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Sanctions will only escalate tension: pro-Pyongyang daily

Peace park dedicated near inter-Korean border
A public park dedicated to world peace was opened Tuesday near the tense inter-Korean border at a ceremony overshadowed by North Korea's nuclear test. Peace Bell Park is sited in Hwacheon county, northeast of the South Korean capital Seoul, and was the scene of fierce battles during the 1950-53 Korean War. It features a large bell made of melted bullet casings gathered from many conflicts around the world, including the Korean one. "Peace Bell Park represents our dream of world peace. We hope all the hearts of the people around the world will ring with its sound eternally," county governor Jung Gab-Cheol told the dedication ceremony. Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev said at a seminar to mark the dedication that strong reactions by other countries to Monday's nuclear test would only compel the North to stick to its atomic weapons. "If the United Nations and participants in the six-party (nuclear disarmament) talks take strong steps against the North, it would consider the nuclear weapons as its last resort and stick to them," Gorbachev said. "(South Korea) should find out what the North's misgivings are and help it with aid and economic cooperation in order to lead it to dialogue," he was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency. The park is next to the huge Peace Dam on the Bukhan River, whose construction began in the 1980s under the then-military government. Authorities said it was necessary in case the communist North breached its own dam upstream to intentionally flood the Bukhan River, a tributary of the Han which flows through Seoul. The government began a controversial campaign for donations. Critics at the time said the Seoul government was exaggerating threats from the North to justify its authoritarian rule over the South. Some 60 other bells in different shapes and sizes, sent from 29 countries, are also on display at the peace park.
by Staff Writers
 Seoul (AFP) May 26, 2009
 A pro-Pyongyang newspaper said Tuesday that sanctions against the North for its second nuclear test would only escalate tensions and called for direct talks between the United States and North Korea.

"No matter how high the degree of pressure is raised against the DPRK (North Korea), the DPRK will never change its current course," Chosun Sinbo said on its website.

"Rather, it will only escalate the chain reaction of sanctions and self-defence measures. There is no other option but to start dialogue and negotiations to cut off the cycle of rising tension," it added.

The paper, published in Japan, often reflects the communist state's official thinking.

North Korea withdrew from six-party disarmament talks in protest at United Nations sanctions over its April rocket launch.

It staged its second nuclear test on Monday, sparking an emergency UN Security Council meeting.

The Council unanimously condemned the North and several western diplomats hinted they would seek fresh sanctions.

Now that the six party talks have collapsed, the paper said, shaping a new framework for talks is up to the United States.

"The only point of reference for the DPRK to consider dialogue is changes in the US attitude," it said.

"Other countries have no proper means" to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table, it said.

"The resolution of confrontation and tension depends on whether the new US administration can take a bold approach toward North Korea or not."

US President Barack Obama spoke by phone with his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-Bak to coordinate reactions to the nuclear test.

They agreed to work closely together to seek and support a "strong United Nations Security Council resolution" with concrete measures to curtail North Korea's nuclear and missile activities, the White House said.

earlier related report
 Russian diplomat expects 'tough' UN action on NKorea: report
 The United Nations Security Council must act "tough" on North Korea, a Russian foreign ministry source was quoted as saying Tuesday, though he ruled out policies of "isolation."

"Most likely, the adoption of a tough UN Security Council resolution is unavoidable. The reaction should be fairly serious, because the authority of the Security Council is at stake," the source told Interfax news agency.

But he also said that "a blockade, isolation, any sort of cordons sanitaires are not a subject of discussion."

"The door to negotiations should always remain open," he added.

The UN Security Council unanimously condemned North Korea for testing a nuclear bomb on Monday in violation of an earlier UN resolution, and was set to discuss further measures to punish the reclusive Communist state.

Russia -- a permanent, veto-holding member of the Security Council -- has previously blocked stronger sanctions against Pyongyang that were sought by Western countries.

But Russia as well as North Korea's close ally China both strongly criticised the nuclear test on Monday.

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NUKEWARS
NKorea, land of hunger, made nukes priority
 Seoul (AFP) May 25, 2009
 North Korea, which said Monday it had tested both a nuclear device and a short-range missile, has defiantly pursued its atomic ambitions even though it is unable to feed its own people. The country suffered famine for several years starting in 1995 which killed hundreds of thousands of people and left survivors subsisting on leaves, tree bark and whatever else they could find. Floods, fo ... read more






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