Posted on 04/28/2005 7:52:39 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
(Kyodo) _ U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has warned North Korea against its nuclear ambitions and possible proliferation, citing an ongoing multilateral interdiction initiative and the possibility of referring the case to the U.N. Security Council.
While reiterating the United States remains committed to peacefully resolving the nuclear issue through six-party talks, Rice made the warning in a press briefing en route to Brazil on Monday, according to a transcript of her remarks made available Tuesday by the State Department.
"The Proliferation Security Initiative is always there. It does not require further action, further resolutions of any kind," Rice said when asked about earlier news reports that the United States is considering a plan to seek a new U.N. Security Council resolution empowering all nations to intercept shipments in or out of North Korea that may be carrying nuclear materials or components.
Proposed by U.S. President George W. Bush and launched in 2003, the Proliferation Security Initiative now involves about 60 nations cooperating to stop and inspect the transport of weapons of mass destruction through ports and on the high seas.
The United States, France, Japan and Australia participated in exercises off the coast of Japan in October 2004, which North Korea criticized as provocative.
"We are...capable of dealing with proliferation issues," Rice said. The Proliferation Security Initiative "is based on existing international law and existing national laws and it's a very effective tool to deal with problems of proliferation that might resort from any place in the world."
Rice's comments come a week after North Korea confirmed that it has shut down a nuclear reactor in what is regarded as an attempt to remove spent nuclear fuels to extract and reprocess plutonium for weapons.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill is now visiting China, Japan and South Korea to discuss how to restart the six-party talks. But U.S. officials said he will also discuss other measures to be taken if the North continues to refuse to return to the talks.
"Obviously, we reserve the right to go to the U.N. Security Council at any time concerning North Korea," Rice said. "Depending on the nature of the threat, depending on the nature of the consultations, we will go the Security Council if necessary."
Referring such nuclear cases to the council normally means discussions for imposing economic sanctions.
"But at this point, we still believe that there is a lot to be done within the six-party framework," Rice said, stressing that Washington remains committed to pressing North Korea to return to the table.
Asked how long the United States would wait for North Korea, Rice said she was not setting a deadline.
The six-party talks also involving Russia have been stalled since North Korea failed to come to the fourth round, scheduled for September 2004, blaming it on what Pyongyang calls "hostile" U.S. policy.
Ping!
I am convinced that we or the world will do nothing.
Bttt
I agree. Do you think Kim Jong Mentally Il will listen to us. Unfortunately we can't strike N. Korea at this time, and he knows it. So we wind up playing these BS games.
I don't think, barring clear indications of imminent attack by DPRK anyway, that we would ever start a war with DPRK. The risks are huge for the US and much larger for ROK and Japan. Who is going to call removing the government of DPRK a victory if one or more major civilian centers in ROK or Japan is nuked? (I know, some here will, but the real consequences of that for geopolitics and the world economy could be huge)
With the way the North Koreans are suffering these days, you would think an assasination attempt would be tried.
"With the way the North Koreans are suffering these days, you would think an assasination attempt would be tried."
I got flamed somewhere else for this, but I believe the rail car explosion was just that.
Don't feel bad. I was initially flamed for leaving open the possibility of such (I felt that the timing of the explosion relative to Kim's train schedule -- always bounded in tight secrecy to prevent detailed forecasting -- was an unusual coincidence).
Analysis and reporting over the past year, however, has made that scenario more likely (I don't have the references on hand, but see, for instance, Rebecca McKenna's "NK Zone" site.
There was a FReeper who suggested we launch attacks on NK on May Day, which would wipe out two-thirds of their army.
PSI is a good thing, and definitely is a cause for concern to the missile proliferating and narcotic exporting Kim regime.
I believe the boarding of the So-San (NK ship covertly shipping missiles to Yemen circa Dec 02) fell under the then nascent PSI, so this thing has teeth.
Intercepting air exports, of course, is a little more delicate, but not without precedent (cf intercept of EgyptAir 737 harboring PLF Achille Lauro highjackers in 85).
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