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New attempts to get North Korea to table
Seoul (UPI) Jun 24, 2009 Diplomats from South Korea and Moscow are looking at a session of five members of the six-party talks in an effort to get the sixth -- North Korea -- back to the table. North Korea said it would withdraw from the six-party talks but, in fact, hasn't participated in a formal manner in some time. The other six-party members -- China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States -- have tried to coax Pyongyang back to the talks. Those meetings, centered on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, began in 2003, and the most recent formal sessions were in 2007. Since then, however, North Korea has become more belligerent than diplomatic, carrying out a series of military tests, including an underground nuclear blast a month ago. Those tests led to sanctions from the U.N. Security Council -- where six-party members China, Russia and the United States all have permanent seats. In response Pyongyang said it would never return to the six-party talks. This week North Korea, which had already issued a similar statement about its west coast, sent the Japanese coast guard a warning for ships to stay away from the Korean east coast for a 16-day period beginning Thursday. That message led East Asian analysts to believe North Korea is scheduling live-fire tests of short-range munitions. Intelligence agencies have also said Pyongyang could test a long-range missile, firing it toward Hawaii, around the time of the American July Fourth holiday. While it isn't likely the rocket, which has an estimated range of 3,700 miles, could reach Hawaii 4,500 miles away, it could make many countries uncomfortable. Such a track would be over Japan, for instance. South Korean negotiator Wi Sung-lac traveled this week to Russia for meetings with Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin. A communique from the men Wednesday outlined a plan for China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States to meet and find a way to get North Korea back to negotiations. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak made a similar suggestion during his recent meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama. "Such a decision should be reconsidered," Borodavkin said in an Itar-Tass report after he met with Wi. "Diplomacy should be employed to resolve the problem and there can be no other way than dialogue. Close cooperation among relevant parties is necessary." The Wi-Borodavkin meeting occurred a week after China and Russia issued a joint statement urging Pyongyang get involved in the six-party talks. Pyongyang hasn't responded directly to those overtures unless its saber-rattling could be seen as answer enough. The United States is watching a North Korean ship suspected of carrying munitions. Pyongyang said an attempt to board the vessel -- allowed under the new set of Security Council sanctions -- would be an act of war. The North's official Korean Central News Agency said, "It is little short of committing a suicide for the U.S. to push the situation on the peninsula to the worst crisis."
earlier related report The comments came after US officials said a North Korean ship, the Kang Nam 1, was the first to be monitored under a UN resolution designed to punish Pyongyang over a nuclear test and could be headed to Myanmar. Military-ruled Myanmar's government-controlled media said a separate cargo ship from North Korea carrying thousands of tonnes of grain was due to arrive from India at the end of the week. "It is learnt that the MV Dumangang cargo ship from DPRK (North Korea) will arrive in Myanmar about June 27 carrying 8,000 tonnes of rice from Kolkata, India," state media said. It said that foreign media had been "spreading reports these days that the Kang Nam cargo ship which left Nampo port, North Korea on June 17 was heading to Myanmar." No information was available regarding "this Kang Nam cargo ship" it added. A US defence official said on Monday that the Kang Nam 1 was being tracked by a US Navy destroyer under the UN sanctions adopted following this month's underground atomic test by North Korea and could be headed to Myanmar. The Aegis destroyer USS John S. McCain was continuing to shadow the cargo ship. South Korea's YTN television news channel, citing an unnamed intelligence source, reported on Sunday the Kang Nam 1 was suspected of carrying missiles or related parts and was heading for Myanmar via Singapore. The 2,000-tonne ship left the western North Korean port of Nampo on June 17, with Myanmar set as its final destination, YTN said. The US Defense Department said Thursday (Wednesday GMT) it was still being monitored but declined to say where it was, or if or when US Navy might ask to search it. "... That is a decision I think we will likely take collectively with our allies and partners out there and make a determination about whether we choose to hail and query this particular ship," press secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters. "And if we make that decision, when and where to do so." "But that is not a decision that's been made yet, and I don't get the sense that -- that it is imminent. So I would urge everybody just to take a deep breath and to not hyperventilate about this particular ship." Myanmar and hardline communist North Korea, both of which are severely criticised internationally for human rights abuses, restored diplomatic relations in 2007. Myanmar severed ties with Pyongyang in 1983 following a failed assassination attempt by North Korean agents on then-South Korean president Chun Doo-Hwan during his visit to the Southeast Asian nation. The bombing killed 17 of Chun's entourage including cabinet ministers while four Myanmar officials also died. Myanmar, ruled by the military since 1962, and North Korea have been branded "outposts of tyranny" by the United States, which imposes sanctions on both. Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
NKorea bans shipping off east coast amid nuke tensionsSeoul (AFP) June 23, 2009 North Korea has banned ships from a wide area off its east coast, Japan's Coast Guard said Tuesday, raising speculation of more missile launches amid a tense nuclear standoff. The hardline communist state, angrily rejecting what it calls US-inspired sanctions imposed for its May 25 nuclear test, promised Tuesday to retaliate against them. In Beijing, US and Chinese defence officials were ... read more |
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