WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States said Friday it did not trust nuclear-armed North Korea, a day after accusing Pyongyang of helping Syria build a covert atomic reactor.
"We are not yet to the trust part, we are still working on the verify part," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, paraphrasing late president Ronald Reagan's signature phrase "trust but verify" when dealing with relations and agreements with the former Soviet Union during the Cold War.
"Trust is something that is built up over time and is based on performance and adherence to obligations and, we would see, we would see," McCormack said when asked why Washington would continue to trust North Korea following revelations on Thursday that it helped Syria build an atomic reactor.
Washington, which has been involved in six-nation talks for the last five years aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons drive, charged that the Syrian nuclear facility had a military purpose until Israel destroyed it in a raid in September last year.
The allegation against North Korea came after the reclusive state agreed to come clean on its nuclear weapons program.
McCormack said North Korea was confronted over the issue over the past several months in the context of the six-party talks involving the United States, China, the two Koreas, Russia and Japan.
He refused to say how Pyongyang responded.
"I'm not going to share every exchange within the context of those discussions, but I would leave it to them and that they're fully capable of responding in public," he said.
Under the six-party agreement, North Korea has shut down its key nuclear reactor and is in the process of disabling it in return for energy aid and diplomatic and security guarantees.
Pyongyang has however missed a December 31 deadline to declare its nuclear program and its past proliferation record, presumably due to complications over claims of its involvement in the Syrian nuclear facility.
McCormack said that US intelligence information about the North Korea-Syria nuclear links had laid down "a very clear line" in terms of what was required of Pyongyang's declaration of its proliferation activities.
"So I think they understand very clearly the bar that they need to get over on that part of the declaration," he said.
Intelligence and administration officials told reporters Thursday that the nuclear reactor project was believed to have begun in 2001, two years before talks were launched by the six countries to disband North Korea's nuclear arms arsenal.
The White House said Friday it hoped Thursday's revelations would prompt Pyongyang to be more willing to disclose atomic and proliferation activities.
"One of the things that we believe and hope that this disclosure will do is help North Korea come forward on its declaration on three areas: the proliferation activity; but also to provide a more complete and accurate disclosure of their plutonium activities; and their enrichment activities," spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
"The ball is in their court for the next set," she said.
McCormack said that a team of US officials had left for Vienna to brief officials of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the Syrian nuclear controversy as Washington pressed the UN nuclear watchdog to conduct a thorough probe of the issue.
He also said the North Korean-Syrian links underscored the importance of verification of nuclear activities within the six-party process, with China taking a lead role in that area.
"And this information has strengthened that case to the point where you have China that is now going to be chairing a group within the six-party mechanism on issues related to verification," he said.
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