To the residents of the west coast
The one damn thing that's a legitimate source of American discomfort and certain people start waffling.
U.S. official: N. Korea move 'insulting'
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- North Korea's announcement Friday that it has begun reprocessing spent fuel rods to make nuclear weapons has put talks scheduled among the U.S., North Korea and China next week in jeopardy, a senior Bush administration official tells CNN.
"This is really sand in our eyes to say this the week before the talks," the official said.
. . . "This is the perverse way they think," the official said. "They think they can get leverage."
. . . "It's insulting," he said. "Just insulting."
But more to the point . . .
The senior official also noted a statement Friday by the Chinese ambassador to South Korea that suggested that China can "play a helpful role," the issue should be solved between the "parties concerned," that is, the United States and North Korea.
The three-way meeting was billed by the United States as a concession from North Korea, which had demanded one-on-one talks with the United States, all the while threatening to move ahead with its nuclear weapons program.
. . . "But this sounds like China making this a bilateral issue once again, and the president feels strongly he is not going to enter into bilateral talks with North Korea."
posted by Prometheus 6 at 4/18/2003 01:17:38 PM |
