On Asia Tour, Clinton Issues Warnings to N. Korea, Iran

JIM LEHRER:

And finally tonight, Secretary of State Clinton's mission to Asia. Margaret Warner reports.

MARGARET WARNER:

Smiles and ceremony greeted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Thai resort town of Phuket, the latest stop on her Asian tour. She was there for a summit of ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a meeting occasionally skipped by her predecessor. This is Clinton's second major trip to the region.

HILLARY CLINTON, Secretary of State: The United States is back in Southeast Asia. President Obama and I believe that this region is vital to global progress, peace and prosperity.

MARGARET WARNER:

But after cordial diplomacy came tough words for North Korea and Iran. At a press conference after meeting her counterparts, Clinton declared they'd agreed North Korea must fully abandon its nuclear program.

HILLARY CLINTON:

Complete and irreversible denuclearization is the only viable path for North Korea. We do not intend to reward North Korea just for returning to the table; nor do we intend to reward them for actions they have already committed to taking and then reneged on.

The path is open to them, and it is up to them to follow it. Unless and until they do, they will face international isolation and the unrelenting pressure of global sanctions.

MARGARET WARNER:

She also called on the repressive government of Myanmar, formerly Burma, to release jailed Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. And she expressed concerns that Myanmar might be angling to get nuclear technology from North Korea.

HILLARY CLINTON:

So we worry about the transfer of nuclear technology and other dangerous weapons…

JOURNALIST:

From North Korean, you mean?

HILLARY CLINTON:

We do, from North Korea, yes.

JOURNALIST:

To Burma?

HILLARY CLINTON:

To Burma, yes.

JOURNALIST:

So you're concerned about the closer ties between North Korea and Burma?

HILLARY CLINTON:

Yes.