U.S. envoy lauds support on NK

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HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- The U.S. diplomatic envoy to Asia lauded nations for their support for U.N. sanctions against North Korea during U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's trip to the region.

"There has been tremendous support" for U.N. sanctions over North Korea's nuclear program, said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill.

Speaking Monday during a CNN interview, Hill added that "the issue, of course, is to make sure it's enduring, that it lasts as long as the problem lasts."

During the weekend, Rice wrapped up a four-country diplomatic mission that took her to Japan, South Korea, China and Moscow.

Last week's diplomatic flurry left many nations unsure as to whether North Korea will conduct a second nuclear test or return to stalled six-country talks on its nuclear programmes.

News reports had raised hopes that tension was easing after North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was quoted as telling Chinese envoy Tang Jiaxuan that he planned no further tests following the first one on October 9 in defiance of international warnings.

But Rice cast doubt on the reports about Kim, saying Pyongyang was bent on escalating the crisis. (Full story)

Hill was in Hong Kong on Sunday for talks on North Korean bank accounts in nearby Macau that were frozen under the U.S. restrictions, according to a report from The Associated Press

The U.S. banned transactions between Macau-based Banco Delta Asia and American financial institutions in September 2005, characterizing the bank as a "willing pawn for the North Korean government" and alleging that its clients were involved in smuggling and counterfeiting for North Korea.

North Korea has denied the allegations and has made the lifting of the freeze a precondition for its return to the nuclear talks.

U.S. turns to sanctions

Resolution 1718 was unanimously passed by the U.N. Security Council in response to North Korea's surprise underground nuclear test October 9.

The measure prohibits trade with North Korea of any materials or weapons that could be used by its ballistic missile and weapons programs. The sanctions also call for inspections of all cargo leaving and arriving in the country.

Having reassured American allies, Hill said the next step in the process is implementation of sanctions.

"The second issue ... is how to make this U.N. Security Council Resolution 1718 work, how to make sure countries interpret it in a way that it will really have teeth to it and I think we are on the right track there."

The implementation of the resolution is important because it would "make certain there is not a transit and trade in dangerous illegal materials, concerning the nuclear program of the DPRK (North Korea)," Rice said when she was in Beijing Friday.

Beijing's response to the Rice visit has been largely satisfying and has sent a message to Pyongyang, Hill said.

"The reaction of the Chinese authorities to the issue of this nuclear test is very strong," he said. "I think the U.S. and China are cooperating as never before and I think a lot of people have noticed that and I assume the North Koreans have noticed that."

Hill said Beijing's support helps put the ball back in North Korea's court.

"So they are going to have to figure out a way to get back into the game," Hill said of North Korea. "It's not for us to find a way for them. They have got to do that and when they do they will find a very good solution on the table."

On Friday, Rice said she and Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing spoke about leaving open "a path to negotiation through the six-party talks," but only if Pyongyang returns to the talks "without condition."

Hill: Shift in China's policy

North Korea has previously declined returning to multilateral negotiations on its nuclear weapons program as long as financial sanctions are imposed on it.

However, Kim reportedly told a Chinese envoy that "if the United States made some concessions, then we would make some concessions as well, whether they be in the form of bilateral talks or in the form of the six-party talks," according to South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo.

The six-party talks include the United States, Russia, China, Japan and the two Koreas. The talks stalled last year after restrictions from Washington were imposed on Pyongyang's external financing.

Hill said there has been a shift in Chinese policy since the North Koreans ignored Beijing advice not to test its developing missile technology and then held its October 9 nuclear test.

"I think for China they realized that North Korea simply isn't listening to anybody and I think that bothers the Chinese," he said.

"If I were a Chinese citizen, I would be very bothered by the fact that China has been so generous to North Korea providing their daily rice their daily fuel and then they ask them for one thing, and the North Koreans ignore them.

"So I think there is a real change there," Hill said.

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