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The U.S. Democratic Party has included the denuclearization of North Korea among its goals for the next administration, in a week that saw the North halt disablement of its nuclear facilities in what some see as an attempt to get a better deal from the next U.S. government.
In the platform adopted by the national convention in Denver, Colorado, the Democrats introduced a section titled "De-Nuclearize North Korea," which supports "diplomatic effort to secure a verifiable end to North Korea¡¯s nuclear weapons program."¡°We support the belated diplomatic effort to secure a verifiable end to North Korea¡¯s nuclear weapons program and to fully account for and secure any fissile material or weapons North Korea has produced to date,¡± it said, insisting on a point the North claims was not included in previous agreements. ¡°We will continue direct diplomacy and are committed to working with our partners through the six-party talks to ensure that all agreements are fully implemented in the effort to achieve a verifiably nuclear-free Korean peninsula."
The mention of ¡°direct diplomacy¡± as well as commitment to the six-nation mechanism catches the eye.
The Democrats also vowed to ¡°stand up for oppressed people from Cuba to North Korea and from Burma to Zimbabwe and Sudan." That suggests the Democrats will not close their eyes to human rights violations in the North if their candidate Barack Obama wins the presidential election.
With regard to the Seoul-Washington alliance, the platform says, "We are committed to U.S. engagement in Asia. This begins with maintaining strong relationships with allies like Japan, Australia, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines."
Turning to NAFTA, the party vowed to ¡°work with Canada and Mexico to amend the North American Free Trade Agreement so that it works better for all three North American countries." But alongside such skepticism about the U.S.¡¯ most controversial free trade deal, there was no mention of the FTA with Korea.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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