Washington, DC – Congressman Howard L. Berman (D-CA), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released this statement today in response to published reports about nuclear cooperation between Syria and North Korea:

“The publicly-reported details about nuclear cooperation between North Korea and Syria are disturbing. But I don’t think they provide a reason to suspend discussions with the North Koreans. Rather, the information that has been released to the public demonstrates the importance of insisting on a verifiable enforcement mechanism to ensure that North Korea honors its commitments to stop spreading the means to create nuclear weapons and to end its nuclear program permanently.

“In the past year or so, the Administration’s North Korea policy has pursued a more productive path: taking steps toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula in the context of the Six-Party Talks. We should stick with that path, and ensure that the North Koreans do not stray from it.”


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