IRNA - British Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell, using a traditional 'carrots and sticks' approach, offered Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) a stark choice Friday of cooperation or confrontation. "My conviction is that a real opportunity now exists for North Korea," Rammell said. "An opportunity to confirm unambiguously its commitment to come out of isolation and to work with the international community, its nations and its institutions," he said. He said that if it accepts the offer, it would find Britain an "enthusiastic partner."
| That's if it accepts the offer... |
But he warned if it rejected the opportunity, North Korea would "find Britain just as determined in its non cooperative efforts to contain and mitigate the problem." Speaking at Workshop on DPRK-EU Relations at the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) in London, the Foreign Office Minister went as far as threatening a "range of measure, including, if necessary sanctions" to contain the risk of nuclear proliferation. "It implies not just containment, but isolation, disengagement, further economic degradation, all of which would damage the security or prosperity of the country," he told North Korea's Vice-Foreign Minister Choe, attending the workshop.
| How's that different from what they have now? |
The meeting, which was closed to the media, comes two days after Pyongyang opened its first-ever embassy in London in the latest move to improve bilateral ties following the establishment of diplomatic relations for the first time since December 2000. Rammell told his DPRK counterpart, in what appeared to be in a patronizing manner, that Britain wanted to welcome North Korea into the international community and to "develop out political and trade relationship for the benefit of both our countries." |