Jay Lefkowitz, President Bush’s special envoy on North Korea, dealing with human rights issues, stated that Pyongyang was not serious about disarming and probably still would have its nuclear weapons when the next U.S. president takes over in January 2009, despite four years of nuclear disarmament talks by the United States, the Koreas, Japan, China and Russia1. With the Six-Party talks hitting an impasse and North Korea failing to release a full declaration of its nuclear activities, the statement added to the uncertainties. However, the Bush administration immediately tried to distance itself from the statement with the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saying that that Lefkowitz certainly had no say on what American policy would be at the Six-Party talks2.

The South Korean Foreign Minister was also quoted as saying that the impasse in the disarmament process was unlikely to be resolved for the time being3.

• 1. “North Korean Human Rights & U.S. National Security – Remarks by Jay Lefkowitz,” American Enterprise Institute, January 17, 2008, at www.aei.org/docLib/20080118_LefkowitzRemarks.pdf
• 2. “Secretary of state rebukes Bush administration official critical of North Korea policy,” International Herald Tribune, January 22, 2008, at http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/01/22/america/US-NKorea.php
• 3. “Report: Nuclear deadlock unlikely to be broken for now, says S. Korean foreign minister,” International Herald Tribune, January 28, 2008, at http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/01/28/asia/AS-GEN-Koreas-Nuclear.php