U.S. warns North Korea against nuclear test
POSTED: 9:33 a.m. EDT, October 5, 2006
By Elise Labott
CNN
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. envoy to stalled North Korea nuclear talks says the United States will not tolerate a nuclear North Korea and has warned Pyongyang not to test a nuclear weapon.
"We are not going to live with a nuclear North Korea," Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill told the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University Wednesday. "We are not going to accept it."
North Korea "can have a future, or it can have these weapons. It cannot have both," Hill said. The U.S. and its allies "are in a very tense time" in dealing with Pyongyang, Hill added. (Watch the U.S. look into the veracity of North Korea's claim of a planned nuclear test -- 1:56 )
South Korea, meanwhile, warned North Korea's stance could trigger a regional atomic arms race that could upend the balance of power in Northeast Asia.
Any display of Pyongyang's nuclear force could prompt Japan to go nuclear and trigger a regional arms race, South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. (Watch how North Korea is justifying its planned nuclear test -- 3:37 )
Speaking to lawmakers, Yu said such a North Korean nuclear test "could provide a pretext for Japan's nuclear armament."
"This will prompt countermoves by China or Russia and lead to a change in the balance of power in Northeast Asia," AP reports Yu saying.
Hill said that on Tuesday the United States passed a message "of deep concern" about a possible test to Pyongyang through the North Korean mission to the United Nations, which serves as a contact between the two governments, but did not receive an answer.
"We will do all we can to dissuade the DPRK [North Korea] from this test," Hill said.
He declined to say exactly what the United States would do if North Korea undertakes such a test, but said, "we would have no choice but to act resolutely to make sure that the DPRK understood -- and to make sure that any other country understands -- that this (nuclear test) is a very bad mistake."
If North Korea does conduct a test, it "will realize that they had a bad day when they made that choice," he said.
After his appearance, Hill told reporters, "if they think that firing off a weapon will somehow make them a part of some sort of nuclear club, they should think again."
"If they think that by exploding a weapon, that somehow we will come to terms with it, we won't," he said.
Citing U.S. belligerence and pressure, North Korea said Tuesday that a nuclear test was in the works. (Pyongyang's statement)
North Korea's announcement came in the form of a Foreign Ministry statement published by the Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA -- the communist country's official news agency.
"The field of scientific research of the DPRK will in the future conduct a nuclear test under the condition where safety is firmly guaranteed," the statement said.
The ministry added, "The U.S. extreme threat of a nuclear war and sanctions and pressure compel the DPRK to conduct a nuclear test ... as a corresponding measure for defense."
A date and time for the test was not issued.
A flurry of diplomatic activity has taken place since the North Korean announcement. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has reached out to her counterparts in Asia, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton has been meeting with members of the U.N. Security Council about a possible statement urging North Korea not to take any provocative action by testing a nuclear weapon.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said talks were under way with with the DPRK to convince it to "abstain from any steps that may aggravate the situation."
Japan on Wednesday pressed a divided U.N. Security Council to adopt a statement urging North Korea to cancel its planned test and return immediately to six-party talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to scrap its nuclear weapons program.
China calls for talks
Japan's U.N. Ambassador Kenzo Oshima, the current council president, circulated a draft text warning North Korea that a nuclear test would bring international condemnation, "jeopardize peace, stability and security in the region and beyond," and lead to further unspecified council action, AP reports.
"I think it is important for the international community, through the council, (to) let North Korea understand that noncompliance would involve some consequences," Oshima said.
Pyongyang's closest ally, China, called on all parties to return to the six-party talks and implement the agreement reached in September 2005 in which the North pledged to give up its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security guarantees.
In order to solve the North Korean nuclear issue, U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya said China and many other countries believed the key was progress in U.S.-North Korean relations.
"If there could be less mistrust between the two, certainly I think it will lead to good results," he said, according to AP.
"If North Korea adopts a more constructive approach, this will enable us to make progress, and also if the United States could be more creative in their thinking it will certainly help."
Report: Test could trigger Asian nuke race
Tuesday is the first time North Korea has made an official announcement that it is going to conduct nuclear tests. Previously, it has said it had the right to conduct such tests.
Such a scenario would significantly set back diplomatic efforts with North Korea and have serious implications for regional security, according to a House Intelligence Committee report released Tuesday.
Coming on the heels of North Korea's test firing of seven missiles, including a long-range ballistic missile in July, a nuclear test would bring Pyongyang's relations with its neighbors to a new low, the report found.
The tests might prompt not only Japan, but also Taiwan and possibly South Korea to begin their own nuclear weapons programs, the report found.
Six-party talks on the country's nuclear program have been stalled for months. In addition to the United States and North Korea, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea are taking part.
North Korea wants bilateral talks with the United States before the six-party talks resume and it wants Washington to ease up on economic pressures.
Hill repeated that the United States was willing to meet with North Korean officials, but only within the context of six-party talks.
Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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