Talks or No, North Sanctions On: Rice

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday that the U.S. will impose additional sanctions on North Korea according to U.S. law and maintain the U.N. Security Council’s sanctions on the regime even after it returns to the six party talks.

In a speech made at the “Byung-chul Lee Lecture” organized by the Heritage Foundation in Washington, Rice said that the U.S. administration is obliged to apply further sanctions on the North under the U.S. law, including the Glenn Amendment Act.

“During my visit to Northeast Asian countries, we agreed to maintain the U.N. Security Council’s resolution 1718 regardless of North Korea’s returning to the six-party talks until we make progress in denuclearization,” she said.

“If North Korea cares about the future of the nation, it must not escalate the tension and immediately return to the six party talks so that it abides by the September 19 Joint Statement,” a spokesman for South Korea’s Unification Ministry said yesterday.

“The North Korean leader likes to threaten others. I see the threat as an attempt to test the commitment of the six-party talk participants in cooperating to persuade the North to make a better decision for its people,” said President Bush when asked about the threat from North Korea that there will be consequences for South Korea’s participation in sanctions against the North at a press conference yesterday.

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