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NKorea says rocket sanctions would wreck six-party talks
Seoul (AFP) March 24, 2009 North Korea warned Tuesday that any United Nations sanctions imposed to punish it for an upcoming rocket launch would cause the breakdown of six-party nuclear disarmament talks. The foreign ministry said any such punitive measures would violate a September 2005 six-nation agreement guaranteeing mutual respect. "If such a hostile activity is carried out under the name of the UN Security Council, that would be a breach by the UN Security Council itself of the September 19 joint statement," the ministry said in a statement on official media. "If the September 19 joint statement is abrogated, there are no grounds for the six-party talks to exist any more." The talks involve the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia. The North says it intends to launch a communications satellite between April 4-8. South Korea, the United States and Japan see the exercise as a cover for a long-range missile test. They say a launch for any reason would breach a UN resolution passed after the North's missile and nuclear tests in 2006, which bans it from any missile-related activities. The North's statement was likely further to complicate efforts to agree a united response to what Washington says would be a "provocative" act. China, a permanent Security Council member and Pyongyang's sole major ally, has not publicly urged it to halt the launch. South Korea's nuclear envoy Wi Sung-Lac arrived in Beijing Tuesday for talks that he said would include possible "counter-measures" after any launch. Wi, who was to meet his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei, was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying in Seoul that nations in the six-party talks have tried to dissuade Pyongyang. But he added: "As the clock ticks, we are placing more weight on counter-measures after a launch." Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang declined direct comment when asked whether Beijing agreed that counter-measures should be considered. "We are concerned about the overall situation on the Korean Peninsula. We hope relevant parties will keep calm so as not to complicate the situation and try to resume the six-party talks at an early date," Qin said. Wi said he would visit the United States this month for talks with Stephen Bosworth, Washington's pointman on Pyongyang. Japan's Kyodo news agency reported that the US, South Korean and Japanese nuclear envoys plan to meet in Washington on Friday. Washington has not publicly raised the prospect of tougher UN sanctions. North Korea's arrest last week of two US journalists for an alleged illegal border crossing gives it another diplomatic bargaining card, analysts say. The North said the six-party talks are now "on the verge of collapse" because Japan had not fulfilled its commitments -- a reference to Tokyo's refusal to provide energy aid until Pyongyang accounts for Japanese abductees. It said the fact that the talks are in danger of collapse due to hostile activity by some members "again demonstrates the rightness of North Korea's position, that it cannot give up nuclear weapons even if 100 years pass without an end to hostile relations." It would have no choice but to "bolster its power to deter hostile activity" if such activity cannot be stopped through dialogue. Under a February 2007 deal which followed on from the September 2005 agreement, the North agreed to scrap its nuclear weapons in return for energy aid, diplomatic benefits and a permanent peace pact. The negotiations are currently stalled by disagreements over how the North's declared nuclear activities should be verified. "Space development and its peaceful use are legitimate rights that every nation on earth is equally entitled to," the ministry statement said. The allegation that it intends to test a missile "is just the same far-fetched assertion that both kitchen knives and bayonets should be targets of disarmament as both are similar to each other." North Korea has previously warned that any foreign attempt to shoot down its rocket would lead to war. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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US journalists likely in Pyongyang: report
Seoul (AFP) March 22, 2009North Korea has likely sent two American journalists detained by border guards last week to the capital Pyongyang for questioning, the South's Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday. |
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