A rchive Date
[ 11-01-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ North Korea ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2003/01/10/9973-ap.html
Chorus of global condemnation rises against defiant North Korea
Sat, January 11, 2003
SEOUL (AP) - With the global chorus of condemnation rising louder against North Korea on Saturday, the communist country warned it would "mercilessly wipe out" other nations that infringe upon its sovereignty.
Public sentiment on both sides of the Korean border was also flaring, with large rallies in the South and North Korean capitals.
In Seoul, about 30,000 people turned out to support the U.S. military presence here. But in the North, state media reported that more than a million people flooded the streets to praise the communist government's decision Friday to pull out of the global nuclear arms pact.
North Korea alarmed the world with the move, and countries have since been quick to condemn it as they rush to find a diplomatic solution to an intensifying standoff.
Russia's nuclear energy minister suggested Saturday that Moscow build a nuclear power station in North Korea to help defuse the crisis. Russia could assist North Korea with its nuclear energy program to help bring the country back into the framework of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Alexander Rumyantsev said.
Meanwhile, the global outcry against the North spread, with the European Union expressing "grave concern."
Australian Defence Minister Robert Hill said it was "foolish" for the impoverished country to break a deal with the United States that guaranteed it energy and food aid in exchange for freezing its nuclear program.
"They've unilaterally walked away from that deal presuming that they can obtain some further economic advantages through doing so. It's a foolish thing to do," Hills said.
In Seoul, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said the issue should be dealt with by the UN Security Council.
Villepin, on a two-day visit to Seoul, met his South Korean counterpart, Choi Sung-hong, to discuss the North's withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
"It's desirable to resolve the North's nuclear issue peacefully, but the situation has reached the point where the issue should be dealt with on an international level," a South Korean Foreign Ministry official quoted Villepin as telling Choi.
Going to the Security Council raises the possibility of sanctions against North Korea. North Korea said Friday that sanctions would be tantamount to "a declaration of war."
North Korea has cited "U.S. vicious, hostile policy" and an alleged "nuclear threat from the United States side" for its decision to immediately pull out of the 1968 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, a cornerstone of international efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.
On Saturday, it condemned the United States for the seizure of a North Korean ship carrying missiles to Yemen last month, and said it was "intended to more wantonly infringe upon the sovereignty of an independent state."
The message, a newspaper commentary carried by the state news agency KCNA, then warned: "If any forces attempt to encroach upon the sovereignty and dignity of the DPRK it will mercilessly wipe out the aggressors and mete out stern punishment to them."
DPRK stands for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the country's official name.
U.S. and Spanish warships seized the North Korean ship carrying Scud missiles in the Arabian Sea. They later allowed it to sail after receiving assurances the Scuds would not be transferred elsewhere in the tense Persian Gulf region.
Exporting missiles is a main source of hard currency for North Korea.
Speakers at the Pyongyang rally backed the government withdrawal from the nuclear treaty as "a legitimate measure for self-defence," accoRDIng to KCNA.
"The participants are fully determined to use every means and method and fight a life-and-death battle against those who try to infringe upon the nation's sovereignty and right to existence without any slightest compromise and concession," it added.
Pak Gil Yon, North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations, said his country would not develop nuclear weapons "at this moment." But he reiterated Pyongyang's desire to resolve the crisis through "peaceful negotiations" with Washington.
Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the UN nuclear agency, said the Security Council should intervene unless North Korea reverses its actions within a few weeks.
Experts say the reactor generates little power, and that the North could make several more bombs in six months if it extracts weapons-grade plutonium from spent fuel rods.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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