VARIOUS: International community condemns reported North Korean nuclear test

U.S. President George W. Bush on Monday (October 9) called North Korea's claim it tested a nuclear weapon a provocative act that requires an immediate response from the UN Security Council. "Last night the government of North Korea proclaimed to the world that it had conducted a nuclear test. We're working to confirm North Korea's claim. Nonetheless, such a claim itself constitutes a threat to international peace and security," Bush said in the Washington. "The United States condemns such a provocative act. Once again, North Korea has defied the will of the international community, and the international community will respond. Bush said he spoke by phone to leaders of China, South Korea, Japan and Russia and all agreed the test was unacceptable. UK Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said that the UK will push for tough sanctions under chapter seven of the UN charter. "As the Prime Minister and I both made clear this morning, this would be a highly irresponsible and provocative act by North Korea. The world is united in condemnation. North Korea's action is in direct defiance of the will of the international community, coming as it does just days after the United Nations' presidency statement last week which urged North Korea not to carry out its declared intention to test a nuclear device," Beckett told reporters. The German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also condemned the nuclear test in North Korea on Monday (October 9). The North Korean government is continuing along its mistaken path towards self-isolation, he said in a statement in Berlin. "We urge the government of North Korea to immediately stop its nuclear weapons- and missile programmes and to desist from more tests." He said the test threatened peace and security in the region and further afield, and that the North Korean government's goals were only achievable through dialogue. Steinmeier urged North Korea to resume six party talks and said Germany would do all it could to support a peaceful solution. "The UN Security Council will now be looking at how they are going to respond to this." The EU and NATO also condemn strongly the nuclear tests of North Korea, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and NATO Secretary-General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer said in Brussels. "It goes without saying that I can already now condemn this nuclear test in the strongest terms possible. It flies into the face of the international community who had asked not to do this. It is unacceptable, it is not only a threat to regional peace and security, it is a threat to world peace and security and will demand the strongest possible reaction from the international community," said Scheffer. Solana added: "I like to say also that it is very bad news also for the people of North Korea. At the end of the day, the government of North Korea is spending lots of money for something that is not for the benefit of North Korea while the people of North Korea continue to starve. That is something that we have to say and say very clearly that the leaders of that country have absolutely upside-down the principles if they really want to serve the people of North Korea." The test threatens peace and North Korea should return to talks, Scheffer also added. Russia also condemned North Korea's nuclear test but urged countries involved in negotiations on Pyongyang's atomic programme to show restraint in their reaction. "Russia unconditionally condemns tests conducted by North Korea," Putin was shown on national television telling his top ministers gathered for a traditional weekly meeting. "It's not only about Korea, it's about the huge damage which has been done to the process of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons." Putin's remarks followed a milder statement by the foreign ministry, which demanded that North Korea immediately return to nuclear non-proliferation regime and restart international talks on its atomic programme. "The Russian Foreign Ministry urges all governments involved in the current difficult situation to show restraint and patience," the ministry statement said. Putin ordered the foreign ministry to start consultations on the North Korean test in the UN Security Council. U.N. Security Council members unanimously condemned North Korea's nuclear test and will begin work on a resolution the United States is drafting. The United States, Japan, France and Britain have been pushing for resolution that could impose sanctions against North Korea after Pyongyang said it conducted a nuclear test. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton told reporters that the Security Council would be seeking a resolution under Chapter 7 of the United Nations charter. "We're looking, as the president said in his comments, for very swift action by the Security Council. We think it's important to respond even to the claim of a nuclear test by the North Koreans and we'll be going twenty-four seven if we need to be to get this resolution adopted quickly," he said speaking at the U.N. The council has already imposed weapons-related sanctions on North Korea. U.S. officials said one proposal was to put pressure on countries to crack down on banks and businesses aiding the North's weapons programs and ensure close scrutiny of its cargo ships at foreign ports, the officials said in Washington. The talks include North Korea, the United States, Japan, China, Russia and South Korea and are aimed at getting Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security guarantees. China who for sometime has been stressing on the importance of the return to the six party talks hinted that they were still open to that possibility. "I think we have to react firmly, but also I believe that on the other hand that the door to solve this issue from a diplomatic point of view is still open," Wang Guangya, China's Ambassador to The United Nations said at the U.N. North Korea announced last week its intention to test a nuclear device, saying its hand had been forced by what it called U.S. threats of nuclear war and economic sanctions. But it said it would not be the first to use a nuclear weapon. North Korea's ambassador to the U.N., Pak Gil Yon, Monday (October 09) slammed the Security Council for its intended action against Pyongyang, after its alleged underground nuclear test on Monday. The nuclear test comes in open defiance of a warning from the U.N. Security Council and opens North Korea's crippled economy to the risk of fresh sanctions. Pak Gil Yon expressed pride in his country's scientists and assured that the test would increase peace in the region. "The nuclear test in the DPRK will greatly contribute in increasing the war deterrence of the DPRK, as well as, it will be contributable to the maintenance and guarantee to peace and security in the peninsula and the region," he said. Analysts say North Korea probably has enough fissile material to make six to eight nuclear bombs but probably lacks the technology to devise one small enough to mount on a missile. North Korea announced last week its intention to test a nuclear device, saying its hand had been forced by what it called U.S. threats of nuclear war and economic sanctions. But it said it would not be the first to use a nuclear weapon.

ITN Source | October 10, 2006

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