A top American diplomat urged North Korea on Thursday to learn from the landmark Iranian nuclear deal, negotiate away its nuclear programs and enjoy the benefits of denuclearization.
“The one thing I will say, and I would say to the North Koreans, is that this agreement demonstrates that one can come out of isolation, one can come out from under sanctions, one can become part of the world community or have the potential to become part of the world community and end isolation, and do so in a peaceful way,” Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman said at a briefing.
“It perhaps might give North Korea second thoughts about the very dangerous path that it is currently pursuing,” she said.
Earlier this week, Iran and six world powers announced a historic deal that calls for significantly limiting Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the United States and others lifting economic sanctions that have stifled the Middle Eastern nation’s economy.
Sherman said the Iranian agreement also shows multilateral diplomacy is workable.
“I still think that the work that we are doing with partners in the region to try to move forward in a united front is critical,” she said when asked whether she believes the long-stalled six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue are still worthwhile.
The Iran deal “demonstrates multilateral diplomacy can work and that United Nations actions have meaning if done in the right way and pursued in the right way and used as leverage in the right way,” she said.
The six-party talks aimed at resolving the North Korean impasse have been idle since late 2008. North Korea has demanded an unconditional resumption of the negotiations, and the U.S. has maintained that Pyongyang must first take concrete steps demonstrating its denuclearization commitments.
While the six-party talks have been on hold, the North has bolstered its nuclear capabilities and stockpile, conducting its second nuclear test in 2009 and its third in 2013. Some experts now warn that the communist nation’s nuclear arsenal could expand to up to 100 bombs by 2020. (Yonhap)
