NORTH KOREA:Strong warnings were issued to North Korea yesterday by Japan and the US after South Korean officials said activity had been spotted near a suspected nuclear test site in North Korea. They insisted, however, that there was no evidence to suggest Pyongyang was about to test another atomic device.
Despite efforts in Seoul and Washington to play down suggestions that another test was imminent, ABC News had earlier quoted a US defence official as saying that North Korea appeared to have made preparations for a second test. Its first, on October 9th last year, drew worldwide condemnation and punitive UN sanctions.
The US monitors North Korea by satellite and spy aircraft. "Certain activities have been detected near a suspected North Korean nuclear test site but currently there are no specific indications related to an additional test," said a South Korean source familiar with the North's nuclear programme.
In Washington, the state department warned North Korea there would be "severe consequences" to the diplomatic effort to end Pyongyang's atomic ambitions if it conducted a second nuclear test. State department spokesman Sean McCormack also said the six-party talks designed to get North Korea to give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons in exchange for aid and security guarantees could resume later this month.
"If you did have another test of a nuclear device, that would have severe consequences for the viability of that political-diplomatic process - why would they take such a step at this time?" Mr McCormack said.
Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe said Japan and the rest of the international community would respond strongly if North Korea did conduct a second test. But Mr Abe, whose rise to Japan's top position owed much to public support for his tough stance towards Pyongyang, said it was important to make efforts to resume the six-party talks as soon as possible.
The concern was expressed ahead of a meeting between US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and South Korean foreign minister Song Min-soon that was expected to focus on North Korea and the six-party talks. The six, which include the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the US, made no progress in their last round of talks last month.
Lee Jae-jeong, the unification minister of South Korea, which is still technically at war with the North half a century after the 1953 Korean War truce, urged Pyongyang to agree to early summit talks to reduce tensions on the peninsula and beyond. In an interview to be aired on Monday, he told Seoul television station MBC: "I think a summit between South Korea and North Korea must be held this time, as a summit which the previous administration achieved solved peace in the Korean peninsula and many issues for years."
Then-president Kim Dae-jung went to Pyongyang in 2000 for unprecedented talks with the North's leader, Kim Jong-il, ushering in a period of "sunshine diplomacy" between the states.
- (Reuters)