JAPAN/SOUTH KOREA: U.S. North Korea envoy arrives in Tokyo as Japan and South Korea warn of nuclear North

Record ID: 462911

  • Title: JAPAN/SOUTH KOREA: U.S. North Korea envoy arrives in Tokyo as Japan and South Korea warn of nuclear North
  • Date: 23rd November 2010
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (NOVEMBER 22, 2010) (REUTERS) PLANE CARRYING US SPECIAL ENVOY ON NORTH KOREA STEPHEN BOSWORTH DOCKING GATE GOING TO CONNECT WITH AIRPLANE US SPECIAL ENVOY ON NORTH KOREA STEPHEN BOSWORTH WALKING DOWN BOARDING GATE BOSWORTH WALKING BY REPORTERS MORE OF BOSWORTH WALKING BOSWORTH WALKING AWAY SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (NOVEMBER 22, 2010) (REUTERS) SOUTH KOREAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN KIM YOUNG-SUN WALKING INTO NEWS BRIEFING ROOM VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS KIM SPEAKING AT PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) SOUTH KOREAN FOREIGN MINISTER KIM YOUNG-SUN SAYING: "Including South Korea and the United States, the countries related to the six-party talks are going to closely consult how to deal with the problem." JOURNALISTS KIM SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) SOUTH KOREAN FOREIGN MINISTER KIM YOUNG-SUN SAYING: "North Korea's denuclearisation is a matter beyond the denuclearisation itself. It is also related to the North's future. Therefore, we need more comprehensive and careful approach to the matter." NEWS BRIEFING IN PROGRESS
  • Embargoed: 8th December 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan, Korea, Republic of
  • City:
  • Country: Japan Korea, Republic of
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA6Z5JJS5AP2T6BL98IJ24JL5G4
  • Story Text: The United States' special envoy to North Korea Stephen Bosworth arrived in Tokyo Monday (November 22) as Japan and South Korea warned of the dangers of nuclearisation in the North.
    Bosworth is on a three country tour of Asia to discuss ways to thwart Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions amid fresh concerns about its uranium enrichment program.
    The latest flurry over Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions follows comments on the weekend by Siegfried Hecker of Stanford University that he had been shown more than a thousand centrifuges at the Yongbyon nuclear complex this month. North Korea said they were operational.
    Bosworth met with South Korean officials in Seoul on Monday before heading to Tokyo, where Japan has already condemned the possible development in the DPRK's quest to become a nuclear state.
    "If the media reports are true, then it is a very grave situation. We absolutely cannot accept North Korea moving forward with nuclear development from the viewpoint of our country's security as well as the region's peace and stability," said Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku when asked about the report.
    By showing its nuclear hand, analysts say North Korea is seeking to gain leverage in any aid-for-disarmament negotiations in stalled six-way talks with regional powers China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States.
    Japan emphasized the need for cooperation saying it would work with other nations in the region to stop the DPRK's nuclear pursuits.
    "In order to resolve various issues of concern including the nuclear issue, we must cooperate with relevant countries such as the United States, South Korea and China and do our best so that North Korea can stop its nuclear development," Sengoku told reporters.
    Hecker's report compounds worries the North is seeking a second way to obtain fissile material for atomic bombs.
    Bosworth, who was making his fourth such visit to the Yongbyon complex, said the uranium enrichment facility was recently completed and was said to be producing low-enriched uranium (LEU) destined for fuel for a new light-water reactor.
    A foreign ministry official in Seoul said the latest revelations, if true, posed "a very serious problem," and will be studied closely.
    "Including South Korea and the United States, the countries related to the six-party talks are going to closely consult how to deal with the problem," said the spokesman Kim Young-sun at a regular news briefing in Seoul.
    Kim added that the issue of denuclearisation goes beyond simply removing the threat of nuclear weapons.
    "North Korea's denuclearisation is a matter beyond the denuclearisation itself. It is also related to the North's future. Therefore, we need more comprehensive and careful approach to the matter," said Kim.
    Meanwhile, South Korea's Defence Minister Kim Tae-young said on Monday (November 22) he would discuss the possibility of re-deployment of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in his country with the U.S. counterpart.
    "First of all, we will discuss it at the (U.S. - South Korean) Committee for Nuclear Deterrence, then we will examine the possibility of what you have said," said Minister Kim.
    Conservative South Koreans argue that their government should ask the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) to re-deploy its tactical nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula to deter nuclear-armed North Korea.
    Seoul's English newspaper the Korea Times says the USFK removed its nuclear stockpiles in 1991. Former U.S. President George Bush announced in September 1991 that the U.S. would eliminate its entire worldwide inventory of ground-launched tactical nuclear weapons and would remove all nuclear weapons from surface ships and attack submarines.
    The U.S. has instead pledged that it would provide South Korea with a nuclear umbrella to thwart North Korea's nuclear threat, the newspaper added.
    Former South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said in April South Korea would not ask the U.S. to re-deploy nuclear weapons on the peninsula despite North Korea's nuclear threat.
    The North has said it wants to resume multilateral talks, but Washington and Seoul have said they will only consider a return to the negotiating table when Pyongyang shows it is sincere about denuclearisation.
    It's reported nuclear advances come nearly two months after Kim Jong-il started the transition of power to his youngest son, Kim Jong-un. Analysts say he also wants to use nuclear muscle to boost his son's credentials with the military.
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