Response to NK in Disarray; US Softens Proposed Resolution

[BurtWorm]

Bolton playing footsy with the Chinese?

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/12/world/asia/13koreacnd.html?ex=1318305600&en=fcca2c99e975ee55&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

U.S. Softens Proposed Resolution on North Korea


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By JOHN O’NEIL and CHOE SANG-HUN
Published: October 12, 2006

The United States has softened its proposed United Nations resolution on North Korea, but China today appeared to pull back from its earlier support for tough sanctions, raising doubts about the prospect for quick Security Council action.

The new American resolution, to be formally introduced this morning, would declare North Korea’s actions to be a threat to international peace and stability and would require countries to freeze assets related to Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs and ban the sale or transfer of materials that could be used in them. It would also ban travel by people involved in the programs and bar the sale of the luxury goods used to reward the regime’s elite, diplomats said late Wednesday.

But unlike an earlier version, it would not require inspections of all cargo going into or out of North Korea, or the freezing of assets related to counterfeiting or narcotics, which American officials say are crucial sources of the hard currency needed to fund the weapons programs. Japanese demands for a ban on allowing North Korean ships or planes to enter other countries were also dropped.

In Beijing today, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry appeared to back away from a statement on Tuesday by the country’s United Nations ambassador expressing support for “punitive” sanctions.

”It’s necessary to express clearly to North Korea that the nuclear test is the wrong practice,” said the spokesman, Liu Jianchao. “As to what measures to take, I think the measures themselves are not punitive action,” he said. “One can say that punishment isn’t the goal.”

[Skidmore]

1. This nation no longer has any carrots or sticks to use and NK

knows it. * is a wimp just like his daddy. He has squandered our nation's reputation, wealth, and strength. He has sold us out for a mess of pottage.