US and South Korean marines drill at Incheon, South Korea, in 2015
© Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters
USA forkaster et forslag fra Rusland og Kina om at suspendere fælles øvelser med Sydkorea i bytte for at Nordkorea fastfryser sine atomvåbenprogrammer, sagde Udenrigsministeriet [i USA], og tilføjede at Washington ike ser at aktiviteterne er tilsvarende.

USA's øvelser med Sydkorea er ikke det samme som Nordkoreas missil og atomvåben test, fortalte Udenrigsministeriets talskvinde, Heather Nauert journalister i torsdags.


Kommentar: Nej Nauert, det er det samme.

"Disse er ting som har fundet sted lige siden 1950'erne. Så det vil ikke ændres," sagde Nauert, beskrivende øvelserne som lovmæssige og mangeårige [praksis].

"Vi gør denne her slags øvelser og har sådanne samarbejdsforhold over hele kloden. Hvis Kina og Rusland beslutter at stå frem imod dette, så vil det ikke ændre vores holdning," tilføjede hun.

Kommentar: Diplomati er ukendt i USA. Det krigsførende USA vil ikke ændre kurs nu, fordi det så vil tabe ansigt. Det drejer sig ikke rigtigt om atomvåben, men om at omkredse Rusland og Kina.



Kommentar: Denne artikel er delvis oversat til dansk af Sott.net fra: Of course they would: US rejects Russo-Chinese proposal to suspend drills in South Korea


Moscow and Beijing have called on Washington and Seoul to freeze large-scale military exercises in an attempt to calm tensions on the Korean peninsula after Pyongyang test-fired a missile it said could reach the US mainland.

The US diplomatic offensive to pressure and isolate North Korea is still in its early stages, according to the State Department spokeswoman.
"We continue to believe that China can do a whole lot more to try to bring additional pressure to North Korea," Nauert said, adding that China has "unique leverage" with Pyongyang because of the "strong trade relationship" between two countries.
One of the measures the US has proposed to other countries is to drastically scale back the number of North Korean guest-workers, Nauert said. She also referenced last week's decision by the US Treasury Department to sanction a Chinese bank that did business with Pyongyang, although she declined to say whether more such sanctions were in the works.

Earlier Thursday, Russia declined to endorse the US-proposed UN Security Council statement condemning the North Korean missile launch, citing an assessment by the Russian Defense Ministry that the rocket tested could not be classified as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
"We are not in a position to agree to this classification on behalf of the whole council, since there is no consensus on this issue," said the email from the Russian mission, as cited by Reuters.