SOUTH KOREA: South Korea says it will ban the entry of North Koreans who are part of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme, the first step taken by Seoul to adhere to UN sanctions.The decision came after North Korea said any action by Seoul under the UNresolution would "drive the inter-Korean relations to a catastrophe" and would be "a grave provocative act" that could lead to war.
US president George Bush said Pyongyang's threats were aimed only at dividing the five nations that have been in talks with North Korea on ending its nuclear programme. "The leader of North Korea likes to threaten,"Mr Bush told a news conference on Wednesday.
"What he's doing is just testing the will of the five countries that are working together to convince him there is a better way forward for his people." He reiterated that the US would keep up diplomatic efforts to end the crisis. But other US officials have not ruled out other options. Underscoring fears about the North, a South Korean lawmaker, quoting from a defence ministry report, said North Korea might have extracted enough plutonium for up to seven nuclear weapons.
Pyongyang was also working to miniaturise nuclear devices to fit on ballistic missiles, the report said. North Korea conducted a series of ballistic missile tests in July. Estimates of the North's nuclear arsenal have ranged from one or two weapons to as many as 10 or more. Its plutonium stockpile is believed to be enough for 13 bombs, according to some estimates.
South Korea's unification minister Lee Jong-seok said Seoul would take action against the North beyond the UN Security Council resolution that mandated trade and financial sanctions. "The government will ban the passage and stay [in the South] of persons and their family designated by [the UN Security Council] sanctions committee," Mr Lee told a parliamentary committee.
He said Seoul would also invoke a maritime agreement with the North to search North Korean ships that make port calls in the South. The UN Security Council voted on October 14th to impose financial and arms sanctions on North Korea after it staged its first nuclear test earlier this month, but how those measures will be implemented remains a matter of debate.
China voted in favour of UN sanctions but Beijing and Seoul fear if they squeeze the impoverished North too tightly it could ruin ties and risk the North's collapse. Russia has also urged caution. The US, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea are all members of stalled six-party talks with North Korea.