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N.Korea spurns efforts to defuse tensions: US envoy Chris Buckley / Reuters | July 12 2006 The United States accused North Korea on Wednesday of spurning efforts to defuse tensions over its missile tests, while regional powers remain at odds over a push at the United Nations to impose sanctions. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters in Beijing that Washington and Beijing shared a "common purpose" in seeking to end missile launches from North Korea and draw the isolated Communist state back to six-party disarmament talks. "We don't have any signs that the DPRK attaches the same importance," Hill said of those talks, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "It is, frankly speaking, a little discouraging to see that the DPRK has not responded in a positive way." The negotiations among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States have stalled since November because Pyongyang objected to U.S. financial sanctions based on claims North Korea counterfeited U.S. currency and trafficked drugs. "If they want international isolation, that is precisely what they're going to get," Hill said. But in the latest sign of strains in seeking a coordinated response to North Korea, Beijing on Wednesday urged Washington to resolve its dispute with Pyongyang over the financial sanctions. "It's affecting the progress of the six-party talks and we hope that it will be clarified and resolved as quickly as possible," China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters. DIVIDED OVER SANCTIONS While North Korea's counterparts in the talks all denounced the missile tests last week, they have failed to reach agreement on a U.N. Security Council resolution that seeks to slap sanctions on the North. U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer said on Wednesday both Japan and the United States still wanted a Security Council resolution that would force countries to withhold funds, material and technology that could be used for North Korea's missile program. But China and Russia, which have veto power on the council, have bridled at the threatened sanctions. In Beijing, Hill said a unified international response was essential. "We do all need to speak with one voice," he said. "We feel that this resolution would provide a very strong message to the DPRK." At cabinet-level talks between the two Koreas in Pusan, South Korea, the North Korean delegation cited a statement last week by its Foreign Ministry that insisted the country had a right to develop missiles. But in one sign of decreasing tension, North Korea on Tuesday ended a maritime restriction on waters to the east of the peninsula where its missiles landed a week ago, a South Korean transport official said. Kim Geun-su said by telephone this indicated a decreased likelihood for now of additional tests, prompting South Korea on Wednesday to end restrictions for its commercial jets along a corridor northeast of the peninsula and stretching over Russia. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Japan's draft U.N. resolution contained "unacceptable elements", Interfax news agency reported. Lavrov said the Security Council resolution must be "tough, but not brimming over with emotion, and in no way containing threats". China has hinted it may veto Japan's proposed U.N. sanctions against North Korea and also, with South Korea, has accused Tokyo of overreacting and exacerbating tensions. Backers of the draft had postponed a vote to allow a Chinese delegation visiting Pyongyang to seek a diplomatic compromise. South Korea wants the international community to send a stern message to North Korea over its missile launch, but is not certain if sanctions proposed by Japan are the best way to get that done, Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said at a press briefing. (With additional reporting by Jack Kim in Pusan, Ian Ransom and Benjamin Kang Lim in Beijing and Evelyn Leopold at the United Nations) ---------------------------------------------------
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