03/09/09: State Dept. Press Briefing: DPRK

U.S. Department of State

Daily Press Briefing Partial Transcript

Monday, March 9, 2009

NORTH KOREA

-- Rhetoric Coming out of Pyongyang is Provocative/Further Destabilizes the Region

-- U.S. Working with Other Parties towards Denuclearization

EXCERPT

QUESTION: On North Korea. As the drumbeat of belligerent rhetoric continues, are you concerned, seriously concerned, that it could result in armed conflict?

MR. WOOD: Well, I mean, look, I certainly hope not. Certainly, the rhetoric coming out of Pyongyang is unwarranted and counterproductive. North Korea needs to refrain from provocative rhetoric and actions that only further destabilize the region. And that's all I have on it.

QUESTION: But you said you don't always understand what's going on in North Korea, and it seems though, in general, you accept what is widely believed to be analysts who interpret it as trying to grab attention from the Obama Administration, that the Obama Administration has competing priorities and they don't want to be forgotten. Secretary Clinton made similar statements: North Korea is not going to get a different relationship with the United States while insulting and refusing dialogue with the Republic of Korea.

Well, let's say you're misinterpreting what they feel. I mean, do they think these military exercises are designed at regime change?

MR. WOOD: Our military exercises with the Republic of Korea are not a threat to the North. What is a threat to the region is this bellicose rhetoric coming out of the North. What we're trying to do, as I've said many times, Lach, is to get the North back to the table within the Six-Party framework, denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. And this type of rhetoric is just not helpful. Provocative actions don't lead to stability in the region. We want to have a different type of relationship with the North, but the North knows what it needs to do, and we want to get them back, as I said, in that framework of the Six-Party Talks and go forward on denuclearization.

QUESTION: Robert, you've often said that - and others have said as well, that actions speak louder than words. In this case, you're seeming to suggest that words are more powerful than actions. You're talking about a major military exercise, which is an actual action, is going to take place, and you're saying that that is not a threat; and yet, North Korea's bombast, which is typical - it's nothing - you know, nothing unusual -

MR. WOOD: As I said --

QUESTION: -- that that somehow is a threat?

MR. WOOD: Matt, as I said, the U.S.-ROK exercises are not a threat to the North. The Republic of Korea has not been threatening the North. The North is the party that is, you know, prepared to launch missiles, has launched missiles in the past. Its actions are of concern, not just to the United States and the Republic of Korea, but to the entire international community.

And so you're not going to - the responsibility lies with the North. The North has verification responsibilities in the Six-Party framework. As you know, they were not willing to provide in writing some of the verification requirements that are needed to get us to the next phase. The onus is on the North. And again, as I said, this type of rhetoric coming out of the North is not helpful, it's provocative, and we want to see it stop.

QUESTION: Is there any risk, though, that this isolated regime perceives the actions by the U.S. and by South Korea as a military threat to them? They've heard about regime change in the previous administration. Do they see changes in government the way we see them?

MR. WOOD: I can't tell you how they see things, Lach.

QUESTION: You have to know, though.

MR. WOOD: It's hard to know. As I've said, it's hard to get into the mindset of the North Korean regime. But what we have said to them, and they have agreed to this, is that we need to find a way to get to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. They agreed to a number of steps. There's been a lot of work in this area that's been quite successful. We still have a ways to go. And we hope that the North will live up to its responsibilities.

But we are not creating an environment that's threatening to North Korea. What we are trying to do is work with the North and the other parties to eventually get to that goal of denuclearization.

QUESTION: And do you think that this rhetoric that's going on is actually delaying the whole negotiating process? Because that was the kind of implication of what --

MR. WOOD: I would just say it's not helpful to the process. What we want the North to do, as I said, is to get back to the table so that we can go forward on denuclearization.