ID :
56565
Tue, 04/21/2009 - 10:36
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/56565
The shortlink copeid
S. Korea quizzes IAEA on stance over N. Korea nuclear status
By Lee Chi-dong
SEOUL, April 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korean government officials were trying Tuesday to ascertain details behind reported comments by the top U.N. nuclear official that North Korea is a nuclear power.
Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA), said Monday that North Korea is a nuclear power, according to the German
news agency DPA.
"North Korea has nuclear weapons, which is a matter of fact," he was quoted as
saying on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting on nuclear energy in Beijing. "I
don't like to accept any country as a nuclear weapons state," he said before
adding, "We have to face reality."
North Korea conducted its first atomic test in 2006, and some media reports say
it may be preparing for a second one.
The remarks by the outgoing IAEA chief, coming amid troubled efforts to end the
North's nuclear program, touched off renewed questions about how the
international community views the reclusive communist nation's nuclear
capability. ElBaradei is slated to retire in November, and the selection process
to name his successor is under way.
"We have instructed our embassy in Vienna to find out whether his comments
reflect the IAEA's official position," a foreign ministry official said.
The official also pointed out that the North would not be automatically
acknowledged as a nuclear state despite the IAEA chief's comments as such
designation is a matter of international law.
The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) categorizes only five countries -- the
U.S., Russia, China, France, and Britain -- as nuclear powers. India, Pakistan
and Israel are considered de facto nuclear states.
"Under the current NPT regime, North Korea cannot become a nuclear state," he said.
But experts say the U.S. may tacitly regard North Korea as a nuclear power at
least militarily, albeit not politically and diplomatically.
The U.S. Joint Forces Command in Hawaii in a report early this year was found to
have categorized North Korea as a regional nuclear power along with China, India,
Pakistan, and Russia, sparking controversy here. It later revised the report to
exclude North Korea upon queries by Seoul.
SEOUL, April 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korean government officials were trying Tuesday to ascertain details behind reported comments by the top U.N. nuclear official that North Korea is a nuclear power.
Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA), said Monday that North Korea is a nuclear power, according to the German
news agency DPA.
"North Korea has nuclear weapons, which is a matter of fact," he was quoted as
saying on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting on nuclear energy in Beijing. "I
don't like to accept any country as a nuclear weapons state," he said before
adding, "We have to face reality."
North Korea conducted its first atomic test in 2006, and some media reports say
it may be preparing for a second one.
The remarks by the outgoing IAEA chief, coming amid troubled efforts to end the
North's nuclear program, touched off renewed questions about how the
international community views the reclusive communist nation's nuclear
capability. ElBaradei is slated to retire in November, and the selection process
to name his successor is under way.
"We have instructed our embassy in Vienna to find out whether his comments
reflect the IAEA's official position," a foreign ministry official said.
The official also pointed out that the North would not be automatically
acknowledged as a nuclear state despite the IAEA chief's comments as such
designation is a matter of international law.
The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) categorizes only five countries -- the
U.S., Russia, China, France, and Britain -- as nuclear powers. India, Pakistan
and Israel are considered de facto nuclear states.
"Under the current NPT regime, North Korea cannot become a nuclear state," he said.
But experts say the U.S. may tacitly regard North Korea as a nuclear power at
least militarily, albeit not politically and diplomatically.
The U.S. Joint Forces Command in Hawaii in a report early this year was found to
have categorized North Korea as a regional nuclear power along with China, India,
Pakistan, and Russia, sparking controversy here. It later revised the report to
exclude North Korea upon queries by Seoul.
