WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice warned on Monday that the UN sanctions on the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) are very strong and the international
community as a whole will support its implementation.
Prior to her Asian trip, she told reporters at the
State Department that the UN sanctions on the DPRK are "very strong" and "the
world has reacted calmly and firmly" to DPRK's nuclear test last week.
Rice said the UN sanctions should be seen by Iran as
a strong signal to abandon its nuclear ambitions, or face a rebuke from a united
international community.
She said the proliferation of nuclear weapons is not
only harmful to the United States but also harmful to DPRK's neighbors and other
countries as well.
She believed that all countries especially the DPRK's
neighbors would earnestly support the sanctions.
Rice is to start her trip to Japan, South Korea and
China on Tuesday. "The purpose of my trip is to rally the support of our friends
and allies" in the region, she said. Enditem
Related:
Rice calls for resumption
of six-party talks
WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice said on Monday that the United States was prepared to
return to the six-party talks "without precondition."
"We've said many times that we are prepared to return
to the talks without precondition and that holds," Rice told reporters before
she kicks off Asian trip.
Rice urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
(DPRK) to return to the six-party talks, involving the United States, the DPRK,
the Republic of Korea, China, Japan and Russia, that began in August 2003.
"We must remind North Korea that a positive path
remains open to it through the six-party talks," Rice said, noting "Now, we want
very much to have talks that are actually going to lead some place.
Rice also reiterated U.S. call for the DPRK to give
up nuclear arms, saying "if it makes the strategic choice to dismantle its
nuclear weapons completely, verifiably and irreversibly, an entirely new and
better future would be open to it and to its people."
The DPRK claimed it conducted a successful nuclear
test on Oct.9. It also "totally rejects" a resolution unanimously adopted
Saturday by the UN Security Council on its nuclear test.
The six-party talks have been stalled since September
last year when the DPRK boycotted U.S. financial restrictions aimed at
Pyongyang.
In last September, Pyongyang agreed in principle to
give up its nuclear weapons program in exchange for aid and security and
diplomatic guarantees.
Rice is to start her trip to Japan, South Korea and
China on Tuesday. Enditem
