Text 3428, 105 rader
Skriven 2006-10-14 23:31:16 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (061014) for Sat, 2006 Oct 14
===================================================

===========================================================================
President's Radio Address
===========================================================================

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 14, 2006

President's Radio Address


ÿÿÿÿÿ Audio ÿÿÿÿÿ In Focus: National Security ÿÿÿÿÿ

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Earlier this week, the government of North
Korea proclaimed to the world that it had conducted a successful nuclear
weapons test. In response to North Korea's provocative actions, America is
working with our partners in the region and in the United Nations Security
Council to ensure that there are serious repercussions for the North Korean
regime.

North Korea has been pursuing nuclear weapons and defying its international
commitments for years. In 1993, North Korea announced that it was
withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The United States
negotiated with North Korea and reached a bilateral agreement in 1994:
North Korea committed to giving up its pursuit of nuclear weapons in
exchange for help with peaceful nuclear power.

ÿRadio Address
  þ 2006
  þ 2005
  þ 2004
  þ 2003
  þ 2002
  þ 2001
ÿRadio Interviews
  þ 2005
  þ 2004
After I came to office, we discovered that North Korea had been violating
this agreement for some time by continuing work on a covert nuclear weapons
program. My administration confronted the North Korea regime with this
evidence in 2002, and the North Koreans subsequently walked away from the
1994 agreement.

So my Administration decided to take a new approach. We brought together
other nations in the region in an effort to resolve the situation through
multilateral diplomacy. The logic behind this approach is clear: North
Korea's neighbors have the most at stake, and they are North Korea's
principal sources of food, energy, and trade, so it makes sense to enlist
them in the effort to get the North Korean regime to end its nuclear
program.

This diplomatic effort was called the Six-Party Talks, and these talks
included North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.
In September of last year, these diplomatic efforts resulted in a
wide-ranging Joint Statement that offered a resolution to the problem and a
better life for the North Korean people. In this Joint Statement, North
Korea committed to abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear
programs. North Korea was offered the prospect of normalized relations with
Japan and the United States, as well as economic cooperation in energy,
trade, and investment. And the United States affirmed that we have no
nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula and no intention to attack or
invade North Korea.

Unfortunately, North Korea failed to act on its commitment. And with its
actions this week, the North Korean regime has once again broken its word,
provoked an international crisis, and denied its people the opportunity for
a better life. We are working for a resolution to this crisis. Nations
around the world, including our partners in the Six-Party Talks, agree on
the need for a strong United Nations Security Council resolution that will
require North Korea to dismantle its nuclear programs. This resolution
should also specify measures to prevent North Korea from importing or
exporting nuclear or missile technologies. And it should prevent financial
transactions or asset transfers that would help North Korea develop its
nuclear or missile capabilities.

By passing such a resolution, we will send a clear message to the North
Korean regime that its actions will not be tolerated. And we will give the
nations with the closest ties to North Korea -- China and South Korea -- a
framework to use their leverage to pressure Pyongyang and persuade its
regime to change course.

As we pursue a diplomatic solution, we are also reassuring our allies in
the region that America remains committed to their security. We have strong
defense alliances with Japan and South Korea, and the United States will
meet these commitments. And in response to North Korea's provocation, we
will seek to increase our defense cooperation with our allies, including
cooperation on ballistic missile defense to protect against North Korean
aggression, and cooperation to prevent North Korea from importing or
exporting nuclear or missile technologies.

Our goals remain clear: peace and security in Northeast Asia, and a
nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. We will do what is necessary to achieve
these goals. We will support our allies in the region, we will work with
the United Nations, and together we will ensure that North Korea faces real
consequences if it continues down its current path.

Thank you for listening.

END
===========================================================================
Return to this article at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/10/20061014.html

 * Origin: (1:3634/12)