N.K. says it may quit six-party talks if U.N. sanctions it on rocket launch

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead, UPDATES with S. Korean envoy's trip to Beijing,
expert's view, Tokyo-based newspaper's report)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, March 24 (Yonhap) -- North Korea warned Tuesday it may quit the six-party
nuclear talks and retain its atomic weapons should the United Nations impose
sanctions over its satellite launch.
South Korea, the United States and Japan have been threatening U.N. sanctions if
North Korea goes through with its launch, citing a Security Council resolution
adopted after the North's missile and nuclear tests in 2006. They believe the
satellite launch is actually a cover for a long-range missile test.
"If such a hostile activity is carried out under the name of the U.N. Security
Council, that would be a breach of the Sept. 19 joint statement by the U.N.
Security Council itself," a spokesman of the North's Foreign Ministry said,
referring to a 2005 accord reached at the six-party talks. The talks aimed at
ending Pyongyang's nuclear program involve the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan
and Russia.
"If the Sept. 19 joint statement breaks down, there would be no reason for the
six-party talks to exist," the unnamed spokesman said.
North Korea has notified U.N. agencies it will put its communications satellite
Kwangmyongsong-2 into orbit sometime between April 4-8. It warned that any
foreign attempt to shoot down the satellite will lead to a war on the Korean
Peninsula.
"Space development and its peaceful use are legitimate rights that every nation
on earth is equally entitled to," the spokesman said.
The spokesman rejected the argument used to oppose the North's rocket launch,
which is that the technologies used for shooting a satellite and a missile are
indistinguishable. The U.S. and Japan have already put their own satellites into
space, meaning they have more advanced missile technology, the spokesman noted.
Such an argument, the spokesman said, is "thieves' logic."
"There is no authority to interfere with the independent right of sovereign
nations with regard to peaceful space development and space use," the spokesman
said.
The statement came as South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, Wi Sung-lac, met
with China's Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei in Beijing over plans to deal with
North Korea's rocket launch. China will also hold talks with Japan later this
week.
South Korean intelligence officials expect North Korea to mount the rocket on the
launch pad as early as this weekend for fuel injection at a base on the country's
east coast.
North Korea said the six-party talks are already "on the verge of breakdown"
because of Japan, which refuses to provide its share of energy aid promised to
North Korea under the six-nation deal. Tokyo demands that the North first account
for Japanese citizens abducted by Pyongyang in past decades. About 70 percent of
the promised 1 million tons of fuel oil has been delivered to North Korea.
"The reality we face today with the six-party talks on the verge of breakdown due
to the hostile behavior by some participating countries is a testimony to our
position that we cannot give up our nuclear weapons even in 100 years unless the
hostile relations are cleared," the spokesman said.
The six-party talks have been stalled since the latest round broke down in
December due to a dispute over how to verify North Korea's past nuclear activity.
Last week, the Choson Sinbo, a Tokyo-based newspaper that conveys Pyongyang's
position, warned of North Korea's boycott of the six-party talks should the
Barack Obama administration resort to sanctions, but also said the North will
respond if the U.S. proposes dialogue.
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, said North
Korea is sharpening its rhetoric as a countermeasure against ongoing diplomatic
moves by the U.S., South Korea and Japan. Tuesday's foreign ministry statement is
saying that the North can conduct more missile tests and a second nuclear test,
he said.
"The U.S., Japan and South Korea and western countries have intensified their
tough rhetoric to stop North Korea's launch, warning of U.N. sanctions, and North
Korea is standing head to head," Yang said.
He noted that North Korea's next action will depend on how the countries in the
region react to its rocket launch.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)