The U.S. says North Korea needs to prove its seriousness before the six-party talks resume, and that improving inter-Korean relations and easing tensions could be one of the ways to do so.
U.S. Secretary of State spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters Friday that Washington wants all dialogue to be constructive, and that it was not sure it is valid as a precondition. Chinese nuclear envoy Wu Dawei had said in an interview that no party wanted to put preconditions on the resumption six-party talks.
Crowley said that an indicator that such talks would be fruitful would be a demonstrated seriousness of purpose by North Korea. He added that one way to demonstrate that would be to improve and reduce tensions that currently exist between North and South Korea.
On North Korea’s uranium enrichment program (UEP), Crowley said the U.S. continues to focus on full implementation of UN Security Council resolutions. He said the U.S. wants to see North Korea undertake all of its international obligations, and that includes the UEP.