U.S. envoy urged to refrain from hostile remarks on N.K.

National Assembly Speaker Kim One-ki expressed regret yesterday toward recent hostile remarks about North Korea made by U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow.

Vershbow labeled the North a "criminal regime" last week, and said it was the first government to take part in counterfeiting money since Adolf Hitler`s Germany.

"It is undesirable for an ambassador to make remarks that do not help inter-Korean peace which is a life or death matter to us," said Kim in an interview with a radio program.

"Regrettably, the ambassador seems to be going too far," he said. Kim is a member of the ruling Uri Party.

A senior official at the U.S. State Department reportedly defended Vershbow`s remarks as representative of its official position.

A senior Seoul official also called for U.S. officials to refrain from comments that may provoke North Korea and complicate multinational efforts to resolve the North`s nuclear programs.

"The six-party talks are at a crucial juncture and North Korea is extremely sensitive to remarks from outside," Kim Sook, director of North American affairs at the Foreign Ministry.

The official echoed a recent reaction from Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon over a series of hardline comments made by U.S. officials.

Returning from his trip to Europe last week, Ban called on parties involved in the six-way talks to be more prudent and not to irritate each other with antagonistic remarks.

On Dec. 7, Vershbow said at a forum that Pyongyang is a criminal regime engaged in the sale of weapons and illicit narcotics and that Washington will not lift sanctions against it as long as those activities continue.

On Monday, Vershbow also called for Seoul to link the pace of inter-Korean economic cooperation with the progress of the six-way talks aimed at ending the North`s nuclear weapons program.

The North reacted angrily saying that the remarks were tantamount to a declaration of war and called for Vershbow`s expulsion.

Rep. Kim Wong-wung of the Uri Party said Tuesday he would submit a resolution to urge the government to ask Washington to recall the ambassador if he continues to take a hard-line stance against North Korea.

He said that Vershbow should bear in mind that South Korea will not regard as an ally any country standing in the way of peace on the peninsula, he added.

(davidpooh@heraldm.com)



By Jin Dae-woong