FACTBOX: Candidates' comments on U.S. charges against N. Korea
(Reuters) - U.S. intelligence officials briefed U.S. lawmakers on information they say shows North Korea helped Syria build a suspected nuclear reactor destroyed by Israel last year.
Here is reaction from the U.S. presidential candidates to the Thursday briefing:
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, ARIZONA REPUBLICAN
"The latest news about North Korean proliferation to Syria is very troubling, but not surprising. North Korea has not acted in good faith for more than a decade, despite intense efforts by the United States and others to engage it in diplomacy. Nor has North Korea met the terms of the Six-Party February 13, 2007, agreement. Now Pyongyang is refusing to disclose full details of their own nuclear programs and has actively aided another dangerous regime acquire the wherewithal to develop nuclear weapons in the future -- a regime that directly threatens the survival of the state of Israel. These activities stand in clear violation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions and deserve the widest possible condemnation by the international community."
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, NEW YORK DEMOCRAT
Declined immediate comment, said she had not had a chance to review the information.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, ILLINOIS DEMOCRAT
"I am deeply disturbed about the evidence that North Korea may have helped Syria build a nuclear weapon. Now keep in mind that a lot of this activity happened during a period of time when the Bush administration was not engaged with North Korea, was not engaging in direct talks with North Korea. And that's why I have consistently said it is better for us to speak directly to not just our friends but to our enemies. I think it is important for the current six-party talks to insist on a full accounting as we had originally discussed with North Korea about their proliferation activity, as well as their possible enriched uranium activity and not just their plutonium.
"I was a little concerned ... when there was some indications from the administration that they might be backing off some of those requirements in order to initiate changes in U.S. posture towards North Korea. We have to have an accounting of proliferation in order to reset the relationship between the United States and North Korea. If we don't have confidence that they're telling us the truth now, it's going to be very difficult for us to have confidence as we move forward to improve relations ... and to lessen the threat of nuclear weapons in the hands of terrorists or rogue states."
(Compiled by JoAnne Allen in Washington; editing by Mohammad Zargham)
