US: North Korea must stop provocative behavior: Obama
Thu Aug 6 04:01:35 EST 2009
WAKARUSA, Indiana, Aug 5 AFP - President Barack Obama said Wednesday North Korea must stop its nuclear program and provocative behavior, addressing the diplomatic fallout from Pyongyang's release of two US journalists.
Obama reiterated that former president Bill Clinton's mercy mission to free the two female reporters was purely a private initiative and not a sign of easing international diplomatic pressure on the Stalinist state.
"We were very clear this was a humanitarian mission," Obama said in an interview with MSNBC television in Indiana.
"We have said to the North Koreans there is a path for improved relations, and it involves them no longer developing nuclear weapons and not engaging in the provocative behavior they have been engaging in.
"We wish the people of North Korea well, we just want to make sure the government of North Korea is operating within the basic rules of the international community that they know is expected of them."
