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Sam Brownback removes block on Kathleen Stephens to be US Ambassador to South Korea
The decision by Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback comes ahead of Bush's trip next week to South Korea, a key U.S. ally in Asia. Brownback lifted his "hold" on the nomination after the chief U.S. envoy at North Korean nuclear talks, Christopher Hill, strongly criticized the North's human rights record at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing and pledged to confront the North over abuse. Brownback had been blocking Stephens' nomination over concerns about how human rights were being addressed in six-nation North Korean nuclear negotiations. It is unclear whether any other senators have holds on the nomination. Holds are blocks that any senator can use to impede a nomination. Kathleen Stephens, appointed US Ambassador to South Korea, served as a Peace corps volunteer in Korea.
Sam Brownback removes block on Kathleen Stephens to be US Ambassador to South Korea
GOP senator removes block on US envoy to SKorea
By FOSTER KLUG – 3 days ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican senator blocking President Bush's nominee for U.S. ambassador to South Korea lifted his objection Thursday, removing a key obstacle to the confirmation of D. Kathleen Stephens.
The decision by Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback comes ahead of Bush's trip next week to South Korea, a key U.S. ally in Asia. Brownback lifted his "hold" on the nomination after the chief U.S. envoy at North Korean nuclear talks, Christopher Hill, strongly criticized the North's human rights record at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing and pledged to confront the North over abuse.
Brownback had been blocking Stephens' nomination over concerns about how human rights were being addressed in six-nation North Korean nuclear negotiations. It is unclear whether any other senators have holds on the nomination. Holds are blocks that any senator can use to impede a nomination.
Brownback, a frequent critic of North Korea's rights record, said he was heartened that Hill pledged to raise specific cases of abductions with North Korea and guaranteed to invite Jay Lefkowitz, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights, to future non-nuclear negotiations with the North.
North Korea's human rights record is a delicate matter in the oft-deadlocked nuclear disarmament negotiations. North Korea rails against any criticism of its human rights record as a U.S.-backed effort to seek the overthrow of Kim Jong Il's government.
Last month, North Korea demolished its nuclear reactor's cooling tower, a symbolic effort to show its commitment to abandoning nuclear weapons.
The destruction of the tower followed North Korea's long-awaited presentation of a 60-page accounting of its nuclear efforts. The declaration triggered an announcement from Bush that he was moving to ease some sanctions on the North.
The U.S. and other members of negotiations are now working to set up a plan to verify North Korea's declaration.
Despite some success in negotiations, including the North's inability to produce weapons-grade plutonium at its main nuclear reactor, Hill said the U.S. will continue to press the North on questions about whether it attempted to enrich uranium and sell nuclear technology to other countries.
But, in unusually strong language, Hill made clear that the North must change its human rights stance. Hill called the North's extensive prison camp system "truly a scar on the Korean Peninsula" and spoke of reports that North Koreans suffer torture, forced abortions and, in some cases, execution.
The country's "human rights record is abysmal, and every day that the people of North Korea continue to suffer represents an unacceptable continuation of oppression," Hill said.
"The North Koreans don't like to hear the term 'human rights,' but that does not mean that we shouldn't raise it," Hill said.
Also at the hearing, William H. Tobey, deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation at the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, estimated that the future U.S. costs of North Korea's nuclear disarmament will be "substantially higher" than the amount spent so far. The Energy Department has spent about $15 million to date, and the State Department has provided about $20 million.
If disarmament efforts continue, he estimated costs of about $34 million this year and more than $360 million next year.
This week, the State Department's top Korea expert is visiting China for meetings with North Korean officials. Sung Kim's trip is meant to move forward efforts to determine how to verify the North's accounting of its nuclear activities.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: July, 2008; Peace Corps Korea; Directory of Korea RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Korea RPCVs; Diplomacy
When this story was posted in August 2008, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
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