NORTH KOREA NEWSLETTER NO. 56 (May 28, 2009)

*** TOPIC OF THE WEEK (Part 2)

International Community Shows Stern Action against N.K.'s Nuclear Test

SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Harsh international condemnation ensued after North Korea's
second nuclear test May 25, with tension escalating as South Korea, the United
States and Japan acted quickly to arrange tougher sanctions on North Korea.

The U.N. Security Council is expected to draw stronger sanctions on the socialist
country than it did in April, when the North fired a long-range rocket. Seoul
condemned the North's move as an "intolerable provocation" that clearly violated
inter-Korean and multinational agreements and a U.N. resolution that banned
nuclear tests and missile-related activities.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed May
26 to seek a U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolution against North Korea over its
second nuclear test and reaffirmed the strong Seoul-Washington alliance. Obama
said the U.S. will continue to provide strong nuclear deterrence for South Korea
in a brief conversation between the two leaders over the phone one day after the
North conducted its nuclear test and test-fired two short-range missiles, the
South Korean presidential office said.
Newswire reports from Washington said the U.S. Treasury Department is considering
its options for further financial sanctions against North Korea. An official said
May 26 that North Korea still had some limited access to the international
financial system, and the Treasury has "broad authority" to take actions to close
them.
In New York, ambassadors from Japan, South Korea, and the five permanent
veto-wielding council members -- the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France --
held talks behind closed doors at U.N. headquarters. On the NBC's "Today" show,
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice said the North's actions were
"provocative, destabilizing, and a threat to international and regional peace and
security."
U.S. President Barack Obama said in Washington the test was "a threat to
international peace" and "warrants action by the international community."
Russia, Britain and France called for stern action against the violation of the
U.N. resolution. China, the North's only ally and a permanent UNSC member, urged
Pyongyang to cease all actions that could worsen the situation.
President Lee Myung-bak called the test "truly disappointing" during an emergency
meeting of the National Security Council in the afternoon. "The North's second
nuclear test is a serious threat to peace not only on the Korean Peninsula, but
also in Northeast Asia and the rest of the world, and a grave challenge to the
international nonproliferation regime," presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan
said.
Seoul will push for "appropriate measures" at the UNSC through cooperation with
the U.S., Japan, China and Russia, the spokesman added. The Seoul government
banned South Koreans from visiting the North, with the exception of those
traveling to the Kaesong joint industrial complex.
On May 26, South Korea formally communicated its decision to become a full member
of a U.S.-led campaign aimed at halting the trafficking of weapons of mass
destruction. The announcement to join the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI)
came one day after North Korea conducted its second nuclear test.
Pyongyang's detonation prompted hectic consultations among six-party dialogue
partners. President Lee said he had discussed joint action with the Japanese
prime minister by telephone. The Japanese government is considering banning all
exports to North Korea, according to sources.
Foreign ministers from South Korea and Japan agreed to raise the issue of the
North's new provocation at the UNSC as early as possible. They met on the
sidelines of Asia-Europe Meeting in Hanoi. "Foreign Ministers Yu Myung-hwan and
Hirofumi Nakasone agreed to call for the UNSC to convene an emergency meeting on
the issue as early as possible," a Seoul official said.
Yu also met his Chinese and Russian counterparts. It is uncertain whether the two
countries will approve new sanctions against the North. In 2006, Beijing and
Moscow agreed to condemn and punish the North following its nuclear and missile
tests. But in April this year, they blocked a U.S. and Japanese bid to impose
additional sanctions, only agreeing to a nonbinding statement and the tightening
of existing sanctions.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, visiting Copenhagen, told media there that he
was "deeply disturbed" by the action, while the Chinese government said it is
"resolutely opposed" to the test.
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso called it "unacceptable," while Russia said
North Korea provoked "an escalation of tensions" and breached U.N. Security
Council Resolution 1718, which imposed trade and arms sanctions on North Korea
after its 2006 test.
Despite the condemnations, a North Korean diplomat in Moscow warned his country
could conduct more nuclear tests "if the U.S. and its allies continue their
policy of intimidation," Russia's Itar-Tass news agency reported.
Since the U.N. Security Council condemnation of its April 5 rocket launch, North
Korea has threatened additional nuclear and missile testing, vowing to toughen
its "nuclear deterrent." Pyongyang claims it put a satellite into orbit with the
rocket launch, while Seoul and Washington say nothing entered space and argue the
rocket could be turned into a ballistic missile capable of hitting the U.S. South
Korean and U.S. experts downplayed the likeliness that the North has developed
the technology to tip intercontinental ballistic missiles with nuclear bombs.
Protesting the international objection to its rocket launch, North Korea has
vowed to drop out of the six-nation denuclearization-for-aid talks and has
expelled outside monitors from its nuclear facilities. It has also recently vowed
to restore its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, which had been undergoing disablement
under a pact signed by the two Koreas, the U.S., Japan, Russia and China.
The latest test came hours after Kim Jong-il offered condolences over the death
of former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, who jumped from a cliff on May 23
amid pressure from a corruption scandal involving his confidants and family. Roh
and Kim met in Pyongyang in 2007 for the second-ever summit between the two
countries. The first was held in 2000, leading to a series of reconciliatory
projects, including the Kaesong industrial complex.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke with her South Korean and Japanese
counterparts May 25 at the Security Council meeting in Washington "and reiterated
our commitment to regional security and to our alliances," spokesman Ian Kelly
said.
The North's recent provocations are seen by many as its traditional brinkmanship
to get more concessions in bilateral talks with the U.S., which were suspended in
2001 by the hard-line Bush administration.
Under the Bill Clinton administration, high-level exchanges took place between
North Korea and the U.S. to address U.S. concerns over the North's nuclear and
ballistic missile capabilities, with then Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
and North Korea's Marshal Jo Myong-rok visiting each other's capitals.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other U.S. officials have said they are
ready to engage the North bilaterally, as well as through the six-party talks.
Albright recently said in a forum, "Ultimately, I think that what the North
Koreans want are bilateral talks with the United States."
Secretary Clinton recently said it "seems implausible if not impossible" that
North Korea will return to the six-party negotiations, at least for the time
being, warning the Obama administration will not bow to North Korea's
brinkmanship. "The ball is in the North Korean court, and we are not concerned
about chasing after North Korea, about offering concessions to North Korea,"
Clinton said.
The six-party process has been in a lull since December, when North Korea refused
to accept a verification protocol of its nuclear facilities, saying the protocol
regime should be discussed in the third phase of denuclearization.
The process is currently in the second phase of disabling the North's nuclear
facilities in return for the equivalent of 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil and
other benefits. The third and final phase calls for the complete and verifiable
dismantlement of the North's nuclear facilities in exchange for massive economic
aid and political and diplomatic benefits.
(END)