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| Ball in North Korean court now: US |
| Lalit K Jha/ PTI / Washington Aug 20, 2009, 08:28 IST |
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Against the backdrop of two diplomats from North Korea meeting New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, the Obama Administration today insisted that its goal is to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula and the ball in this regard is in Pyongyang's court.
"Our continued goal is a denuclearised Korean Peninsula. We are certainly hopeful that whatever signals they may or may not send, that leads them back to the process of living up to the responsibilities that they entered into. That's always been our focus," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said.
"One of the messages that we have had and others have had, in dealing with the North Koreans, is their belief that a nuclear weapons programme will raise their international stature, rather than it's our strong belief that that programme, in defiance of the agreements that they've signed, diminishes them and further alienates them from the world," Gibbs asserted.
Meanwhile, state department spokesman Ian Kelly said the US Government is not passing any message to North Korea through Richardson.
"Our goal is very simple and very clear. Our goal is the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. Of course we want to see progress toward that, but the ball is very, very much in the North Korean court right now," he said.
"We want them to return to the six-party context and sit down with us and the other four partners, in the six-party talks, to continue talks towards the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula," Kelly said.
The White House, however, denied that the Administration had any role in two North Korean diplomats travelling to New Mexico to meet its Governor, Bill Richardson.
The Washington Post said this is opening a new front in the informal discussions North Korea has sought in recent days. Richardson is the former US Ambassador to the UN and had last visited North Korea some two years ago.
"Without understanding the agenda or the reasoning for this meeting, it is our strong hope that the North Koreans will pick up the responsibilities that they entered into in hopes of seeing a denuclearised Korean Peninsula. If anything furthers that goal, that would be a positive thing," Gibbs said.
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