美国国务卿希拉里·克林顿说,华盛顿希望与朝鲜进行外交接触,但只是在朝鲜领导人改变做法并且把“其人民放在首位”的情况下才会这样做。
希拉里星期五在北京举行的年度双边对话中发表讲话时说,如果平壤把焦点放在给其公民提供温饱和教育以及“重新加入国际社会”,美国将“欢迎他们,并与他们合作。”
克林顿国务卿还赞扬中国在处理朝鲜问题上发挥的作用。中国是朝鲜这个受到孤立的国家的主要盟友。希拉里承诺,美中两个大国将努力说服朝鲜“其实力和安全将来自把其人民放在首位,而不是挑衅。”
美国和朝鲜今年2月达成协议。根据那份协议,朝鲜同意暂停其核武器和导弹项目。作为交换,美国将向朝鲜提供24万吨朝鲜急需的粮食援助。
但由于朝鲜上月发射火箭,华盛顿取消了这一协议。平壤表示,发射火箭是为了将一颗气象卫星送入轨道,但奥巴马政府说,朝鲜是在试射一枚可携带核弹头的远程弹道导弹。这枚火箭在发射后不久即解体。
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Washington wants to engage diplomatically with North Korea, but only if its leaders change course and “put their people first.”
In a speech she was scheduled to deliver Friday at annual bilateral talks in Beijing, Clinton says, if Pyongyang focuses on feeding and educating it citizens and “rejoining the international community”, the United States will “welcome them and work with them.”
Clinton also praised China’s role in dealing with North Korea, the isolated nation’s main ally, and pledged the two superpowers will work to convince North Korea that its “strength and security will come from prioritizing people, not provocation.”
The United States and North Korea reached an agreement in February under which the North had agreed to suspend its nuclear weapons and missile programs, in exchange for a delivery of 240,000 tons of badly needed food aid from the U.S.
But Washington scrapped the deal after North Korea launched a rocket last month. Pyongyang said the launch was to place a weather satellite into orbit, but the Obama administration argued it was a test of a long-range ballistic missile that could carry warheads.
The rocket failed shortly after launch.