|
U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Alexander Vershbow said Wednesday it was unfair that his country had been criticized in the wake of North Korea¡¯s nuclear test. On a visit to the Grand National Party, the ambassador said according to a recent press poll, 30 percent of Korean¡¯s believe that the North¡¯s test was the fault of the U.S. But Vershbow insisted the U.S. did everything it could at the six-party talks on the North¡¯s nuclear program. Party spokesman Na Kyung-won quoted Vershbow as voicing disappointment that people did not look at the entire series of events.
However, former president Kim Dae-jung and the ruling Uri Party continued to work out their theory that the U.S. was to blame for the test. During a talk Wednesday at Chonnam National University, Kim said, ¡°Under the Sunshine Policy, was North Korea engaged in nuclear development? With the U.S. refusing to even talk while bullying North Korea, isn¡¯t nuclear development the only option left (to North Korea) to ensure its survival.¡± During an urgent plenary session at the National Assembly, Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook said, ¡°I do believe that the U.S. sanctions and financial pressure on North Korea may be one of the causes for the nuclear test. The initial responsibility falls to the North, but it is hard to name any one country.¡±
Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok told lawmakers Seoul ¡°told the U.S. government that if North Korea conducts a nuclear test, the fate of the Korean people is at stake, and recommended that if at all possible the U.S. should hold direct talks with the North, but the U.S. refused to accommodate us.¡± Uri Party representatives were also ready to jump into the breach. Chun Jung-bae posted a notice on his website that read, ¡°The Neocon-led U.S. policy on North Korea has not stopped the nuclear proliferation and is a clear failure. It is a result of ignorance of the precept that the carrot and the stick must be used together to bring about positive effects.¡± Rep. Jung Chung-rae said Washington had ¡°abandoned the spirit¡± of a statement of principles agreed in the six-party talks last year and thus shoulders a large part of the blame.
Ruling Uri Party Chairman Kim Geun-tae said, ¡°The final result was the North Korean nuclear test, so the Bush administration¡¯s hostile attitude and policy of not recognizing North Korea are clearly not working.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
