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Disarmament DocumentationBack to Disarmament Documentation US State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack on delays to the Six Party Talks on North Korea's nuclear programme, December 1, 2005State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack Daily Press Briefing, December 1, 2005 . QUESTION: Do you have anything to say about the so-called semantics dispute that led to postponement of the meeting with the North Koreans? MCCORMACK: Well, I'm not sure it was a semantic dispute. Assistant Secretary Hill, when he was at the last round of the six-party talks, gave a press conference and he went -- he went into this issue. He was asked about North Korean concerns about certain actions that the United States and others are engaged in to curb North Korean illicit behavior outside of the six-party talks and Assistant Secretary Hill stated publicly that the U.S. is prepared to provide a briefing to the North Korean representatives on issues related to actions taken under Section 311 of the Patriot Act that has to do with trying to prevent counterfeiting. And that offer still stands and it would appear that the North Korean Government isn't interested in accepting this offer for such a briefing. As part of this offer of a briefing, the United States never offered to engage in negotiations with North Korea on this matter. There are negotiations in the context of the six-party talks, which are directed at the nuclear issue. I think that nobody should expect that the United States as well as other states aren't going to pursue actions that would curb other illegal behavior including counterfeiting by any state, by any party. QUESTION: Sean, did you say what the U.S. understanding is about North Korea's role in counterfeiting, if any? MCCORMACK: Well, I think that that's probably -- that's an issue more directly -- that should be directly put to the Department of Treasury as well as law enforcement authorities. I think they'd be able to provide you more information about that. There have been recent actions that were taken by the Department of Treasury under the Patriot Act concerning certain banks but I think that they would be in a better position to provide you the details on that data. QUESTION: You are not concerned it could hamper your efforts on the nuclear aspect of the negotiations? MCCORMACK: We said from the very beginning that we are not going to fail to speak out or fail to act concerning issues that are of concern to us, whether that happens to be on the human rights front or whether that happens to be on taking steps to prevent disbursement of counterfeit bills on the world -- country -- U.S. bills on the world markets. I think that you can expect that any state would take actions to prevent such counterfeiting to protect its currency. We've said from the very beginning that that is going to be -- that that is the case. We are committed to pursuing the six-party talks and we are devoting quite a bit of time, energy and diplomatic effort to have those negotiations move forward. We have seen some progress in the round before last concerning a statement of principles and we hope that in the next round that the North Koreans and others are prepared to work in a serious, concerted manner to move that process forward and focus on the nuclear issue. QUESTION: This is related to North Korea. USAID had warned that if the normal way of distributing food in North Korea didn't continue that by the end of November than the U.S. wouldn't -- would not be able to give its quota, as it were, of aid. So the month is up. Do you know now, is that still the case that you definitely aren't going to give them the food because the distribution system has changed? MCCORMACK: Let me check for you on the specifics of that, Saul. I know that we as well as others, the World Food Program included, have expressed our concerns about the monitoring of food aid to make sure that that aid gets to the intended recipients, the North Korean people, and that it is used for its intended purpose as a humanitarian gesture from the United States as well as the rest of the world. Source: US Department of State, http://usinfo.state.gov. © 2005 The Acronym Institute. |