Excerpts from the 16 October Department of State Daily Press Briefing on why Chris Hill may be overselling the denuclearization agreement with North Korea. Tom Casey, Deputy Spokesman is responding to questions:

QUESTION: Chris Hill has been speaking in Sydney and said that he expects the uranium military program of North Korea to be stopped or suspended by the end of the year. It seems to me sort of a raising of expectations more than the agreement requires. Do you have an explanation why he was doing that? Why was he talking about the program that they haven’t even acknowledged they have?

MR. CASEY: … I haven’t seen specifically what Chris said. I think we are very hopeful that this agreement can be implemented and it can be implemented in a way that gives us some assurances about the full measure of North Korea’s nuclear activities and that’s why the declaration is so important.

In terms of the specifics of uranium enrichment activities that North Korea might be engaged in, this is an issue, again, that’s been very important to us. It’s been important to us since there was a first discussion of that between North Korean officials and Jim Kelly back in, I believe it was 2002. So making sure that we understand the full nature of the program and that the full nature of that program is halted is a key priority. In terms of what specific steps Chris might have had in mind on that, I’ll have to defer to him on those comments. But I’m sure that even heartbroken though he is by the current status of the Red Sox, that he was probably speaking based on an understanding of how he thinks this process will work.

QUESTION: Well, what you just said and what he said sort of assumes that the uranium enrichment program is going on as we speak. Is that your belief?

MR. CASEY: Look, I think there was about as clear as I can draw our understanding of it for you was what was included in the National Intelligence Estimate and some of the things that Chris has said subsequent. I don’t have anything new to offer you in terms of an assessment of what that program is.

QUESTION: I’m asking because if that program was active during the time you’re negotiating with them, that would probably erase a lot of questions in Washington. I don’t believe that you believe the program is active. That’s why I’m asking.

MR. CASEY: I think at this point, Nicholas, I will let Chris speak to this to the extent he wants to. But for us, the proof will be in seeing a declaration and making our determinations about its completeness. And I think at that point we can probably have a discussion about the specifics of what that program –