US strengthens sanctions

Pyongyang is under diplomatic siege

Tomorrow, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in Russia to meet with Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The most important topic of the negotiations, which will take place exactly a week after the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1718 on the nuclear test in the DPRK, is the implementation of the sanctions imposed by this document against Pyongyang. Ms Rice wants these sanctions to be "swift and effective".

Today Condoleezza Rice discusses the Korean issue in Beijing with her Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing. She may also meet with Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, who yesterday delivered a personal message from Chinese President Hu Jintao to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. The Chinese Foreign Ministry, without going into details, said that Kim and Tang “discussed the situation surrounding the DPRK’s nuclear program.” However, a US administration official said that Hu Jintao's message was "very strong."

Apparently, Beijing is trying to keep Pyongyang from further escalating tensions. Deputy Foreign Minister of the DPRK Li Gong said that “if a new nuclear test is carried out, then this is normal, there is no need to be particularly alarmed about this.” The US intelligence community records the same activity at “three or more” sites in northeast North Korea as before October 9, when the first nuclear explosion was carried out in that area. New explosions will give the United States and its allies a reason to raise the issue of tightening pressure on Pyongyang.

Resolution 1718 is built on compromise. The UN Security Council decided not to use force against the DPRK, since attacks on a neighboring country were unacceptable to Moscow and Beijing. At the same time, the Security Council unanimously demanded that Pyongyang not carry out new nuclear tests or launch ballistic missiles, completely abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs, as well as all other programs for the creation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missiles.

China has already begun inspecting cargo traffic in the North Korean direction to identify weapons of mass destruction and their components. The West notes that Beijing has more powerful leverage over North Korea - for example, that two-thirds of the electricity consumed by North Korea comes from China. However, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spoke out yesterday against the “arbitrary expansion” of sanctions, noting that this is “not the final goal, but a means of solving the nuclear problem on the Korean Peninsula through dialogue.”

Yesterday, Ms. Rice and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso tried in Seoul to persuade his South Korean counterpart Ban Ki-moon to curtail inter-Korean economic cooperation. The United States and Japan believe that it brings Pyongyang the currency it needs to continue its nuclear missile programs. Ban Ki-moon, elected a week ago as the next UN Secretary-General, is a staunch supporter of the “sunshine” policy towards his northern neighbor. However, Rice and Aso seem to have managed to get Seoul to agree to temporarily stop subsidizing the South of the Kumgangsan tourism project in the DPRK, which has been operating since 1998.

Alexey SLOBODIN