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A top U.S. arms control official urged North Korea and Iran on July 23 to follow the example of Libya, as Japan and the United States agreed to tighten cooperation on preventing nuclear weapons proliferation.
At a semi-annual arms control meeting in Tokyo, Japanese and U.S. officials reiterated the need for tighter expert-level cooperation to ensure North Korea drops its nuclear ambitions, as well as focusing on Iran’s nuclear program, said a Japanese diplomat who attended the session.
U.S. Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton, who headed the U.S. delegation, told the half-day meeting that North Korea would only benefit by disarming itself, according to the Japanese diplomat.
Bolton cited the example of Libya, which agreed in December to dismantle the country’s nuclear, chemical and biological warfare programs and renounce the pursuit of such weapons.
In return, Washington lifted most sanctions against Tripoli in April.
“I think the point of the Libyan model is that Colonel Moammar Khaddafi, who is the central decision-maker in Libya as Kim Jong-Il is the central decision-maker in North Korea, took a very calculated look at the status of Libya in the world,” Bolton said at a press conference.
“He made a cost-benefit analysis and came to the conclusion that Libya would be much safer renouncing the pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. In fact, that was an accurate decision on his part.
“I think the Libyan example demonstrates we can move very quickly” to dismantle weapons of mass destruction and to deliver economic incentives elsewhere, Bolton said.
“That could be a way ahead both for North Korea and for Iran,” he said.
The top U.S. arms control official made a similar comment in a brief meeting earlier with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, telling her that “the international community must continue to call on North Korea” to disarm, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
Bolton, considered one of Washington’s most hawkish critics of Pyongyang, said the United States believes there “isn’t any peaceful aspect to North Korea’s nuclear program.”
“I think the ball is in North Korea’s court,” Bolton said, urging Pyongyang to make a “substantive response” in the September round of the six-nation talks, which would bring together the two Koreas, China, the United States, Japan and Russia, to discuss ways to solve North Korea’s nuclear crisis.
During the Tokyo weapons control meeting Bolton said Iran must cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has conducted more than a year of inspections related to suspicions Iran is seeking to develop a nuclear bomb under cover of its efforts to generate nuclear power.
Iran has been the subject of a string of IAEA resolutions criticizing its level of cooperation.
In the meeting, Japan reiterated that Washington should ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, and expressed its concerns over U.S. research on so-called mini-nuke weapons, the Japanese diplomat said.
At a semi-annual arms control meeting in Tokyo, Japanese and U.S. officials reiterated the need for tighter expert-level cooperation to ensure North Korea drops its nuclear ambitions, as well as focusing on Iran’s nuclear program, said a Japanese diplomat who attended the session.
U.S. Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton, who headed the U.S. delegation, told the half-day meeting that North Korea would only benefit by disarming itself, according to the Japanese diplomat.
Bolton cited the example of Libya, which agreed in December to dismantle the country’s nuclear, chemical and biological warfare programs and renounce the pursuit of such weapons.
In return, Washington lifted most sanctions against Tripoli in April.
“I think the point of the Libyan model is that Colonel Moammar Khaddafi, who is the central decision-maker in Libya as Kim Jong-Il is the central decision-maker in North Korea, took a very calculated look at the status of Libya in the world,” Bolton said at a press conference.
“He made a cost-benefit analysis and came to the conclusion that Libya would be much safer renouncing the pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. In fact, that was an accurate decision on his part.
“I think the Libyan example demonstrates we can move very quickly” to dismantle weapons of mass destruction and to deliver economic incentives elsewhere, Bolton said.
“That could be a way ahead both for North Korea and for Iran,” he said.
The top U.S. arms control official made a similar comment in a brief meeting earlier with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, telling her that “the international community must continue to call on North Korea” to disarm, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
Bolton, considered one of Washington’s most hawkish critics of Pyongyang, said the United States believes there “isn’t any peaceful aspect to North Korea’s nuclear program.”
“I think the ball is in North Korea’s court,” Bolton said, urging Pyongyang to make a “substantive response” in the September round of the six-nation talks, which would bring together the two Koreas, China, the United States, Japan and Russia, to discuss ways to solve North Korea’s nuclear crisis.
During the Tokyo weapons control meeting Bolton said Iran must cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has conducted more than a year of inspections related to suspicions Iran is seeking to develop a nuclear bomb under cover of its efforts to generate nuclear power.
Iran has been the subject of a string of IAEA resolutions criticizing its level of cooperation.
In the meeting, Japan reiterated that Washington should ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, and expressed its concerns over U.S. research on so-called mini-nuke weapons, the Japanese diplomat said.