Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

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China's threat to N Korea over test
Peter Alford, Tokyo correspondent
May 26, 2005

CHINA has reportedly warned its ally North Korea of the "grave consequences" of conducting a nuclear weapons test.

Quoting sources from the stalled six-party negotiations, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported the Chinese had delivered the Pyongyang regime its sharpest warning against exploding a nuclear device.

"The Chinese Government has strongly warned and urged against the carrying out of a nuclear test," according to a source quoted by Kyodo, who also said the diplomatically menacing phrase "grave consequences" had been used.

That report follows a meeting in Beijing between South Korean opposition leader Park Geun-hye and two key Chinese officials - Wang Jiarui, head of the Communist Party of China's international department and Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan - where Ms Park said they described a North Korean nuclear test as a red line.

Neither account suggests what action Beijing would take if the red line were crossed, though dropping Chinese opposition to UN Security Council sanctions against the North is generally assumed to be an immediate consequence.






It now appears both South Korea and China have privately but clearly warned Pyongyang against a test explosion, though both governments publicly downplay the risk.

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun confirmed yesterday he would make a special trip to Washington on June 10 to discuss with President George W. Bush a strategy for bringing North Korea back into the six-party talks it has boycotted since September.

"President Roh's visit to the United States is expected to be an important opportunity for the two leaders to discuss and seek a peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue, as close consultations among related countries continue," a South Korean presidential spokesman said.

The visit also appears to be part of an attempt at South Korean bridge-mending after months of tension between the Bush and Roh administrations.

The South Koreans have persistently criticised US refusals to make concessions to Pyongyang to get the six-party talks back on track and rejected proposals for direct economic or Security Council sanctions agains Pyongyang.

US and Japanese officials have privately criticised South Korean "appeasement" which they say has complicated efforts to confront Pyongyang with a credible ultimatum to return to talks over its nuclear weapons programs.

South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, who is also Mr Roh's top national security official, will visit Tokyo tomorrow to discuss nuclear developments in North Korea.

Meanwhile the Americans are awaiting the Pyongyang regime's promised response to a proposal for resuming the six-party talks put by US special envoy Joseph DeTrani at a New York meeting with the North's UN ambassador, Pak Kil-yon.

The meeting on May 13 was the first direct contact between US and North Korean officials in more than six months.

US officials said they had made no concessions but repeated assurances by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the Bush administration recognised North Korea's sovereignty and had no intention to invade.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15407124%255E2703,00.html


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