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North Korea’s neighbours
NORTH KOREA faced stern warnings from its neighbors yesterday against carrying out an unprecedented nuclear test, but insisted that such a move wouldn’t be meant as a provocation. A top South Korean security official said there was no sign a test was imminent.
China, Japan and South Korea announced a series of summits among their leaders, ratcheting up diplomacy over tensions caused by the North’s announcement Tuesday that it intends to detonate a bomb.
Such a test would confirm the North’s claim that it has atomic capabilities, and would severely undermine efforts to prevent an Asian nuclear arms race by getting Pyongyang to disarm.
South Korea’s top official on dealings with the North, Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok, said yesterday that there were no definite signs that the test is imminent.
However, Lee also told lawmakers there was “a high possibility” it would eventually take place if “efforts to resume the six-party talks fail,” Yonhap news agency reported.
North Korea has boycotted six-nation nuclear talks with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the US for nearly a year, angered by American financial restrictions imposed over the North’s alleged illegal activities such as money laundering and counterfeiting.
An official at the North’s embassy in Australia, Pak Myong-guk, who described himself as a minister, said that Pyongyang’s planned nuclear test “is not provocative.”
“It is just the corresponding measure for defense, for us to defend ourselves,” Pak told The Associated Press. “It is the really essential process for nuclear deterrent.” The North often insists it needs nuclear weapons to deter a US attack.China – the North’s main ally and key benefactor – appealed on Pyongyang to show calm and restraint, issuing an unusually pointed statement that referred to North Korea by name. The statement contrasted with earlier Chinese responses, which have typically called for restraint from all sides in the dispute.
“We hope the North Korean side will be sure to keep calm and restrained on the nuclear test issue,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said on the ministry Web site.
Cool headed response</B>
South Korea’s President Roh Moo-hyun called for a “cool-headed and stern” response to the North’s announcement, while South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Choo Kyu-ho said a nuclear test by North Korea could cause a change in its engagement policy toward the communist regime.
“If North Korea pushes ahead with a nuclear test, North Korea should take full responsibility for all consequences,” Choo said after an emergency meeting of South Korean security ministers.
Asked to elaborate on what the consequences would be, Choo said a North Korean nuclear test could bring about a “shift” in Seoul’s engagement policy toward the North, but also stressed that doesn’t mean abandoning that policy altogether.
South Korea has consistently pursued dialogue with North Korea since their leaders first met in a historic summit in 2000. That approach has caused a rift with Washington, which favors a harder line toward the communist regime.
Seoul is one of the main aid providers to the impoverished North, but it suspended regular relief shipments after Pyongyang carried out missile tests on July 5. However, the South later agreed to send emergency aid to help the North cope with the effects of massive floods that struck the country in mid-July.
Despite the nuclear test threat, the South yesterday shipped previously promised aid to the North, including 6,400 tons of cement, the Unification Ministry said.
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