ID :
52693
Sat, 03/28/2009 - 18:28
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/52693
The shortlink copeid
Nuke envoys seek unified stance on N. Korean rocket
WASHINGTON, March 27 (Yonhap) -- Nuclear envoys from South Korea and the U.S. sought to coordinate their response to an imminent North Korean rocket launch in their meeting here Friday.
Wi Sung-lac and Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special envoy on North Korea, held the
bilateral meeting at the State Department in the afternoon soon after Bosworth
had a separate meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Akitaka Saiki.
Emerging from a two-hour meeting with Bosworth, Wi said, "We've discussed ways to
deal with (the rocket issue) at the U.N. Security Council, resume six-party talks
and so on."
North Korea has said it intends to send a communications satellite into orbit and
has warned any attempt to shoot it down would be an act of war. Pyongyang has
alerted international aviation and maritime agencies it will fire the rocket
between April 4-8, coinciding with the G20 summit in London.
North Korea's neighbors suspect the launch is a cover to test a long-range
missile capable of striking the western United States, and have stressed that a
launch -- of either a missile or a satellite -- would violate U.N. Security
Council Resolution 1718.
The three nuclear envoys were to have a working dinner later in the day to
coordinate their positions on the rocket launch.
Asked whether the parties had reached a unified position, the South Korean envoy
said, "I am not sure ... It's an ongoing consultation. We are going to continue
over dinner."
Wi said he "would not prejudge what the U.N. Security Council will do."
"It is violation of the U.N. Security Council resolution no matter what they
launch," he added, reiterating his government's official position.
The trilateral meeting was the first of its kind since Bosworth's appointment as
U.S. President Barack Obama's point man on North Korea last month.
Bosworth got the cold shoulder from Pyongyang during his recent Asia tour, which
brought him to Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo last month to meet with officials on
North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons programs.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in an interview with Fox Television
on Thursday, "I sent word that we would like to have our special envoy for North
Korean policy go to Pyongyang. They didn't want him to come. So we're working
hard."
North Korea has warned against any move by the U.S., whether it shoots down the
rocket or brings the case to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.
The North has threatened to scrap the six-party talks on its atomic program,
which have been stalled over a disagreement on inspecting its nuclear facilities.
A spokesman for North Korea's Foreign Ministry promised "strong measures" in the
face of any U.N. action against the rocket launch, hinting at a possible second
nuclear test, following one conducted in 2006.
The spokesman was apparently responding to Secretary Clinton's remarks that she
will refer the rocket launch to the security council, warning that any launch
will bear "consequences."
Despite claims by senior U.S. officials that the U.S. has the ability to shoot
down any rocket launched from North Korea, some experts say Washington will not
attempt it due to technical shortfalls and political implications.
Chinese and Russian officials have been urging all concerned parties to show
restraint, spawning speculation they may not join efforts by the U.S. and its
allies to further sanction the North.
North Korea insists it has the right to orbit a satellite as part of a peaceful
space program.
China, North Korea's staunchest communist ally, and Russia greatly toned down the
U.N. resolution, which was adopted in 2006 soon after North Korea's ballistic
missile test.
North Korea also detonated its first nuclear device in October 2006, just months
after its missile test.
U.S. officials and experts see the North's planned rocket launch as an attempt to
show off its missile capability and revive the missile talks, suspended under the
Bill Clinton administration a decade ago.
"North Korea is attempting to demonstrate an (inter-continental ballistic
missile) capability through a space launch. That's what they are up to," Dennis
Blair, U.S. director of national intelligence, told reporters Thursday.
Secretary Clinton has said she would like to initiate missile talks with North
Korea, while other U.S. officials have said that Washington needs to discuss the
matter with the other nations involved in the six-party talks before deciding on
the next move.
Some experts have proposed that Washington pay up to US$1 billion annually in
compensation if the North halts long-range missile exports, deployment and
development.
North Korea is suspected to be a major provider of missiles and missile parts to
Syria, Iran and other Middle Eastern countries. It made the demand for cash
compensation a decade earlier.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
Wi Sung-lac and Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special envoy on North Korea, held the
bilateral meeting at the State Department in the afternoon soon after Bosworth
had a separate meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Akitaka Saiki.
Emerging from a two-hour meeting with Bosworth, Wi said, "We've discussed ways to
deal with (the rocket issue) at the U.N. Security Council, resume six-party talks
and so on."
North Korea has said it intends to send a communications satellite into orbit and
has warned any attempt to shoot it down would be an act of war. Pyongyang has
alerted international aviation and maritime agencies it will fire the rocket
between April 4-8, coinciding with the G20 summit in London.
North Korea's neighbors suspect the launch is a cover to test a long-range
missile capable of striking the western United States, and have stressed that a
launch -- of either a missile or a satellite -- would violate U.N. Security
Council Resolution 1718.
The three nuclear envoys were to have a working dinner later in the day to
coordinate their positions on the rocket launch.
Asked whether the parties had reached a unified position, the South Korean envoy
said, "I am not sure ... It's an ongoing consultation. We are going to continue
over dinner."
Wi said he "would not prejudge what the U.N. Security Council will do."
"It is violation of the U.N. Security Council resolution no matter what they
launch," he added, reiterating his government's official position.
The trilateral meeting was the first of its kind since Bosworth's appointment as
U.S. President Barack Obama's point man on North Korea last month.
Bosworth got the cold shoulder from Pyongyang during his recent Asia tour, which
brought him to Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo last month to meet with officials on
North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons programs.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in an interview with Fox Television
on Thursday, "I sent word that we would like to have our special envoy for North
Korean policy go to Pyongyang. They didn't want him to come. So we're working
hard."
North Korea has warned against any move by the U.S., whether it shoots down the
rocket or brings the case to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.
The North has threatened to scrap the six-party talks on its atomic program,
which have been stalled over a disagreement on inspecting its nuclear facilities.
A spokesman for North Korea's Foreign Ministry promised "strong measures" in the
face of any U.N. action against the rocket launch, hinting at a possible second
nuclear test, following one conducted in 2006.
The spokesman was apparently responding to Secretary Clinton's remarks that she
will refer the rocket launch to the security council, warning that any launch
will bear "consequences."
Despite claims by senior U.S. officials that the U.S. has the ability to shoot
down any rocket launched from North Korea, some experts say Washington will not
attempt it due to technical shortfalls and political implications.
Chinese and Russian officials have been urging all concerned parties to show
restraint, spawning speculation they may not join efforts by the U.S. and its
allies to further sanction the North.
North Korea insists it has the right to orbit a satellite as part of a peaceful
space program.
China, North Korea's staunchest communist ally, and Russia greatly toned down the
U.N. resolution, which was adopted in 2006 soon after North Korea's ballistic
missile test.
North Korea also detonated its first nuclear device in October 2006, just months
after its missile test.
U.S. officials and experts see the North's planned rocket launch as an attempt to
show off its missile capability and revive the missile talks, suspended under the
Bill Clinton administration a decade ago.
"North Korea is attempting to demonstrate an (inter-continental ballistic
missile) capability through a space launch. That's what they are up to," Dennis
Blair, U.S. director of national intelligence, told reporters Thursday.
Secretary Clinton has said she would like to initiate missile talks with North
Korea, while other U.S. officials have said that Washington needs to discuss the
matter with the other nations involved in the six-party talks before deciding on
the next move.
Some experts have proposed that Washington pay up to US$1 billion annually in
compensation if the North halts long-range missile exports, deployment and
development.
North Korea is suspected to be a major provider of missiles and missile parts to
Syria, Iran and other Middle Eastern countries. It made the demand for cash
compensation a decade earlier.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
