A group of senior Democratic senators urged President George W. Bush to promptly appoint a North Korea policy coordinator to revive efforts under the Clinton administration to prevent Pyongyang's nuclearization.
Signed by Sens. Harry Reid, Carl Levin and Joseph Biden, a letter dated last Friday urged the president to expedite the appointment of the coordinator required under the 2007 National Defense Authorization Act that was signed into law on Oct. 17.
The Congress had added the clause on the coordinator to "signal our belief that the time has come for a fundamental review of U.S. policy towards North Korea," the senators said.
The act requires the appointment of the coordinator within 60 days, who then is to submit a report within 90 days on U.S. policy on Pyongyang.
North Korea issues gained urgency after its nuclear test on Oct. 9. The 15-member U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution condemning and punishing the regime, and Democrats and even some Republicans now are pressing the Bush administration to engage in direct talks with Pyongyang to defuse the crisis.
Former Defense Secretary William Perry was the policy coordinator on North Korea under the Clinton government.
"We hope that you will choose to work in a similar fashion, by appointing, as soon as possible, a truly senior statesperson, someone in whom you have confidence, and who possesses the stature to build interagency and bipartisan consensus, to serve as the North Korea coordinator," the senators said.
Despite warnings from the U.S. that it will not tolerate a nuclear North Korea, the communist state has made "great strides" and is now believed to possess as many as 10 nuclear weapons, "a dramatic increase over the 1 or 2 weapons believed to be in North Korea's arsenal when you took office," the senators said.
"We believe the time has come for the administration to work with the Congress to change course and mount the effort required to address this grave national security threat."
Washington, Oct. 26 (Yonhap News)
Democrat senators press President Bush to appoint N.K. coordinator |
