UN action on N. Korea would 'destroy' talks
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-04-27 12:08

China's ambassador to the United Nations said any U.S. effort to get the Security Council to impose sanctions on North Korea over its development of nuclear weapons would ``destroy'' the six-party talks on the issue.

This is China's first direct response to White House spokesman Scott McClellan's statement on April 18 that raising North Korea's nuclear program with the Security Council was ``certainly'' a possibility.

The U.S. might seek a resolution allowing interception of shipments of nuclear material to or from North Korea, the New York Times said Tuesday, citing senior officials.

(L to R) Chairman of the UN Security Council Ambassador Guangya Wang of China, Ambassador Ronaldo Mota Sardenberg of Brazil, Ambassador Juan Gabriel Valdez, the UN's Special Representative to Haiti address the media in Petion-ville, April 16, 2005. [Reuters/file]

``This would destroy the whole process,'' Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya told reporters at the UN. ``It would make a solution for this issue even farther away. We are working with the other parties to have the talks resume as soon as possible. I hope others will come to agree with this.''

North Korea's government has refused to resume the six-party talks since September, saying the U.S. hasn't abandoned its ``hostile policy''. There have been three rounds of talks in Beijing with the U.S., South Korea, China, Japan and Russia aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons.

The nuclear standoff began on October 2002 when North Korea acknowledged it was enriching uranium, a possible bomb ingredient, in violation of a 1994 international agreement. The North's government on Feb. 10 this year said it was withdrawing from the discussions and said it had manufactured nuclear weapons.

`Declaration of War'

North Korea, in its first response to McClellan's remarks, said it would regard any sanctions as ``a declaration of war,'' according to the North's Korea Central News Agency.

``North Korea has maintained an unwavering attitude toward sanctions, any form of which would be considered an act of aggression,'' said Park Tae Gyun, a professor of Korean Studies at Seoul National University. ``The U.S. and other nations have yet to take it seriously.''

North Korea may already have 10 nuclear weapons, the Brussels based International Crisis Group estimated in November. Talks since 2003 with North Korean officials, who have previously warned against UN involvement, haven't yielded progress.

The North's government may conduct a nuclear test by the middle of June, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing a weapons expert.

Refusing to Return

The North Korean news agency didn't make a direct reference to what country it would consider a declaration of war as coming from in the event of sanctions.

``We are fully ready to cope with everything in a do-or-die spirit and have already prepared all countermeasures against the sanctions,'' the North Korean agency said. The U.S. has consistently said there are no plans to invade North Korea.

North Korea also called on U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to retract her reference to the nation as an ``outpost of tyranny.''

``We can never return to the talks nor can we have any form of dealing with the U.S. unless the ill fame of an `outpost of tyranny' is shaken off,'' the KCNA said.

Testing Weapons

North Korea may test a nuclear weapon by June 15, Reuters reported, citing David Kay, a weapons expert who headed the U.S.- led the search for banned arms in Iraq that were never found.

Kay told the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars he ``unfortunately'' believed that North Korea would test a weapon, Reuters reported. Unidentified U.S. officials told Reuters they couldn't substantiate the date cited by Kay, which is the fifth anniversary of a North and South Korean agreement to work toward unifying the countries.

``It won't be easy for North Korea to conduct a nuclear test,'' said Yim Yong Soon, a political science professor at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul. ``If North Korea conducts a test, it would likely be an underground experiment, which would ruin its water sources.''

Kay led the Iraq Survey Group to find weapons of mass destruction in the country after the U.S. invasion in 2003. He quit in January 2004 and told the U.S. Congress there was a ``fundamental flaw'' in Western intelligence reports on Iraqi arms. ``It turns out we were all wrong,'' he said at the time.

Kay is unlikely to be right this time either, Park said.

Enriching Uranium

``I suspect the claims to be largely groundless,'' said Seoul National University's Park. ``The comments were likely made to pressure North Korea and other nations to hold the six-nation talks.''

South Korea on April 20 said it was ``gravely concerned'' over the shutting down of a North Korean nuclear power plant, saying it may mean the North Korea is reprocessing spent fuel and planning to increase its supply of weapons-grade plutonium.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill speaks to journalists before leaving his hotel in Beijing Wednesday, April 27, 2005. [Reuters]

``We have built the nuclear deterrent force with so much effort despite enormous difficulties in order to effectively cope with the arrogant outrageous and brigandish method of the U.S.,'' the North Korean agency said. ``We know what we should do at the decisive moment and will react to the hard-line action of the U.S. with the toughest action.''

South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon, speaking at a seminar Tuesday, warned North Korea against carrying out nuclear tests because they would isolate the state further and ``go on a road that cannot guarantee its future.''

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill yesterday said it was ``unacceptable'' for North Korea to stay away from the talks.

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