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| U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, listens as Thailand's Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya speaks during a joint news conference at a hotel in Phuket, southern Thailand Thursday, July 23, 2009. | ||
Mrs Clinton, winding up a weeklong Asia trip, was meeting Thursday with her counterparts from across the region to discuss a range of security issues, including North Korea and international efforts to end political repression in Myanmar, the military-run country also known as Burma.
US officials held out the possibility of a lower-level US meeting, or exchange, in Phuket on Thursday with a representative from either Myanmar or North Korea, or both. Mrs Clinton has said she has no intention of meeting with anyone from either delegation.
She told reporters on Wednesday that the US is convinced that Myanmar is taking the wrong road by associating with North Korea - possibly developing a secret military and even a nuclear relationship with Pyongyang.
'So there are lots of issues that Burma raises for the entire region, not just the United States,' she said. They include political persecution and the imprisonment of political dissidents.
She called for the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is accused of violating the terms of her house arrest. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
'And if she were released, that would open up opportunities at least for my country to expand its relationship with Burma, including investments in Burma,' she said.
At Wednesday's news conference, Mrs Clinton also told reporters that North Korea must completely and irreversibly end its nuclear weapons program or face further isolation and 'the unrelenting pressure' of international sanctions.
After consulting at the seaside resort of Phuket with her counterparts from China, Russia, Japan and South Korea on a strategy for enforcing the latest UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea, Mrs Clinton said there is a more positive way ahead if the North chooses.
She said China, Japan, Russia and South Korea agree with Washington on the core goal of irreversibly ending North Korea's nuclear program, and she said the international community is in a 'strong position' in its push to change North Korean policy.
(AP)