10/10(화)-Seoul warns N.K. to scrap test

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10/10(화)-Seoul warns N.K. to scrap test

Highly likely unless six-way talks resume: Minister Lee

North Korea is highly likely to make good on its threat to conduct a nuclear test unless the stalled six-party talks on its nuclear program resume, South Korea's top security policymakers said yesterday.

Pyongyang on Tuesday issued a bombshell announcement that it will carry out a nuclear test on an unspecified date to enhance its defense against the "threat of nuclear war and sanctions" from the United States.

The South Korean government called North Korea to renounce the plan, warning that otherwise it will face a "strong and united response" from the international community. It put the military on high alert to prepare against any provocative activities by the North.

Unification Minister Lee Jong-Seok told a parliamentary hearing that Pyongyang's statement is seen as brinkmanship to pressure the United States to lift financial sanctions and open bilateral talks.

"However, (the government) believes there is a high possibility of a nuclear test if efforts to resume the six-party talks end in failure," said Lee, Seoul's point man to the communist neighbor. But he added there were no signs of an impending test.

Pyongyang has boycotted the six-nation talks since November following Washington's financial sanctions on a Macau bank accused of laundering cash for the Pyongyang.

At the same hearing, Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung said the government assumes the North is highly likely to act on its threat.

"We are working on countermeasures that take into account the high likelihood of the test," he said.

Earlier in the day, the government issued stern warnings. Vice Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said in a news briefing that the U.N. Security Council is expected to take a "higher level" of action against Pyongyang than the previous resolution adopted after the North's missile tests in July.

In the parliamentary hearing, Yu expressed concern that a North Korean nuclear test could prompt Japan's nuclear armament and eventually lead to a change in the balance of power in the Northeast Asia.

President Roh Moo-hyun instructed his Cabinet to "cool-headedly and sternly" cope with the threat and exert all diplomatic efforts to persuade North Korea to scrap the plan.

The Foreign Ministry issued a strong-worded statement after a meeting of top security officials early in the morning.

"We explicitly reaffirm our policy that we will never allow North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons and urge that the North call off the test plan immediately," the statement said.

"North Korea should be held responsible for all the consequences if it pushes ahead with a nuclear test in defiance of all our sincere efforts to resolve the nuclear issue through dialogue," the statement said.

Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon held discussions with his Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice by phone. The top diplomats agreed that North Korea's nuclear test should not be tolerated.

Defense Minister Yoon held an emergency meeting with senior military officers and instructed them to be on a high-level for any developments.

South Korea's military authorities are working closely with the U.S. Forces in Korea to gather any information involving movement by Pyongyang, the Defense Ministry said.

"The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) ordered the strengthening of 'military preparation readiness' to brace for any contingency situation," said Brig. Gen. Lee Yong-dae, spokesman for the Defense Ministry.

But the military is maintaining a Watchcon 3 surveillance status and Defcon 4 defense readiness status as in usual defense situations.

Earlier in the day, Gen. Lee Sang-hee, chairman of the JCS, and Gen. Burwell B. Bell, commander of the United States Forces Korea, discussed the issue over the phone. They agreed to cooperate closely in exchanging information, according to JCS officials.

Bell, who is in the United States now, said he will return to Seoul immediately if any signs of North Korea's nuclear test are detected, they said.

Elsewhere, a senior North Korean diplomat in Australia said yesterday threats by the United States to apply economic sanctions against North Korea were "a proclamation of war" and forced Pyongyang to plan a nuclear test.

"Now the situation around the Korean Peninsula is very tense, with war breaking out at any time I think," North Korean Embassy spokesman Pak Myong-guk was quoted as saying by Reuters.

(davidpooh@heraldm.com)

By Jin Dae-woong

2006.10.05