US Secretary of State Tony Blincoln said he would look at what tools could be used, including additional sanctions and diplomatic incentives, through a review of North Korea policy. It is an explanation that President Joe Biden ordered such a policy review to advance the issue of denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. Reporter Ham Ji-ha reports.
Secretary Blincoln has repeatedly stressed the North Korean issue as “a bad problem that has gotten worse over time.”
[녹취: 블링컨 장관(NBC 인터뷰)] “This is a problem, a bad problem that has gotten worse over time. And I wouldn’t be the first to acknowledge that it’s a problem that’s gotten worse across administrations. So the first thing the president has asked us to do is to review the policy to make sure that we’re using the most effective tools to advance the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and to deal with the problem the growing problem posed by North Korea’s arsenal .”
After answering the question about the possibility of North Korea’s denuclearization in an interview with the US broadcaster’NBC’ on the 1st, Minister Blincoln said, “I will not be the first to admit that this problem has been aggravated through the administrations.” Said.
He said the first thing President Biden asked them to do was to review policies to make it clear that they are using the most effective means to advance the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and deal with the increasing issues posed by North Korea’s weapons.
Secretary Blincoln did not immediately answer the question of what North Korean leader Kim Jong-un must do to meet with President Joe Biden.
Instead, he said the first thing to do is to review the policy as a whole, and it could be to look at diplomatic incentives as well as look at what tools you have, including additional sanctions, especially further coordination and cooperation with allies and partners. .
[녹취: 블링컨 장관(NBC 인터뷰)] “Well the first thing we’re going to do is to review the policy across the board to look at what tools we have including additional sanctions, including especially additional coordination and cooperation with our allies and partners, but also to look at diplomatic incentives. So once we do that, we’ll be able to to tell you how we plan to move forward.”
He added that after the policy review is over, he will be able to tell how he plans to move forward.
When asked whether he would visit North Korea or Iran first in an interview that day, Secretary Blincoln said, “I think the plane will land first in Europe and Asia where the closest allies or partners are.” I hope you come.”
Earlier, Minister Blincoln attended a hearing on the approval of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the 19th of last month, when he was a nominee, and stated that “the overall approach and policy toward North Korea should be reviewed.”
In particular, he stressed that it will look at what options are priorities for reviewing the overall approach, whether increasing pressure to bring North Korea back to the dialogue table would be effective, and whether other diplomatic measures could be possible.
The Biden Administration’s Foreign and Security Team is now joined by former officials who have negotiated with North Korea, including Blincoln, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, and White House National Security Council Asian coordinator Kurt Campbell.
Accordingly, it is estimated that a general review of the North Korean issue is being made, centering on them.
Meanwhile, Minister Blincoln announced a strong policy toward China.
[녹취: 블링컨 장관(NBC 인터뷰)] “There’s no doubt that China poses the most significant challenge to us and any other country. But it’s a complicated one. There are adversarial aspects to the relationship. There’s certainly competitive ones and there’s still some cooperative ones too. But whether we’re dealing with any of those aspects of the relationship, we have to be able to approach China from a position of strength not weakness.”
There is no doubt that China poses the greatest challenge to the United States and other countries.
“The Chinese issue is complex,” Blincoln said. “The relationship with China is not only hostile, but also competitive and cooperative.”
“But no matter what aspect of the relationship we are dealing with, we should be able to access China from a position of strength, not weakness,” said Secretary Blincoln.
This is Jiha Ham, VOA News.