U.S. says N. Korea trapped itself with missile test http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=newsOne&storyID=2006-09-11T091727Z_01_PEK146712_RTRUKOC_0_US-KOREA-NORTH-USA.xml&WTmodLoc=Home-C2-TopNews-newsOne-6
Mon Sep 11, 2006
By Jon Herskovitz
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has trapped itself diplomatically by defying international warnings with its missile launch in July and should find its own way out of the crisis, Washington's chief envoy for talks with Pyongyang said on Monday.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill called on the North to return to stalled six-country talks and implement a deal reached in September 2005 under which Pyongyang agreed to scrap its nuclear weapons program in exchange for aid and security assurances.
"The DPRK (North Korea) launched some missiles for no apparent reason," Hill said upon arriving in Seoul from Shanghai.
"They put themselves in a difficult position and I don't think they should look for others to get them out of positions that they have put themselves in."
Hill is finishing a trip to Asia by meeting officials in Seoul, returning to Washington on Tuesday. His trip comes amid U.S. and Japanese news reports North Korea may be preparing to conduct its first nuclear test.
"For the DPRK to get away with having nuclear weapons is really to disturb the harmony in the region and to invite different security moves by other countries in the region," Hill told reporters at Seoul's Inchon airport. South Korea has warned against moves that would back North Korea into a corner.
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun will meet President George W. Bush in Washington on Thursday and North Korea will be high on their agenda.
The last round of the six-party talks among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States was held in November 2005. North Korea has stayed away since, calling for an end to a U.S. crackdown on firms Washington suspects of aiding Pyongyang in illicit activities.
"We are not looking to cause problems for them when they come back. We are not looking to ask where they have been. We are simply looking for them to come back," Hill said.
In Shanghai, Hill said North Korea had shown little interest in incentives on offer to rein in its nuclear programs, but that it was keeping an eye out on what was being offered to Iran.
Iran and the European Union both said they had made progress in weekend talks over Tehran's disputed uranium enrichment program.
But it was unclear if Iran would meet Western demands it suspend enrichment before the start of any talks on trade incentives.
(Additional reporting by Jerker Hellstrom in Shanghai)
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