Washington: A day after the highly-provocative missile launch by North Korea, in violation of the UN Security Council resolution, the White House has said the United States is working with its international partners, China and Russia in particular, to isolate the North Korean regime.
Simultaneously, the Obama Administration warned the North Korean regime that there will be consequences of its actions, but it did not elaborate on it. “The (US) President (Barack Obama) is concerned about North Korea’s behaviour, and has been.
He has made non-proliferation a top national security priority and will continue to do that, and he will continue to work with his international partners to put pressure on North Korea, to isolate and to impose consequences on it for the actions that it continues to take,” the White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters at his daily news conference on Wednesday.
“There has, and remains, a path for North Korea to end its isolation, but that requires abiding by its international obligations, abiding by the United Nations Security Council resolutions that I mentioned before. It has chosen not to, and therefore, there will be consequences for that,” Carney said.
He said that the United States is considering the matter very seriously and would like to work with its international partners regarding the same.
“We engage with the Chinese, the Russians and others on the Security Council and beyond in our effort to build a consensus about the unacceptability of North Korea’s actions with regards to its ballistic missile program and obviously its nuclear program,” Carney said.
Reiterating that it was a provocative act that threatens regional peace and security and undermines the global non-proliferation regime, the US official said it is regrettable that the leadership in Pyongyang chose to take this course in flagrant violation of its international obligations.
The UN Security Council Resolution 1718 requires the DPRK to abandon its ballistic missile program in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner, he said, adding that the UN Security Council Resolutions 1718 and 1874 require Pyongyang to suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program and to reestablish a moratorium on missile launches.
“Therefore this action is, again, in flagrant violation of a series of UN Security Council resolutions. It demonstrates a decision by the regime to continue a pattern of disregard for its international obligations.
“And what we have seen since the President came into office is the building of an international consensus that includes Russia and China in opposition to these actions. You saw the Chinese made clear their opposition to this launch prior to it, and their regret over the fact that it took place after it happened,” said the White House spokesman.
Meanwhile, the State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said the United States is going to work very closely with its Six-Party Talks partners and the UN Security Council members and other countries in the international community to take appropriate action.
“The North Koreans continue to say that they want to come back to the Six-Party Talks. Actions like this make it all the more difficult for us to do that, because they have not only not demonstrated their commitment to their non-proliferation goals, they have gone in the opposite direction and they”ve flagrantly violated UN Security Council resolutions,” she said.
“As the Secretary (of State) has said, as the (US) President has said, this new leader (of North Korea) has a choice. He can plod a way forward that ends the isolation, that brings relief and a different way of life and progress to his people, or he can further isolate them with steps like this. He can spend his time and his money shooting off missiles, or he can feed his people, but he can’t have both,” Nuland said. In this regard, the US official gave the instance of leadership of Burma (present Myanmar) which had changed their course in the interest of the people of the country.
“We’ve seen that in Burma, for example, with the historic reform efforts of Thein Sein, with his new reconciliation with Aung San Suu Kyi, with his opening of his country politically, economically. When countries have been willing to make bold steps for change, they have been matched with reciprocal steps from the United States,” she said.
“So that’s the path that the President has offered to a number of countries around the world. But as we’ve seen in the case of North Korea, as we’ve seen in the case of Iran to date, it’s their choice whether they take advantage of it. If they don’t take advantage of it, they will face continuing isolation and pressure,” Nuland said. (PTI)