Updated April 03, 2013 07:14:32
UN chief Ban Ki-moon has warned the Korean peninsula crisis has "gone too far" and could escalate into war after North Korea announced it would restart a nuclear reactor to feed its atomic weapons program.
Mr Ban's stern words came as the United States deployed a second guided-missile destroyer to the Asia Pacific and called on China and Russia to do more to rein in North Korea.
"Nuclear threats are not a game," Mr Ban, the former South Korean foreign minister told a press conference in Andorra.
"Aggressive rhetoric and military posturing only result in counter-actions, and fuel fear and instability."
The North's announcement earlier on Tuesday that it would reopen Yongbyon reactor - its source of weapons-grade plutonium - triggered international alarm.
The Korean peninsula has been caught in a cycle of escalating tensions since the North's February nuclear test, which followed a long-range rocket launch in December.
Subsequent UN sanctions and annual South Korea-US military exercises have been used by Pyongyang to justify a wave of increasingly dire threats against Seoul and Washington, including warnings of missile strikes and nuclear war.
Mr Ban said the country appeared to be on a collision course.
"The current crisis has already gone too far," he said.
"Things must begin to calm down as this situation, made worse by the lack of communication, could lead down a path that nobody should want to follow.
"I'm convinced that nobody intends to attack the DPRK because of a disagreement about its nuclear system ... however I'm afraid that others will respond firmly to any military provocation."
[h=2]Second destroyer[/h]Aggressive statements by Pyongyang have prompted the deployment of nuclear-capable US B-52s, B-2 stealth bombers and two US destroyers to the region.
The second destroyer USS Decatur is currently en route to the region to join the USS John McCain and provide ballistic missile options.
The United States called on China and Russia to do more to rein in North Korea, after Beijing earlier voiced regret over Pyongyang's announcement.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the North's decision to reopen its Yongbyon plant was "another indication" of Pyongyang "violating its international obligations."
"It is not a mystery to anyone that China has influence with North Korea," Mr Carney told reporters.
"We have in the past and are now urging China to use that influence to try to affect North Korean behaviour. That is also true of our (conversations) with the Russians."
Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd is in Washington, where he has applauded China's growing criticism of North Korea.
Mr Rudd said North Korea "has gone from being a private debate to a very public debate" inside China since the latest crisis began several months ago.
"I'm surprised by how out there people are at the moment, ranging from, 'let's dump North Korea as an ally' to 'how do we work with the South Koreans to exercise restraint?'" he said, speaking at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
"This is a very good thing from my perspective because it's no longer regarded as simply a foundational element of Chinese foreign and security policy, that it's North Korea right or wrong."
[h=2]Reactor reopening[/h]A Pyongyang government nuclear energy spokesman said the plans for Yongbyon would involve "readjusting and restarting" all facilities at the complex, including a uranium enrichment plant and the five-megawatt reactor.
The aim was to "bolster the nuclear armed force both in quality and quantity", the spokesman was quoted as saying by the official KCNA news agency.
The North shut down the Yongbyon reactor in July 2007 under a six-nation aid-for-disarmament accord, and destroyed its cooling tower a year later.
Experts say it would take six months to get the reactor back up and running, after which it would be able to produce one bomb's worth of weapons-grade plutonium a year.
North Korea revealed it was enriching uranium at Yongbyon in 2010 when it allowed foreign experts to visit the centrifuge facility there, but insisted it was low-level enrichment for energy purposes.
The mention of "readjustment" will fuel concerns that it will be upgraded - if it hasn't been already - into a facility for openly producing weapons-grade uranium.
Kim Yong-Hyun, a North Korea expert at Seoul's Dongguk University, said Tuesday's nuclear initiative was in a different league from the military bluster of recent weeks.
"This goes beyond mere provocation. It's a strong, tangible move and perhaps the one that will force the US into the direct dialogue Pyongyang wants," Mr Kim said.
The prospect of North Korea on a joint plutonium and uranium enrichment path is a hugely worrying one for the international community.
The North has substantial uranium ore deposits which provide a quick route to boosting reserves of fissile material, while plutonium has the advantage of being easier to miniaturise into a deliverable nuclear warhead.
"The international community has spent years working to stall and roll back the North's nuclear program," said Mark Fitzpatrick, director of the non-proliferation unit at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
"If the North now does what it says it's going to do, it'll be pushing ahead with both barrels."
Many observers believe the North has been producing highly-enriched uranium in secret facilities for years, and that the third nuclear test it conducted in February may have been of a uranium bomb.
ABC/AFP
Topics: world-politics, unrest-conflict-and-war, korea-democratic-people-s-republic-of, korea-republic-of, united-states
First posted April 03, 2013 07:03:40
UN chief Ban Ki-moon has warned the Korean peninsula crisis has "gone too far" and could escalate into war after North Korea announced it would restart a nuclear reactor to feed its atomic weapons program.
Mr Ban's stern words came as the United States deployed a second guided-missile destroyer to the Asia Pacific and called on China and Russia to do more to rein in North Korea.
"Nuclear threats are not a game," Mr Ban, the former South Korean foreign minister told a press conference in Andorra.
"Aggressive rhetoric and military posturing only result in counter-actions, and fuel fear and instability."
The North's announcement earlier on Tuesday that it would reopen Yongbyon reactor - its source of weapons-grade plutonium - triggered international alarm.
The Korean peninsula has been caught in a cycle of escalating tensions since the North's February nuclear test, which followed a long-range rocket launch in December.
Subsequent UN sanctions and annual South Korea-US military exercises have been used by Pyongyang to justify a wave of increasingly dire threats against Seoul and Washington, including warnings of missile strikes and nuclear war.
Mr Ban said the country appeared to be on a collision course.
"The current crisis has already gone too far," he said.
"Things must begin to calm down as this situation, made worse by the lack of communication, could lead down a path that nobody should want to follow.
"I'm convinced that nobody intends to attack the DPRK because of a disagreement about its nuclear system ... however I'm afraid that others will respond firmly to any military provocation."
Things must begin to calm down as this situation, made worse by the lack of communication, could lead down a path that nobody should want to follow.
Ban Ki-moon
Mr Ban said the North must abide by Security Council resolutions, and offered to begin talks to end the stand-off.Ban Ki-moon
[h=2]Second destroyer[/h]Aggressive statements by Pyongyang have prompted the deployment of nuclear-capable US B-52s, B-2 stealth bombers and two US destroyers to the region.
The second destroyer USS Decatur is currently en route to the region to join the USS John McCain and provide ballistic missile options.
The United States called on China and Russia to do more to rein in North Korea, after Beijing earlier voiced regret over Pyongyang's announcement.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the North's decision to reopen its Yongbyon plant was "another indication" of Pyongyang "violating its international obligations."
"It is not a mystery to anyone that China has influence with North Korea," Mr Carney told reporters.
"We have in the past and are now urging China to use that influence to try to affect North Korean behaviour. That is also true of our (conversations) with the Russians."
Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd is in Washington, where he has applauded China's growing criticism of North Korea.
Mr Rudd said North Korea "has gone from being a private debate to a very public debate" inside China since the latest crisis began several months ago.
"I'm surprised by how out there people are at the moment, ranging from, 'let's dump North Korea as an ally' to 'how do we work with the South Koreans to exercise restraint?'" he said, speaking at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
"This is a very good thing from my perspective because it's no longer regarded as simply a foundational element of Chinese foreign and security policy, that it's North Korea right or wrong."
[h=2]Reactor reopening[/h]A Pyongyang government nuclear energy spokesman said the plans for Yongbyon would involve "readjusting and restarting" all facilities at the complex, including a uranium enrichment plant and the five-megawatt reactor.
The aim was to "bolster the nuclear armed force both in quality and quantity", the spokesman was quoted as saying by the official KCNA news agency.
The North shut down the Yongbyon reactor in July 2007 under a six-nation aid-for-disarmament accord, and destroyed its cooling tower a year later.
Experts say it would take six months to get the reactor back up and running, after which it would be able to produce one bomb's worth of weapons-grade plutonium a year.
North Korea revealed it was enriching uranium at Yongbyon in 2010 when it allowed foreign experts to visit the centrifuge facility there, but insisted it was low-level enrichment for energy purposes.
The mention of "readjustment" will fuel concerns that it will be upgraded - if it hasn't been already - into a facility for openly producing weapons-grade uranium.
Kim Yong-Hyun, a North Korea expert at Seoul's Dongguk University, said Tuesday's nuclear initiative was in a different league from the military bluster of recent weeks.
"This goes beyond mere provocation. It's a strong, tangible move and perhaps the one that will force the US into the direct dialogue Pyongyang wants," Mr Kim said.
The prospect of North Korea on a joint plutonium and uranium enrichment path is a hugely worrying one for the international community.
The North has substantial uranium ore deposits which provide a quick route to boosting reserves of fissile material, while plutonium has the advantage of being easier to miniaturise into a deliverable nuclear warhead.
"The international community has spent years working to stall and roll back the North's nuclear program," said Mark Fitzpatrick, director of the non-proliferation unit at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
"If the North now does what it says it's going to do, it'll be pushing ahead with both barrels."
Many observers believe the North has been producing highly-enriched uranium in secret facilities for years, and that the third nuclear test it conducted in February may have been of a uranium bomb.
ABC/AFP
Topics: world-politics, unrest-conflict-and-war, korea-democratic-people-s-republic-of, korea-republic-of, united-states
First posted April 03, 2013 07:03:40