| North Korea rejects UN resolution At the end of this week, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will reach Moscow, having previously visited Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing. The head of the American diplomatic department is going to discuss the implementation of UN Security Council sanctions imposed on North Korea after the nuclear test conducted there. However, by then the problem may become much more pressing.
The United States, which only realized yesterday that the North Korean explosion carried out on October 9 was indeed nuclear, reported that the DPRK, judging by space reconnaissance data, may be preparing another nuclear test. This information was confirmed by the head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Taro Aso, with reference to Japanese intelligence services. Seoul limited itself to reporting that South Korea was analyzing its intelligence data on the intensification of the movements of people and equipment in the area of the first test in the northeast of the DPRK.
According to Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, the possibility of a second nuclear explosion in the DPRK “is not excluded.” Moscow's reaction in this case "will be the same as it was to the first nuclear explosion, that is, negative." Chief of the Russian General Staff, Army General Yuri Baluevsky, who was on a visit to Tokyo, spoke in a similar way. He added that he considers a war between the United States and North Korea unlikely, especially since the latter does not have the technological ability to create a nuclear warhead.
Beijing said it resolutely opposes North Korea's nuclear tests and intends to strictly comply with Security Council Resolution 1718, which imposed sanctions against Pyongyang. Developing the topic, China's Permanent Representative to the UN Wang Guangya said that his country will inspect cargo moving to and from the DPRK to detect weapons of mass destruction and their components. “An inspection is not an interception or an embargo,” noted Mr. Wang, who just a few days ago said that it was “politically difficult” for China to carry out such inspections.
Condoleezza Rice said that Pyongyang "remains open to a positive path - the six-party negotiations." She warned the DPRK that a second nuclear test would be seen as a provocation that would only worsen North Korea's "isolation, economic decline, and already weak capabilities of the oppressed population." The United States, Rice said, expects the UN Security Council to “aggressively monitor full implementation of all aspects of its resolution.”
Pyongyang reacted for the first time yesterday to this unanimous decision of the Security Council. In a statement by an unnamed "DPRK Foreign Ministry representative" relayed by the official North Korean news agency KCNA, the resolution was "completely rejected." The general will of the world community expressed in the document is called “a product of the hostile policy of the United States” and is equated to a “declaration of war” against the DPRK.
Even on Saturday, immediately after the vote in the Security Council, the DPRK permanent representative to the UN, Park Kil-yong, called the resolution “gangster.” Now Pyongyang has explained that “anyone who, under the guise of a UN Security Council resolution, encroaches on the sovereignty and right to exist of the DPRK will receive a merciless retaliatory blow.” North Korea “wants peace” and “advocates dialogue,” but “is not afraid of war” and is “always ready for confrontation.” The nuclear test is called "a powerful deterrent against US nuclear blackmail" and "a major contribution to maintaining peace and stability in both the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia."
In a conversation with Vremya Novostei, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vasily Mikheev noted that the Security Council resolution was adopted unanimously, therefore, “according to Pyongyang, it turns out that Moscow and Beijing declared war on it.” Our interlocutor noted that China has “seriously toughened its position” towards North Korea, and now it is “getting closer to the American one.” Beijing “not only strengthened control over cargo, but also began to build a new “great wall” on the border with the DPRK to protect against migrants, and suspended remittances from North Korean shuttles.
According to Vasily Mikheev, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council still have the opportunity to “put proper pressure on Pyongyang.” “In the event of a second nuclear explosion, the Security Council could well make it clear to the DPRK that it is ready to resort to the “non-peaceful articles” of Chapter VII of the UN Charter “Action against threats to the peace, breaches of the peace and acts of aggression”, making the areas and sites of nuclear tests the target of military measures . This would make Pyongyang seriously afraid.” Alexander SAMOKHOTKIN |
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