North Korea 'troubling' in its refusal to denuclearize, says U.S. official

BEIJING, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Glyn Davies told senior officials in China on Monday that North Korea's refusal to denuclearize was troubling.

Davies is leading a delegation to discuss North Korean policy with Chinese, Japanese and South Korean officials during a week-long trip to Asia.

"In terms of where we are with North Korea, let me just say that there are troubling, further signs the DPRK (North Korea) is even more directly rejecting its responsibility to live up to its obligations to denuclearize," Davies told his Chinese counterpart, Wu Dawei, on the first leg of his trip.

North Korea recently conducted two nuclear tests and several long-range rocket launches, raising concerns that it is moving forward with nuclear missile development.

Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency adopted a resolution condemning North Korea for its attempts to develop nuclear capabilities and for restarting its nuclear reactor in Yongbyon. Davies applauded the IAEA resolution as a "very important result."

On the topic of the U.S. citizens currently held captive by North Korea, Davies condemned Pyongyang for attempting to use the three Americans as a political "pawn." In the U.S. estimate, he said, "Sadly, we just concluded that North Korea doesn't have any interest in coming back to the international system as a responsible country."