Clinton: U.S. Will Never Have Normal Relations With a Nuclear North Korea

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton drew a clear line on U.S. relations with North Korea today, saying that while the Obama administration is interested in talking with Pyongyang, the United States will not normalize relations with North Korea until it abandons its nuclear weapons program.

"Its leaders should be under no illusion that the United States will ever have normal, sanctions-free relations with a nuclear armed North Korea," she said in a speech on nonproliferation to the United States Institute of Peace.

Clinton said the United States remains committed to engaging the reclusive Stalinist regime, but said that sanctions will not be relaxed "until Pyongyang takes verifiable, irreversible steps toward complete denuclearization."

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America's top diplomat also reiterated the administration's commitment to engagement with Iran, "if Iran is serious about taking practical steps to address the international community's deep concerns about its nuclear program" but said "the process of engagement cannot be open-ended."

She urged Iran to implement a recent proposal to transfer some of its low-enriched uranium stockpiles for further enrichment in Russia so that it can be used in a research reactor in Tehran that produces medical isotopes for use in X-ray machines and other procedures. Negotiators, meeting in Vienna this week to hammer out details, reached a draft agreement today, and have until Friday for their governments to approve it.

Clinton's comments came during an address that outlined the Obama administration's efforts to advance the president's vision of a world free of nuclear weapons, first articulated in a speech earlier this year in Prague.

"Pursuing these goals is not an act of starry-eyed idealism or blind allegiance to principle. It is about taking responsibility to prevent the use of the world's most dangerous weapons and holding others accountable as well," she said.