US Offers Olive Branch to North Korea

The Obama administration has offered an olive branch to North Korea, but skepticism is high whether North Korea will scrap its nuclear weapons program in return for diplomatic normalization with North Korea and replacement of the long-standing armistice on the Korean Peninsula with a permanent peace treaty. By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday that her government was ready to normalize ties with North Korea and replace the armistice on the peninsula with a peace treaty if the communist state abandons nuclear ambitions. The former U.S. first lady, who is set to visit South Korea on Feb. 19-20 as part of her Asian tour, also said the Obama administration was willing to provide energy and other economic assistance to denuclearized North Korea. However, it will be an uphill battle for the Clinton initiative to be successful, many North Korea analysts here said. They said two conditions must be met before the U.S. proposal is to be successful. Most of all, few believe that North Korean leader Kim Jong-il will give up his nuclear ambitions, they say. It is indeed unclear if Seoul and Washington could speak with one voice on North Korea, given the conservative Lee Myung-bak administration advocates a tougher approach toward North Korea than that of his two liberal predecessors Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun. ``We will need to work together to address the most acute challenge to stability in Northeast Asia, North Korea's nuclear program," Clinton said in a speech to the Asia Society in New York, ahead of her tour that will also take her to Indonesia, China and Japan. ``The Obama administration is committed to working through the six-party talks, and I will discuss with South Korea, Japan and China how best to get the negotiations back on track.'' The on-and-off six-party talks, which began in 2003, are at a stalemate again as North Korea refuses a verification procedure for its nuclear facilities. ``If North Korea is genuinely prepared to completely and verifiably eliminate their nuclear weapons program, the Obama administration will be willing to normalize bilateral relations, replace the peninsula's long-standing armistice agreements with a permanent peace treaty and assist in meeting the energy and other economic needs of the North Korean people,'' said Clinton. She also urged the North to return to the global nonproliferation regime as part of a six-party deal for denuclearization. The secretary warned North Korea not to destabilize regional security with repeated threats. ``We believe we have an opportunity to move these discussions forward, but it is incumbent upon North Korea to avoid any provocative action and unhelpful rhetoric toward South Korea,'' she said. North Korea in recent weeks has issued statements threatening to take military action against South Korea. Speculations are high here that the communist regime may test-fire a ballistic missile this week when Clinton visits South Korea in a bid to further ratchet up tensions on the peninsula and draw attention from Washington. Reports said a U.S. spy satellite spotted over the last several days images of preparations at a missile launch site in the North. The photograph shows the assembling of telemetry equipment at the site ― equipment that would be needed for a launch ― but there's been no direct evidence thus far of a missile being moved to the launch pad, they said. Expectations are high here that the communist regime may test-fire a ballistic missile this week when Clinton visits South Korea in a bid to further raise tension on the peninsula and draw attention from Washington. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who reportedly suffered a stroke last year but has recovered enough to rule the country, turns 67 on today. In July 2006, North Korea test-launched a series of missiles, including a Taepodong-2 missile believed to have a range of 6,700 kilometers that could hit Alaska, off the eastern coast toward Japan. The Taepodong-2 failed 40 seconds after launch, according to the U.S. intelligence authorities. gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr