Cheney comments on North Korea nuclear deal

February 22nd, 2007

Australia - The United States is entering a deal with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program "with our eyes open" after the failure of previous agreements, Vice President Dick Cheney said Friday during a visit to Australia.

"In light of North Korea's missile tests last July, its nuclear test in October and its record of proliferation and human rights abuses, the regime in Pyongyang has much to prove. Yet this agreement represents a first hopeful step toward a better future for the North Korean people."

In an agreement that followed three years of talks, North Korea agreed earlier this month that it would halt its production of plutonium and begin closing down its nuclear program in exchange for $300 million in energy and financial aid.

But the Bush administration's former point man at the United Nations, John Bolton, publicly blasted the deal, saying it would encourage other countries to seek nuclear weapons.

But Cheney said the United States, which accused North Korea of violating a similar deal with the Clinton administration, has no illusions about the current agreement.