The coordinator of the US government for Implementation of the United Nations sanctions on North Korea is seasoned diplomat , who previously served as chief of mission in Kosovo (2004-2006) and as deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in Santiago, Chile (2001-2004). Goldberg recently visited Egypt and gave an exclusive interview to Riham Mazen What is your purpose of visiting Egypt? We came to Egypt as part of our efforts to implement UN resolutions 1718 and 1874. We have a strategic dialogue with Egypt about non-proliferation issues, which are a priority to the US. In his Prague speech, President Barack Obama said he wanted us to work towards a world free of nuclear weapons. This won't be easy, but at the same time, that is our goal. So we are working with like minded governments to implement the resolutions, to ensure that North Korean proliferation activities which have taken place in the Middle East are acting on. So how do you think Egypt is going to help implement the resolutions on North Korea? Egypt is a very responsible member of the United Nations as well as a good bilateral partner, a maritime country with Suez Canal, so that is one focus of our discussions. You mentioned that the United Arab Emirates has important sea ports as well as Egypt, the most important path in the Middle East. How do these statements relate to the situation in North Korea? North Korea has a long standing history of military sales and involvement in this region; Resolution 1874 prohibits all military exports from North Korea. A Korean trading company is located on an island of Iran, those are the kinds of connections that have built over time with North Korea. President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have asked me to make sure that the implementation of this resolution is being coordinated with other governments. You mention nuclear activities in the Middle East coming from North Korea. How far is this true, and what type of activities and which countries are involved? I will not go into great detail about that, but from previous statements of the US government and other reports, it should be clear which countries in this region have had relationships with North Korea, including nuclear activities. Our ex-ambassador to North Korea, Mahmoud Farag, recently told me it was hard to hit North Korea. How do you see that and is military action still being considered? What we're talking about is the enforcement of UN resolutions, which are the obligation of every country in the world, and we want to mobilise the international community in these efforts. We have two important paths. One is to get back to a process of denuclearisation in the Korean peninsula, something that North Korea already agreed to in the statement of joint principles in 2005. It's an important part of our non-proliferation activities generally, but specifically there's a party of resolutions and of commitments that we need to return to. The other path is to impede the programmes, as best as we can, if they continue. Comparing the situation in Iran with the situation in North Korea, where are the similarities and where are the differences? North Korea offers some criteria when considering the Iran issue and that is why we want to continue leaving the door open to discussions and negotiations in Iran, making sure that Iran lives up to its international commitments. Also, the multilateral approach to diplomacy, the P-5+1 in the case of Iran, the six party talks in the case of North Korea. Every situation is different, and I don't mean to conflate the two situations, but as President Obama made clear last week in his speech in New York, Iran and North Korea represent two very important threats to international security. I don't mean to say they are the same, but there are some lessons and similarities. Do you believe that the international approach to North Korea could be a model in Iran too, I mean regarding resolutions and so on? There are resolutions on Iran. I repeat, the reason we are here is to implement the resolution on North Korea and I leave it to others to see if this is useful when it comes to Iran. How far can the US do the same with Israel, and why do we never hear about resolutions from the Security Council about denuclearisation for Israel? Or do you think this is impossible? That's not the focus of my visit here. The resolutions of the UN on Israel and Israel's position in the region are very complicated issues. There are great efforts in the US through the efforts of George Mitchell to bring about a peace negotiation and a settlement of the problems of the Middle East. President Obama is very much focussed on that. I don't want to get into any comparative situations here. What we are interested in is enforcing resolutions on North Korea. What's the role of China? And, is the involvement of China and their willingness to play a role the key here? Our deputy secretary of state was just in Beijing and agreed with the Chinese again on those two core elements to our engagement: the denuclearisation track and the discussions within the multilateral framework and the implementation of the resolutions on North Korea. So we have had a very high degree of cooperation with the Chinese on the way forward. The Chinese and Russians supported the resolution in the Security Council. You've mentioned that resolutions are resolutions until irreversible steps are taken to deal with the denuclearisation issue and missile proliferation. What do you think the North Koreans will choose? What we want is for North Korea to return to a process which it is already committed to and we are all engaged in -- the Chinese, the Russians, the United States, the Japanese, the South Koreans. This is in the hands of the North Koreans, not in my hands or other hands, and all we can do is to continue to be serious and to continue to be united on the goals and the measures that have been taken, and to try to work in a coordinated multilateral format to assure implementation of the resolutions and get back to the effort on denuclearisation. These are the options that the North Koreans must decide on. However, I don't want to sit here and predict what an unpredictable government might do.
