N Korea a real threat – Obama
TOKYO: Former US president Barack Obama said yesterday that negotiations with North Korea on its nuclear weapons programme were difficult, partly because the country’s isolation minimised possible leverage, such as trade and travel sanctions against Pyongyang.
“North Korea is an example of a country that is so far out of the international norms and so disconnected with the rest of the world,” Obama told a packed hall in Tokyo.
He stressed that the effort to get North Korea to give up nuclear weapons remained difficult, but countries working together – such as China as well as South Korea and Japan – to combine pressure on North Korea would be better than nations working alone.
He noted that past US efforts on Iran’s nuclear weapons were more successful because there was more leverage, but there was little commerce and travel with North Korea. “That makes them less subject to these kinds of negotiations,” he said.
Obama was speaking at an event sponsored by a Japanese non-profit group during his trip to Asia, which included earlier stops in Singapore, New Zealand and Australia.
Obama said the US-Japan alliance remained strong, and the US was committed to defending Japan.
“North Korea is a real threat,” he said. “Our view has always been that we would prefer to resolve these issues peacefully, otherwise the cost in terms of human life would be significant.”
He acknowledged that progress on a nuclear-free world would likely take a long time, as long as Russia and the US could not agree to start reducing their stockpiles.
Obama also reflected on his 2016 visit to Hiroshima – the first by an American president.