Obama calls for full implementation of U.N. sanctions on N. Korea

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details, background throughout)
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Barack Obama called Thursday for
full implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions sanctioning North Korea
and Iran for their nuclear programs.
Obama made the remarks while chairing the UNSC summit on Nuclear Nonproliferation
and Nuclear Disarmament at the headquarters of the U.N. in New York, becoming the
first U.S. president to do so since the inauguration of the global body in 1946.
"The resolution we passed today will also strengthen the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty," Obama said, according to a transcript released by the
White House. "We've made it clear that the Security Council has both the
authority and responsibility to determine and respond as necessary when
violations of this treaty threaten international peace and security. That
includes full compliance with Security Council resolutions on Iran and North
Korea."
The U.N. Security Council adopted a series of resolutions after North Korea
tested nuclear weapons and launched rockets and missiles in the past years to
impose an arms embargo, financial and other sanctions to stop the North from
continuing their nuclear and missile programs and proliferating them.
North Korea seceded from the NPT in 2003 after the U.S. stopped building two
light water nuclear reactors and providing alternative energy to the North,
citing North Korea's clandestine nuclear program based on uranium enrichment, as
well as its plutonium-making reactor that was frozen at that time under the
Geneva Framework Agreement.
The six-party talks began later in 2003 to replace the defunct bilateral nuclear
agreement between the U.S. and North Korea, leading to an agreement among the two
Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia for the North's nuclear dismantlement
in return for a massive economic aid, diplomatic recognition and establishment of
a permanent peace regime to replace the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean
War.
The six-party deal came to a standstill in recent months as Pyongyang threatened
to boycott the deal for good, citing the international sanctions and demanding
bilateral talks with the U.S. for a breakthrough.
Obama called for all U.N. member states to join the U.S. in strictly implementing
the resolutions against Pyongyang and Tehran, also being sanctioned under U.N.
resolutions for its nuclear programs, saying, "The next 12 months will be
absolutely critical in determining whether this resolution and our overall
efforts to stop the spread and use of nuclear weapons are successful. And all
nations must do their part to make this work."
"This is not about singling out individual nations; it is about standing up for
the rights of all nations who do live up to their responsibilities," he said.
"The world must stand together, and we must demonstrate that international law is
not an empty promise, and that treaties will be enforced."
Obama's remarks came soon after the 15-member security council adopted Resolution
1887, "demanding full compliance with Security Council resolutions on Iran and
North Korea and calling on the parties to find an early negotiated solution."
The new resolution "expresses the Council's grave concern about the threat of
nuclear proliferation and the need for international action to prevent it."
The resolution also "reaffirms that the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction and their means of delivery are threats to international peace and
security and shows agreement on a broad range of actions to address nuclear
proliferation and disarmament and the threat of nuclear terrorism."
It is the second time in as many days that Obama referred specifically to North
Korea and Iran.
Obama told the General Assembly of the United Nations on Wednesday, "I am
committed to diplomacy that opens a path to greater prosperity and a more secure
peace, for both nations, if they live up to their obligations. But if the
governments of Iran and North Korea choose to ignore international standards --
if they put the pursuit of nuclear weapons ahead of regional stability and the
security and opportunity of their own people, if they are oblivious to the
dangers of escalating nuclear arms races in both East Asia and the Middle East --
then they must be held accountable."
Those remarks came amid signs of thawing relations between the U.S. and North
Korea, whose leader, Kim Jong-il, last week reportedly expressed his intention,
in a major policy shift, to talk multilaterally as well as bilaterally about his
country's nuclear programs.
Washington had insisted on the North coming back to the six-party talks, but
recently softened its stance by saying it may hold bilateral talks to woo the
reluctant North back to the multilateral table.
Stephen Bosworth, U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, may visit
Pyongyang in late October or early November after Chinese Prime Minister Wen
Jiabao attends a ceremony in Pyongyang, which is slated for early October to
commemorate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between
the two communist allies.
Kim is expected to meet Wen to give his opinion on the six-party talks, which
China has been hosting since their inception in 2003.
Obama met Wednesday with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and agreed on the
need for bilateral conacts with North Korea to revive the six-party talks.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan and Chinese Premier Hu Jintao also
threw their support behind Washington's plans for the one-on-one dialogue with
Pyongyang when they met with their U.S. counterparts earlier this week in New
York.
hdh@yna.co.kr
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