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| Sunday, 12 January 2003 |
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North Korea shrugs off backlash over nuclear pact withdrawal North Korea shrugged off a global backlash over its withdrawal from a key anti-nuclear pact as diplomatic efforts quickened Saturday to ensure the crisis does not escalate still further. The reclusive Pyongyang regime's foreign minister, Paek Nam-Sun, confirmed to the United Nations that the pull-out from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) was effective from Saturday. "Foreign Minister Paek Nam-Sun mailed a letter to the president of the UN Security Council ... (in which) he stated that the DPRK's withdrawal would be effectuated from January 11, 2003," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. The pull-out from the treaty -- which seeks to limit the possession of nuclear weapons to the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain -- has sparked widespread condemnation, with even Pyongyang's traditional allies Moscow and Beijing voicing concern. But North Korea has also said that it has no plans to start producing nuclear weapons and the country's chief scientist said Saturday that Pyongyang did not possess an atomic arsenal. Thae Hyong-Chol, president of the Academy of Social Sciences, told North Korea's Central Broadcasting Station that "we do not have any nuclear weapons and nor do we have any will or need to make them," in a broadcast monitored by Yonhap news agency here. North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations, Pak Gil Yon, had earlier refused to deny that his country had nuclear weapons. "I am in no position to comment," he told a news conference when asked point blank whether North Korea had atomic weapons. Washington said in October that Pyongyang had admitted running a secret enriched uranium nuclear weapons program in violation of a 1994 agreement, a charge North Korea has consistently denied. The United States subsequently declared the 1994 agreement "nullified" and halted fuel shipments, prompting North Korea to reactivate a mothballed nuclear plant and its subsequent withdrawal from the NPT. Pak also said that any attempt to impose sanctions in the light of its move would be regarded as a declaration of war. The North's official media warned Saturday that any attempt to "encroach on its sovereignty" would be met with force. "If any forces attempt to encroach upon the sovereignty and dignity of the DPRK (North Korea), it will mercilessly wipe out the aggressors and mete out stern punishment to them," said an editorial in the government-owned Minju Joson newspaper carried by KCNA. "This is its firm stand. The US is well advised to behave with decorum, clearly seeing the will of the army and the people of the DPRK." US President George W. Bush on Friday spoke to Chinese President Jiang Zemin to discuss the crisis, with Beijing one of the few regimes thought to wield any influence with Pyongyang. "They both agree that North Korea's announcement that it was withdrawing from the non-proliferation treaty was a concern to the entire international community," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. As world powers tried to coordinate their response, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin held talks with his South Korean counterpart Choi Sung-Hong in Seoul. "The world community should stay united in sending out messages to North Korea," said de Villepin. US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly is also expected here on Sunday evening for talks with president-elect Roh Moo-Hyun and Choi. North Korean envoys were due to hold a third set of talks later Saturday in New Mexico with the former US ambassador to the UN, Bill Richardson. The talks have so far made little progress. North Korea's ambassador to China was also expected to address the press on the standoff in Beijing on Saturday afternoon, an embassy official said. |
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