ID :
63277
Sat, 05/30/2009 - 10:26
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/63277
The shortlink copeid
(Yonhap Interview) N. Korean nuclear test to trigger unprecedented response: Cohen
By Sam Kim
SINGAPORE, May 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korea made a "big miscalculation" by going
ahead with its second nuclear test and should expect an unprecedented response
from the international community, a former U.S. defense minister said Friday.
North Korea set off an underground nuclear explosion on Monday despite a slew of
international warnings.
The incident came less than three years after the belligerent communist state
conducted its first atomic test in October 2006.
It has also fired short-range missiles from its east coast and threatened war on
the Korean Peninsula, which remains in a technical state of war after the 1950-53
Korean War ended in a truce.
"They are making a big miscalculation," former U.S. Secretary of Defense William
Cohen said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency, referring to the North Korean
leadership.
"What they are doing is going to rally the international community in a way that
hasn't been done in the past," he said, speaking on the sidelines of an Asian
security forum in Singapore.
Cohen, who served under then President Bill Clinton from 1997-2001, suggested a
series of courses for the U.S. and South Korea to take to curb such North Korean
behavior.
"There's a lot more that can be done," he said. "There will be an effort made to
reduce the funding for military matters for the North Koreans."
Under U.N. Resolution 1718 that bans North Korea from further nuclear and missile
testing, the country is not allowed to import materials related to weapons of
mass destruction.
Cohen expects international vigilance over such trade to be stepped up, while
South Korea and the U.S. will bolster their cooperation in a multinational
non-proliferation campaign.
"Countries with whom North Korea is trading will come under more, more scrutiny,"
he said, adding Seoul and Washington "will intensify the Proliferation Security
Initiative (PSI)."
The North claims the U.S.-led PSI, aimed at seizing ships and planes suspected of
carrying weapons of mass destruction, is in violation of the truce that bans
naval blockades.
It says the recent South Korean expansion of its role in the U.S.-led drive is a
"declaration of war."
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
SINGAPORE, May 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korea made a "big miscalculation" by going
ahead with its second nuclear test and should expect an unprecedented response
from the international community, a former U.S. defense minister said Friday.
North Korea set off an underground nuclear explosion on Monday despite a slew of
international warnings.
The incident came less than three years after the belligerent communist state
conducted its first atomic test in October 2006.
It has also fired short-range missiles from its east coast and threatened war on
the Korean Peninsula, which remains in a technical state of war after the 1950-53
Korean War ended in a truce.
"They are making a big miscalculation," former U.S. Secretary of Defense William
Cohen said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency, referring to the North Korean
leadership.
"What they are doing is going to rally the international community in a way that
hasn't been done in the past," he said, speaking on the sidelines of an Asian
security forum in Singapore.
Cohen, who served under then President Bill Clinton from 1997-2001, suggested a
series of courses for the U.S. and South Korea to take to curb such North Korean
behavior.
"There's a lot more that can be done," he said. "There will be an effort made to
reduce the funding for military matters for the North Koreans."
Under U.N. Resolution 1718 that bans North Korea from further nuclear and missile
testing, the country is not allowed to import materials related to weapons of
mass destruction.
Cohen expects international vigilance over such trade to be stepped up, while
South Korea and the U.S. will bolster their cooperation in a multinational
non-proliferation campaign.
"Countries with whom North Korea is trading will come under more, more scrutiny,"
he said, adding Seoul and Washington "will intensify the Proliferation Security
Initiative (PSI)."
The North claims the U.S.-led PSI, aimed at seizing ships and planes suspected of
carrying weapons of mass destruction, is in violation of the truce that bans
naval blockades.
It says the recent South Korean expansion of its role in the U.S.-led drive is a
"declaration of war."
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
