Japan pressures North Korea to cancel nuclear test
Japan pressed a divided UN Security Council to adopt a statement urging North Korea to cancel its planned nuclear test and return immediately to six-party talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to scrap its nuclear weapons programme.
Japan’s UN Ambassador Kenzo Oshima, the current council president, circulated a draft text warning North Korea that a nuclear test would bring international condemnation, and "jeopardise peace, stability and security in the region and beyond”.
Oshima said yesterday: “I think it is important for the international community, through the council, (to) let North Korea understand that non-compliance would involve some consequences.”
US Ambassador John Bolton told reporters after a closed council meeting yesterday morning that members were divided on how to respond to North Korea’s announcement that it would conduct a nuclear test.
North Korea said it had decided to act in the face of what it claimed was “the US extreme threat of a nuclear war,” but gave no date for the test.
Bolton said the US wants “a strong response” from the Security Council, not just “a piece of paper".
However China, Russia and Japan indicated they wanted a more moderate initial response.
“I fear that if we don’t have a strong response now to this clear signal from the North Koreans of what they intend to do, that they will misread the council,” Bolton said. “They will misread a weak press statement or presidential statement as meaning that their protectors within the council have made it clear the council can’t act effectively.”
In Washington, US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said the US has directly warned North Korea not to conduct a nuclear test, stressing that ”we are not going to live with a nuclear North Korea".
North Korea has boycotted the six-nation talks for nearly a year, angered by American financial restrictions imposed over the North’s alleged illegal activities such as money laundering and counterfeiting.
In order to solve the North Korean nuclear issue, China’s UN Ambassador Wang Guangya said China and many other countries believe the key is progress in US-North Korean relations.
“If there could be less mistrust between the two, certainly I think it will lead to good results,” he said. “If North Korea adopts a more constructive approach, this will enable us to make progress, and also if the United States could be more creative in their thinking it will certainly help.”
He said many members urged North Korea to return to six-party talks, which Japan also believes remains useful as a forum “although it has not produced tangible results".
