U.S. - North Korea

By Merle D. Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer
June 19, 2008

Washington -- Since the beginning of the Bush administration in 2001, one of the highest goals of U.S. foreign policy has been to deepen the chances for peace and security in Northeast Asia, and the effort seems to be succeeding.

"We have reaffirmed and modernized our historic alliances with fellow democracies Japan and South Korea.  Our relationships with these allies remain the pillars of regional stability, and we have broadened their scope," says Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"Together, the U.S. alliances with Japan and South Korea are now strategic platforms to tackle the global challenges of our time, from failed states and terrorism to weapons proliferation and climate change, and to advance our common values both in Asia and beyond, and to places like Iraq and Afghanistan."

The United States also has worked to recast its relations with China and Russia into more constructive and responsive partnerships, often resting on common interests if not on common values, Rice said during a June 18 speech at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based public policy research center.

The speech comes as President Bush enters the final seven months of his two-term presidency.  Rice served as Bush's national security adviser in the first term and as his secretary of state in the second term.

At the very beginning of the Bush presidency, China and the United States were faced with a difficult and tense standoff after a Chinese air force fighter jet and a U.S. Navy reconnaissance aircraft collided over the South China Sea on April 1, 2001.  The pilot of the Chinese jet was killed, but the Navy crew survived and was forced to make an emergency landing at a military base on Hainan Island.  After a period of dispute over the incident and diplomatic exchanges, the Navy crew was released April 11.

Since then, relations with China have improved substantially, Rice said, and today China and the United States are working closely to address common global problems that destabilize the international system.  A similar approach has been taken with Russia, she said.

"Altogether, since 2001 the United States has improved [its] relationships with every state in Northeast Asia simultaneously," she said.  "There are other strategic accomplishments in Asia as well: partnerships with a newly democratic Afghanistan, a democratic Pakistan, and an historic transformation of our relationship with the rising democratic power India."

And the United States has enhanced its partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and has developed a new global security agenda with Australia, she said.

After a key October 2002 meeting between Bush and then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, China became the chair of the Six-Party Talks, which are aimed at getting North Korea to halt its nuclear weapons development program in return for economic and political incentives that would bring greater relations with its neighbors and the United States.

"At present, though, our first and highest priority is ensuring the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.  All of the commitments made to reach this goal of denuclearization are made among six states, not two," Rice said.  The Six-Party Talks include North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.

Rice said in addition to bringing North Korea to halt weapons development, the talks also fostered the creation of a Northeaster Asia peace and security mechanism.

"No final agreement can be concluded unless we verify the elimination of North Korea's nuclear weapons and its programs," Rice said.

North Korea missed a December 2007 deadline to give a full inventory of its programs and a description of its spread of nuclear technology.  But Rice said North Korea has provided 19,000 pages of documents detailing production records of its nuclear programs.

"This is an important step in the process of beginning to verify North Korea's claims about its nuclear programs," she said.  North Korea soon will give its declaration to China and then the members of the talks, she said.

Ambassador Christopher Hill, the senior U.S. negotiator, was scheduled to arrive in Tokyo June 19 to consult with Japanese and South Korean officials and then travel to Beijing June 20 for talks with Chinese negotiators.  Bush will attend the G8 summit meeting of leading industrialized nations in Japan in July and then visit China in August.