Washington:
The United States on Friday demanded that North Korea take concrete steps to ease concerns, saying that the communist state's recent actions had set the bar higher for a resumption of dialogue.
North Korea engaged in some of its most fiery rhetoric in years after conducting its third nuclear test in February, but tensions have since eased with attempts -- ultimately unsuccessful -- to restart talks with South Korea.
Glyn Davies, the US pointman on North Korea policy, said the United States was exasperated with Pyongyang after it snubbed attempts by President Barack Obama's administration to reach out in 2009 and again in 2012.
"The United States will not accept North Korea as a nuclear-armed state. We will not reward the DPRK for the absence of bad behavior," Davies said, using the North's official name of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"Nor will we tolerate North Korea provoking its neighbors. These positions will not change," he said in Washington at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a think tank.
Davies repeated US calls on North Korea to take steps to end its nuclear weapons program in line with previous agreements -- and said that this year's crisis increased Washington's hesitancy to engage again.
"We've long made clear that we are open to improved relations with the DPRK if it is willing to take concrete actions to live up to its international obligations and commitments -- though given the events of this past year, the bar for a resumption of meaningful engagement is now certainly higher."
"Ultimately, we will judge the DPRK not by its words, but by its actions -- the concrete actions it takes to address the core concerns of the international community," he said.
Satellite images analyzed by two private institutes have found that North Korea is pushing ahead with work on its nuclear program and could soon restart a reactor to produce plutonium.
Davies also voiced concern over human rights.
Advocacy groups have long accused the United States and its allies of putting its focus solely on North Korea's nuclear weapons and ignoring a totalitarian system often considered the world's most draconian.
"US-DPRK relations cannot fundamentally improve without sustained improvement in inter-Korean relations and human rights," Davies said.
North Korea engaged in some of its most fiery rhetoric in years after conducting its third nuclear test in February, but tensions have since eased with attempts -- ultimately unsuccessful -- to restart talks with South Korea.
Glyn Davies, the US pointman on North Korea policy, said the United States was exasperated with Pyongyang after it snubbed attempts by President Barack Obama's administration to reach out in 2009 and again in 2012.
"The United States will not accept North Korea as a nuclear-armed state. We will not reward the DPRK for the absence of bad behavior," Davies said, using the North's official name of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"Nor will we tolerate North Korea provoking its neighbors. These positions will not change," he said in Washington at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a think tank.
Davies repeated US calls on North Korea to take steps to end its nuclear weapons program in line with previous agreements -- and said that this year's crisis increased Washington's hesitancy to engage again.
"We've long made clear that we are open to improved relations with the DPRK if it is willing to take concrete actions to live up to its international obligations and commitments -- though given the events of this past year, the bar for a resumption of meaningful engagement is now certainly higher."
"Ultimately, we will judge the DPRK not by its words, but by its actions -- the concrete actions it takes to address the core concerns of the international community," he said.
Satellite images analyzed by two private institutes have found that North Korea is pushing ahead with work on its nuclear program and could soon restart a reactor to produce plutonium.
Davies also voiced concern over human rights.
Advocacy groups have long accused the United States and its allies of putting its focus solely on North Korea's nuclear weapons and ignoring a totalitarian system often considered the world's most draconian.
"US-DPRK relations cannot fundamentally improve without sustained improvement in inter-Korean relations and human rights," Davies said.
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