LOC09:02
06:02 GMT
TOKYO, Nov 22 (KUNA) -- The US urged calm and coordination Monday as the
allies scrambled to deal with the revelation of what may be the most menacing
nuclear facility made in North Korea, Seoul's Yonhap News Agency reported.
"It's not a crisis," Stephen Bosworth, top US envoy on North Korea, told
South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, who voiced his agreement over a
purported uranium enrichment facility at the main nuclear complex in North
Korea.
"We've known about this for some time," Bosworth said in Seoul, defending
the US policy intended to pressure the North into taking denuclearization
steps before reopening stalled six-party talks.
"I would not accept that our policy toward North Korea is a failure,"
Bosworth was quoted as telling reporters following his meeting with the
minister.
"This is a very difficult problem that we have been struggling to deal with
for almost 20 years. We're not throwing our policy away," he said, pledging to
"refine" approaches to North Korea because "we can't just ignore" the
purported uranium program unveiled through a US scientist.
"We have to incorporate this now into our strategy as we move forward,"
said the envoy, who arrived in Seoul Sunday night as part of a quickly
arranged three-nation Asian swing.
Bosworth, who was to later travel to Tokyo and Beijing, expressed hope for
the eventual resumption of the six-party talks on denuclearizing the North
through assistance. The talks involving two Koreas, the US Russia, Japan, and
China have not been held since late 2008, and Seoul and Washington maintain
Pyongyang must take tangible denuclearization steps before they can consider
resuming the talks.(end)
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KUNA 220902 Nov 10NNNN