 2009 3:49:10 PM
Just pointing out the facts in response to (yet another) attempt to smear Obama with the ‘soft on terrorism’ shtick.
Posted by: tierra | December 14, 2009, 4:03 pm 4:03 pm
Outstretched hand, meet fist. Didn’t the president talk about words needing consequences when he picked up his Nobel for Nothing award?
Posted by: Aaron | December 14, 2009, 5:08 pm 5:08 pm
Posted by: Aaron | Dec 14, 2009 5:08:57 PM
For all George Bush’s posturing and posing, the North Koreans developed and successfully tested their first nuclear weapon oh his watch.
Obama may well do better.
Posted by: tierra | December 14, 2009, 9:12 pm 9:12 pm
South Korea has been cheating on it’s …”Iran never enriched uranium at a level that could only represent an interest in nuclear weapons – but South Korea did”
Posted by: rosethorn | December 27, 2009, 1:36 am 1:36 am