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Obama, Lee warn DPRK over N-plans

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-18 08:12

SEOUL: The leaders of the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States told the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to drop its atomic ambitions and stop threatening the region while media reports Wednesday said Pyongyang was moving ahead with plans to launch a long-range missile.

Related readings:  DPRK warns US of '1,000-fold' military action  Pentagon: DPRK missiles able to hit US soon  Washington, Seoul vows unity on DPRK  UN Security Council imposes new curbs on DPRK

After a summit with ROK President Lee Myung-bak in Washington on Tuesday, US President Barack Obama said a nuclear-armed DPRK would pose a "grave threat" to the world. He vowed new UN sanctions imposed for the DPRK's May 25 nuclear test would be strictly enforced.

Separately, the leaders of Russia and China called for speedy return to Six-Party Talks on the DPRK's nuclear program. Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev expressed serious concern over the situation on the Korean Peninsula, according to a joint statement issued at the end of talks in Moscow.

"Given the belligerent manner in which they are constantly threatening their neighbors, I don't think there's any question that that would be a destabilizing situation that would be a profound threat to not only the United States' security, but to world security," Obama said at a news conference, referring to the DPRK's recent moves.

Obama vowed to end a cycle of allowing the DPRK to create a nuclear crisis, then get concessions in the form of food, fuel and other incentives in return for backing down, only to later see Pyongyang renege on its promises. "This is a pattern they've come to expect," Obama said. "We are going to break that pattern."

Obama also reaffirmed Washington's commitment to the defense of the ROK, including keeping it under the US "nuclear umbrella".

The DPRK has also threatened to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) after being earlier punished for a long-range rocket launch in April, which was widely seen as a disguised missile test that violated UN resolutions.

An ROK newspaper said the DPRK's special train for moving intercontinental ballistic missiles had made a trip to an east-coast missile base, weeks after it was seen moving a missile to a new site on the west coast.

US and ROK authorities believe the train may have moved a long-range rocket to the Musudan-ri base on the east coast, used to launch two long-range rockets in the past, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper said.

Reuters