US confident about North Korea dialogue

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that the United States remains committed to diplomatic resolution of the nuclear weapons issue on the Korean peninsula. Last week Pyongyang abandoned six-party talks on denuclearization, and announced that it has begun reprocessing of fuel rods at its Yongbyon nuclear facility. Mrs Clinton believes that the UN’s response to blacklist three North Korean firms suspected of involvement in the trading of missiles will cause Pyongyang to seek a return to the talks and resume nuclear disarmament. Despite such optimism, North Korea appears to be serious about turning its back on the talks, potentially moving towards the production of weapons-grade plutonium. This development is certainly cause for concern, particularly given Pyongyang’s well-documented unpredictability, and with intelligence and defense experts suggesting that the North’s nuclear capability may be significantly greater than previously thought. Mrs Clinton – and much of the world – will be hoping that she is right.

North is fully fledged nuclear power, experts agree, Times UK
North Korea urged back to talks, BBC
U.S. not to be ‘blackmailed’ by North Korea, Korea Herald