Four-way talks to formulate response to DPRK nuclear test

Seoul's chief nuclear negotiator plans to meet his US and Japanese counterparts on Wednesday and the following day will meet China's nuclear envoy in Beijing.

The Republic of Korea's (ROK) foreign ministry said in a statement that its Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Hwang Joon-kook will hold in-depth discussions with US and Japan to respond to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) latest nuclear test, including "drawing up a strong and comprehensive Security Council resolution in a swift manner".

The following day, Hwang will meet with China's Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Affairs Wu Dawei and the two sides will further discuss their responses, a statement said.

Dong Manyuan, vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies said the ROK is making efforts to forge an UN Security Council resolution to make DPRK face consequences commensurate to the nuclear test, but he is also afraid that the proposed sanctions maybe too strict, as some countries may have added their "self-interest" in them.

The DPRK directly challenged the international community's repeated warnings and demands for denuclearization and there will be strengthened sanctions on it, Dong said, however, the sanctions should not go too far.

Maintaining regional stability by persuading the DPRK into giving up their nuclear programs remains the purpose, Dong argued, saying the threat of strict sanctions, enhanced military deployment and suspicions over the bomb's yield will only ratchet up tensions and provoke Pyongyang to add to their bomb's yield and carry out ballistic missile experiments.

Shi Yuanhua, head of the Center for Relations of China and Neighboring Countries at Fudan University in Shanghai, said prohibiting the DPRK from pursuing nuclear weapons is a common duty of all major powers in the region and results had proved that the US-strategy of putting military and economic pressure in place and waiting for a sudden collapse of the DPRK's regime had failed.

Under current circumstances, all relevant parties should abandon self-interest and exercise restraint for a fair and equitable solution, Shi added.

Meanwhile, data from China's environmental watchdog "basically ruled out" the possibility that the test would have any radiation impact on its areas bordering the DPRK.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection had mobilized 500 officials to check whether the nuclear test has caused any environmental and radiation damage to the Chinese side, according to the ministry's statement.