Monday, March 26, 2012
U.S. warns North Korea on launch
From The Hindu
The U.S. has reacted angrily to reports of North Korea's plan to launch a rocket-mounted satellite to mark the birth centenary of its former President, the late Kim Il-sung, with the State Department describing the move as “highly provocative”.
Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said North Korea's announcement was in direct violation of its international obligations, specifically United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1718 and 1874, which “clearly and unequivocally prohibit North Korea from conducting launches that use ballistic missile technology”.
Diplomatic ties were strained significantly following similar launches by Pyongyang in 2009. North Korea at the time had said it was only engaged in a peaceful space programme.
However then, as now, experts were quoted in the media as saying, “The launch technology for missiles and satellites is near-identical.”
Unsurprisingly South Korea reacted with alarm. Referring to the UNSC resolutions Cho Byung-jae, spokesman of the South Korean Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying, “This will be a clear violation... It will constitute a highly provocative action threatening peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.”
Going by the U.S.' reaction, the launch may lead to the U.S. considering backing out of its February agreement with North Korea — that the North would halt nuclear tests and activities and implement a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests in exchange for package of 240,000 tonnes of food aid. On this subject Ms Nuland said the missile launch would be “inconsistent with North Korea's recent undertaking to refrain from long-range missile launches.”
The agreement came after a U.S. delegation returned from Beijing following a third exploratory round of talks with North Korea. Then the State Department had said it still had “profound concerns regarding North Korean behaviour across a wide range of areas”, but the agreement reflected “important, if limited, progress” in addressing some of these concerns.
Its reaction to the satellite launch this week notwithstanding, the State Department had reaffirmed in February that it “does not have hostile intent toward the DPRK and is prepared to take steps to improve our bilateral relationship in the spirit of mutual respect for sovereignty and equality”.
The U.S. has reacted angrily to reports of North Korea's plan to launch a rocket-mounted satellite to mark the birth centenary of its former President, the late Kim Il-sung, with the State Department describing the move as “highly provocative”.
Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said North Korea's announcement was in direct violation of its international obligations, specifically United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1718 and 1874, which “clearly and unequivocally prohibit North Korea from conducting launches that use ballistic missile technology”.
Diplomatic ties were strained significantly following similar launches by Pyongyang in 2009. North Korea at the time had said it was only engaged in a peaceful space programme.
However then, as now, experts were quoted in the media as saying, “The launch technology for missiles and satellites is near-identical.”
Unsurprisingly South Korea reacted with alarm. Referring to the UNSC resolutions Cho Byung-jae, spokesman of the South Korean Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying, “This will be a clear violation... It will constitute a highly provocative action threatening peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia.”
Going by the U.S.' reaction, the launch may lead to the U.S. considering backing out of its February agreement with North Korea — that the North would halt nuclear tests and activities and implement a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests in exchange for package of 240,000 tonnes of food aid. On this subject Ms Nuland said the missile launch would be “inconsistent with North Korea's recent undertaking to refrain from long-range missile launches.”
The agreement came after a U.S. delegation returned from Beijing following a third exploratory round of talks with North Korea. Then the State Department had said it still had “profound concerns regarding North Korean behaviour across a wide range of areas”, but the agreement reflected “important, if limited, progress” in addressing some of these concerns.
Its reaction to the satellite launch this week notwithstanding, the State Department had reaffirmed in February that it “does not have hostile intent toward the DPRK and is prepared to take steps to improve our bilateral relationship in the spirit of mutual respect for sovereignty and equality”.
Labels: missile testing, North Korea, United States
N. Korea has agreed to n-moratorium: U.S.
From The Hindu
United States officials on Wednesday confirmed that North Korea has agreed to halt nuclear tests and activities and implement a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile development in exchange for a U.S. package of 240,000 metric tonnes of food aid.
Announcing the critical breakthrough in negotiations, State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said the North Korean agreement would include suspension of uranium enrichment activities at Yongbyon and also permission for International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to return “to verify and monitor the moratorium on uranium enrichment activities... and confirm the disablement of the 5-MW reactor and associated facilities”.
Noting that a U.S. delegation had just returned from Beijing after a third exploratory round of talks with North Korea, Ms. Nuland however reiterated that it still had “profound concerns regarding North Korean behaviour across a wide range of areas,” but Wednesday's announcement reflected “important, if limited, progress” in addressing some of these concerns.
Outlining some of the key points emerging from the February 23-24 discussions in Beijing, the State Department said the U.S. reaffirmed that it “does not have hostile intent toward the DPRK and is prepared to take steps to improve our bilateral relationship in the spirit of mutual respect for sovereignty and equality”.
This included the U.S.' commitment to the September 2005 Joint Statement, officials said, adding that U.S. and North Korean nutritional assistance teams would meet in the “immediate future to finalise administrative details on a targeted U.S. program consisting of an initial 240,000 metric tonnes of nutritional assistance with the prospect of additional assistance based on continued need.”
United States officials on Wednesday confirmed that North Korea has agreed to halt nuclear tests and activities and implement a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile development in exchange for a U.S. package of 240,000 metric tonnes of food aid.
Announcing the critical breakthrough in negotiations, State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said the North Korean agreement would include suspension of uranium enrichment activities at Yongbyon and also permission for International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to return “to verify and monitor the moratorium on uranium enrichment activities... and confirm the disablement of the 5-MW reactor and associated facilities”.
Noting that a U.S. delegation had just returned from Beijing after a third exploratory round of talks with North Korea, Ms. Nuland however reiterated that it still had “profound concerns regarding North Korean behaviour across a wide range of areas,” but Wednesday's announcement reflected “important, if limited, progress” in addressing some of these concerns.
Outlining some of the key points emerging from the February 23-24 discussions in Beijing, the State Department said the U.S. reaffirmed that it “does not have hostile intent toward the DPRK and is prepared to take steps to improve our bilateral relationship in the spirit of mutual respect for sovereignty and equality”.
This included the U.S.' commitment to the September 2005 Joint Statement, officials said, adding that U.S. and North Korean nutritional assistance teams would meet in the “immediate future to finalise administrative details on a targeted U.S. program consisting of an initial 240,000 metric tonnes of nutritional assistance with the prospect of additional assistance based on continued need.”
Labels: n-moratorium, North Korea, North Korean agreement, nuclear tests, U.S., uranium enrichment, Victoria Nuland
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Political instability worries U.S.
From The Hindu
Even as the reality of Democratic People's Republic of Korea
leader Kim Jong-il’s death sunk in, speculation in Washington centred on the
likely spike in uncertainty in the politics of that country and its potentially
reduced engagement with the world that this could engender in the medium term.
In the face of the murky succession question in the DPRK reaction
from the White House appeared to focus on the question of maintaining stability
in the region. This was underscored by a phone call between President Barack
Obama and President Lee Myung-bak of the Republic of Korea at midnight on Monday
following news of Mr. Kim’s passing.
In the conversation the U.S. President reaffirmed his country’s
“strong commitment to the stability of the Korean Peninsula and the security of
our close ally, the Republic of Korea,” the White House said in a statement,
adding that the two leaders would be staying closely in touch as the situation
developed.
Commenting on the all-important nuclear question Richard Bush,
Director of the Centre for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at the Brookings
Institution said that “With Kim’s death the prospects for regional negotiations
on North Korea’s nuclear program and other issues in the near term are very
low.”
Mr. Bush noted that any successor regime would have to consolidate
itself before it would be prepared to engage the United States, South Korea, and
others. “While there had been movement towards such engagement... little can
happen now,” he added.
In comments to the BBC former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State
Christopher Hill, who led the delegation of the six-party nuclear talks on North
Korea, said that he thought that the North Korean military was “going to be less
inclined to do things with the international community [and] the Chinese are
going to try and get in there very early and try to figure it out.”
Suggesting that the “heir-apparent, Kim Jong-un, [was] truly not
ready [to be a] prime time player,” Mr. Hill said that that would imply that the
country’s military would have a lot to say and Jang Song-taek, the
brother-in-law of Kim Jong-il may have “a big role to play.”
Others however did not support the view that there was cause for
concern in terms of the role of China in the future of DPRK politics. Robert
Gallucci, President of the MacArthur Foundation and a specialist on the region’s
politics, said, “I do not think we need to be overly concerned about a too-close
relationship between Beijing and Pyongyang.”
He argued that the U.S. had gone to the Chinese many times since
the Clinton administration through the Bush administration and possibly in the
Obama administration too, “to get the Chinese to play a more active role in
encouraging the North to be open to more negotiations...”
Dr. Gallucci further noted that significant changes in U.S.
policies towards North Korea were unlikely. He said, “That there has been a
willingness to engage the North directly in talks and to provide food assistance
and other kinds of assistance and ultimately to improve the political
relationship provided we can get the performance we need from the North Koreans
that we need on their nuclear programme.” Dr. Gallucci said that such
performance would entail initially a freeze on and then ultimately the
dismantling of the programme.
Labels: death, Kim Jong-il, North Korea, political instability, U.S.
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