U.S. ready for full ties if N.Korea denuclearizes
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Wednesday, February 6, 2008; 3:33 PM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is ready to open full diplomatic ties with North Korea if it completely gives up its nuclear weapons and programs, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill said on Wednesday.
"We believe that we have some elements that we can put on the table which will be worth the DPRK's while in giving up its nuclear ambitions," Hill told lawmakers, referring to the country by its formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"In the context of full denuclearization we would be prepared to establish full diplomatic relations," he added.
The comment appeared to be the most explicit to date by a U.S. official raising the possibility of normal relations with the secretive, communist state if it carries through with an agreement to abandon all its nuclear weapons and programs.
He also held out the possibility of quickly opening a peace process among the two Koreas, China and the United States to formally end the 1950-1953 Korean War, of creating a regional group on peace and security issues and of eventually bringing North Korea into international financial institutions.
North Korea conducted a nuclear test in October 2006, worrying U.S. allies Japan and South Korea which could be targets for Pyongyang.
Under an agreement between the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, North Korea has committed to abandon all nuclear weapons and nuclear programs in exchange for diplomatic and economic incentives.
A key sticking point in the "six-party" process has been North Korea's failure to meet a December 31 deadline to provide a complete declaration of its nuclear programs -- a step expected to lead to the removal of some U.S. sanctions.
It also agreed to disable its key nuclear facilities at Yongbyon, a process Hill said was going "very well" although North Korea has recently "slowed down" the process of removing spent fuel rods from the Yongbyon nuclear reactor.
'REASON TO BELIEVE'
"We intend to ensure that Pyongyang lives up to its word by submitting to the Chinese chair as soon as possible a declaration that is in fact complete and correct," Hill said in written testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Hill said North Korea had given the United States reason to believe it would disclose the amount of separated plutonium, -- which can be used in atomic bombs -- that it has made as well as production records allowing Washington to verify this.
