| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Political Pagan" |
| Date: |
17 Oct 2006 03:56:09 AM |
| Object: |
North Korea: U.N. resolution a 'declaration of war' |
This should be interesting, now that Bush has antagonized a country that
actually DOES have WMDs, and looks at us as enemy combatants. Thank you
President Bush. Hopefully we all won't be glowing in the dark this
Christmas.
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http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/10/17/nkorea.sanctions/index.html?sec
tion=cnn_topstories
North Korea: U.N. resolution a 'declaration of war'
(CNN) -- Blaming the United States for instigating U.N. Security Council
sanctions against it, North Korea on Tuesday called the resolution approved
over the weekend a "declaration of war."
North Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the official
Korean Central News Agency that the country wants "peace but is not afraid
of war."
The North "vehemently denounces the resolution, a product of the U.S.
hostile policy toward (the North) and totally refutes it," the statement
said, according to a report from The Associated Press.
North Korea's statement followed U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
calling the U.N. resolution a "clear message" that Pyongyang must "make a
new set of calculations" about its nuclear endeavors.
"North Korea cannot endanger the world and then expect other nations to
conduct business as usual in arms or missile parts," Rice told reporters on
Monday. "It cannot destabilize the international system and then expect to
exploit elaborate financial networks built for peaceful commerce." (Watch
Rice warn North Korea -- 1:32)
The need to resolve the crisis, meanwhile, increased Tuesday after
government officials in South Korea and Japan said there were signs that
North Korea could be preparing for a second nuclear test.
Japan said it had received information on possible second North Korea
nuclear test, according to the Kyodo News agency.
A South Korean government official in Seoul said his government had
received intelligence reports about preparations for a possible test but it
was unclear how reliable they were.
A U.S. intelligence official said that there had been "activity" at several
North Korea sites, but added that it was not clear if the activity amounted
to preparations for another nuclear test.
"We're not ruling that out," the official told CNN. But the intelligence
was "ambiguous, and not conclusive," the official stressed.
The official, with access to classified U.S. intelligence, said he was "not
aware of any evidence pointing to an imminent test."
"I wouldn't bet the mortgage on a second test," the official said.
In her comments Monday, Rice said a diplomatic avenue must be kept open to
North Korea.
"We must remind North Korea that a positive path remains open to it through
the six-party talks," Rice said. "Thus far, North Korea has chosen the path
of confrontation and all that that entails -- deepening isolation, a
failing economy, and few opportunities for its oppressed peoples.
The secretary's comments came on the eve of her trip to Asia, where she'll
meet with other parties in the six-way talks on how to implement the
sanctions.
"We expect every member of the international community to fully implement
all aspects of this resolution," Rice said. "And we expect the Security
Council to aggressively monitor the process."
Earlier in the day, Chinese U.N. ambassador Wang Guangya said his country
would inspect cargo bound for and coming out of North Korea. That
contradicts statements he made Saturday, hours after the resolution passed,
that his country would find it politically difficult to conduct such
inspections. China is North Korea's biggest trading partner.
"But inspections is different from interception and interdiction," he
clarified Monday. "I think in that area that different countries will do it
in different ways."
Nicholas Burns, undersecretary for political affairs, told CNN's "American
Morning" the United States had received reports that Chinese officials were
inspecting cargo in trucks along its 800-mile border with North Korea on
Monday.
Burns said Australia also announced that it was barring North Korean ships
from its ports, and Japan was mulling further measures.
Rice said that during her trip, she'll also talk with North Korea's
neighbors about how to "design a practical architecture for detecting and
screening" materials that could be used to further North Korea's nuclear
program.
She'll also work with the other countries to "ensure the continued vitality
of the global regime to prevent and counter the proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction."
The Security Council resolution, which passed by a vote of 15-0, was in
response to North Korea's claim that it had tested a nuclear device last
week. (Full story)
The measure forbids trade between U.N. member states and North Korea in
material that may be used for nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction
and high-end military equipment. It requires Pyongyang not to conduct
further nuclear tests or launch ballistic missiles and it demands that the
country abandon all weapons of mass destruction programs.
The resolution also includes a ban on "trade and luxury goods," requires
member states to freeze the assets of North Korean entities and
individuals, and calls for inspections of cargo traveling from and to North
Korea to search for items that may be used in a nuclear or other WMD
program.(Resolution text)
Burns said the measure has "real teeth."
"These are very tough sanctions, they're among the toughest ever imposed on
any country by the United Nations," he said. "And we hope they will
convince the North Koreans to recalculate the cost and benefits of what
they're trying to do, developing a nuclear weapons program."
Former Sen. Sam Nunn, who once chaired the Senate Armed Services Committee,
told CNN on Monday that North Korea has made a "big miscalculation" in
pushing forward with its nuclear program, but Washington needs to sit down
face-to-face with Pyongyang to move forward.
"The real challenge is to have serious discussions, six-party talks or
bilateral, whatever is necessary, so that North Korea can understand that
there are both carrots and sticks here," said Nunn. "And enormously
important that the United States be willing to discuss security assurances
with North Korea, because no nation is likely to give up their nuclear
weapons unless they have assurances that the negotiating party is not going
to insist on regime change and try to bring them down."
The Bush administration has been reluctant to engage in bilateral
discussions with Pyongyang.
"I think the administration has an ideological kind of -- to me, not
understandable -- policy of believing that when you talk to someone, you're
rewarding them and if you won't talk to them, you're punishing them. I
don't think that's effective punishment," Nunn said.
The former senator from Georgia said it's time for the parties in the six-
way talks to come together.
"We're in a race between cooperation and catastrophe, and it's certainly
not apparent now who is winning," he said.
Nunn now works with the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a group he co-chairs
with CNN founder Ted Turner. The group is working "to reduce the global
threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons," according to its
Web site.
Nunn said that the handling of North Korea will "be a direct input to Iran
as to what we are really serious about or not serious about."
Meanwhile, the U.S. nuclear talks envoy, Assistant Secretary of State
Christopher Hill, is due to meet with his Japanese counterpart, Kenichiro
Sasae, in Japan later in the day Monday.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said the government is
arranging for Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso to travel to Seoul for
talks with South Korea on how to implement the U.N. sanctions on the North.
U.S. confirms test
An analysis of air samples collected shortly after North Korea declared it
had conducted the test confirms it took place, according to the office of
the U.S. director of national intelligence.
The analysis detected radioactive debris, indicating the explosive yield
was less than one kiloton, said a statement from John Negroponte's office.
That is relatively small for a nuclear test.
The first air sample collected after Pyongyang's announcement last week
contained no radioactive debris, but a second one did, as CNN reported
Friday.
Officials wanted to do more analysis before confirming the North Korean
test. Sources said a nuclear facility in Russia is near the North Korean
border, and analysts wanted to rule it out as the source of the radioactive
debris.
--
"The three separate branches of government were developed as a check and
balance for one another. It is within the court’s duty to ensure that power
is never condense[d] into a single branch of government." - Judge Anna
Diggs Taylor
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