VARIOUS: China, South Korea and Australia condemn North Korea nuclear threat... while Japanese expert says North Korea believes it has nothing to lose

Record ID: 491517

  • Title: VARIOUS: China, South Korea and Australia condemn North Korea nuclear threat... while Japanese expert says North Korea believes it has nothing to lose
  • Date: 4th October 2006
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF ANTI-NUCLEAR RALLY, BURNING CLOTH WITH NORTH KOREAN FLAG, LATE AND CURRENT NORTH KOREAN LEADERS' PHOTOGRAPHS (SOUNDBITE)(Korean) HONG JEONG-SHIK , PROTEST LEADER, SAYING: "It will cause more tension on the Korean peninsula and severe instability in Northeast Asia. We strongly oppose North Korea's nuclear test for the world peace and the safety of South Koreans." MORE OF RALLY
  • Embargoed: 19th October 2006 13:00
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  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA3MTZRG1FLLRXE3BGSRVDD88CP
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  • Story Text: South Korea said on Wednesday (October 4, 2006) it was gravely concerned about North Korea's plans to test a nuclear bomb, with the United States saying the move would be "an unacceptable threat" to world peace.
    Reclusive North Korea announced on Tuesday (October 3) it planned its first nuclear test, saying its hand was forced by a U.S. "threat of nuclear war and sanctions".
    While South Korean government officials held series of meetings to discuss how to cope with the situation, the country's security-related ministers answered lawmakers' questions about the possibility of the North's nuclear test.
    A top military leader said his ministry placed more weight on the possibility of a nuclear test.
    "We place much weight on the possibility of a nuclear test and work accordingly. North Korea's nuclear weapons issues are very important matters for the security of the Korean peninsula," Defence Minister Yoon Kwang-ung told a group of lawmakers at Seoul's National Assembly.
    South Korea's top negotiator in dealing with inter-Korean matters said North Korea would go ahead with the test if the effort to resume the six-way talks fails.
    "If the efforts to resume the six-way talks fail, there's high possibility of a nuclear test, I think," said Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok at the Assembly.
    North Korea walked out of six-way talks -- with South Korea, Japan, China, the United States and Russia -- almost a year ago and has refused to return until the United States ends a financial crackdown on its offshore bank accounts which analysts say has begun to pinch the government of the impoverished country.
    A nuclear test is certain to be seen as an attempt by North Korea to force the United States into direct negotiations, something it has long pushed for but which Washington has rejected until Pyongyang returns to the six-party talks.
    The statement by North Korea's foreign ministry, carried on the official KCNA News Agency and television, follows weeks of rumours the Stalinist state planned the test and comes amid increasingly bitter relations with the outside world after it test-fired missiles in July.
    Analysts say North Korea probably has enough fissile material to make 6 to 8 nuclear bombs but probably does not have the technology to make one small enough to mount on a missile.
    People on the street had divided opinions.
    "I did not expect North Korea to go this far. They abruptly did it during the holiday week. I have to seriously think about what's in their mind," said 42-year-old Park Sung-woo.
    "It's not unusual to me. It's normal. They do that kind of thing from time to time. I don't take it seriously as of now," said 37-year-old Hwang Ho-soon.
    A small group of conservative activists held an anti-nuclear rally in downtown Seoul, denouncing North Korean leaders.
    "It will cause more tension on the Korean peninsula and severe instability in Northeast Asia. We strongly oppose North Korea's nuclear test for the world peace and the safety of South Koreans," said protest leader Hong Jeong-shik.
    China urged North Korea on Wednesday to act with calm and restraint but Beijing also warned other countries not to deepen tensions.
    China argues that the whole question of North Korea's nuclear ambitions should be handled within the framework of the six-party talks it has been hosting in Beijing.
    Pyongyang has been boycotting the talks since late last year in protest at a U.S. crackdown on its international financial dealings. The Beijing forum brings together the two Koreas, China, the United States, Russia and Japan.
    Australia said the threat was appalling and offensive.
    "We will be talking to the North Korean ambassador about this press release they have put out. I think it is an appalling statement to have made, it is highly provocative and it is deeply offensive to the whole of the region this statement, and it cuts across all the work that has been done above all by China but also Japan, Korea, Russia and the United States throughout he six-party process so we will obviously very strongly express our views including directly to the North Korean ambassador," said Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer.
    North Korea has refused to return to the six-way talks -- with South Korea, Japan, China, the United States and Russia -- until the United States ends a financial crackdown on its offshore bank accounts which analysts say has begun to pinch the government of the impoverished country.
    A nuclear test is certain to be seen as an attempt by North Korea to force the United States into direct negotiations, something it has long pushed for but which Washington has rejected until Pyongyang returns to the six-party talks.
    Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Wednesday (October 4) he hoped North Korea would show restraint over plans it has announced to conduct a nuclear test.
    "We are entirely against an expansion of the so-called "nuclear club'', And we often make this clear,'' Ivanov told reporters on a visit to a Russian air base in ex-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. "If we take into account that the KPR (Korean People's Republic) has pulled out of the nuclear non-proliferation agreement, then there are grounds for concern, not just from the military point of view, but from the fact that just like South Korea and China, we share a border with North Korea. And such testing, if it will be carried out, and I can't say for sure whether it will, such testing might lead to an environmental disaster on Russian soil, and therefore we call upon the leadership of North Korea to show restraint and to think about the possible consequences,'' said Ivanov.
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