Pyongyang Called United Nations Sanctions Resolution A "Declaration Of War"

U.S. officials: N. Korea may be planning 2nd nuclear test

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapc...rea.sanctions/

10/17/2006

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- North Korea may be preparing to conduct a second nuclear test, a U.S. official with access to intelligence information said Tuesday.

The official says that activity at a second nuclear site in North Korea is looking very similar to activity seen at another site just before the October 9 nuclear test.

The official said buildings and other structures are being fabricated at this second site, possibly in an effort to hide activities from spy satellites. (Watch what U.S. intelligence is finding at possible test site -- 1:46)

"It would not be unreasonable to assume the North Koreans are planning a second test," White House press secretary Tony Snow said Tuesday.

The intelligence official said there are also reports of statements from senior North Korean military officials saying that the government intends to conduct multiple tests.

Activity is also being seen at the site of the confirmed nuclear test, the official said. It's not clear if that activity is cleanup, maintenance or just wrapping up the testing there.

Earlier, government officials in South Korea and Japan said intelligence information pointed to a possible second test.

Earlier, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said in Seoul, South Korea, that another test of a nuclear device would be regarded as North Korea thumbing its nose at the world.

"I think we will all regard a second test as a very belligerent answer on North Korea's part to the international community, and I think the international community will have no choice but to respond very clearly to the DPRK on this," Hill said as he left talks with South Korea's top nuclear envoy.

Pyongyang on Tuesday called the United Nations sanctions resolution approved after the first test a "declaration of war."

North Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency that the country wants "peace but is not afraid of war."

The U.N. Security Council resolution "cannot be construed otherwise than a declaration of a war against the DPRK [North Korea] because it was based on the scenario of the U.S. keen to destroy the socialist system," according to a Foreign Ministry spokesman quoted by KCNA.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the U.N. resolution a "clear message" that Pyongyang must "make a new set of calculations" about its nuclear endeavors.

"North Korea cannot endanger the world and then expect other nations to conduct business as usual in arms or missile parts," Rice said Monday. (Watch Rice warn North Korea -- 1:32)

Rice said a diplomatic avenue must be kept open to North Korea.

The secretary's comments came on the eve of her trip to Asia, where she'll meet with other parties in the six-way talks on how to implement the sanctions.

China to inspect shipments
Earlier in the day, Chinese U.N. ambassador Wang Guangya said his country would inspect cargo bound for and coming out of North Korea. That contradicts statements he made Saturday, hours after the resolution passed, that his country would find it politically difficult to conduct such inspections. China is North Korea's biggest trading partner.

"But inspections is different from interception and interdiction," he clarified Monday. "I think in that area that different countries will do it in different ways."

Nicholas Burns, undersecretary for political affairs, said the United States had received reports that Chinese officials were inspecting cargo in trucks along its 800-mile border with North Korea on Monday.

Burns said Australia also announced that it was barring North Korean ships from its ports, and Japan was mulling further measures.

The Security Council resolution, which passed by a vote of 15-0 Sunday, was in response to North Korea's claim that it had tested a nuclear device last week. (Full story)

The measure forbids trade between U.N. member states and North Korea in material that may be used for nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction and high-end military equipment. It requires Pyongyang not to conduct further nuclear tests or launch ballistic missiles, and it demands that the country abandon all weapons of mass destruction programs.

The resolution also includes a ban on "trade and luxury goods," requires member states to freeze the assets of North Korean entities and individuals, and calls for inspections of cargo traveling from and to North Korea to search for items that may be used in a nuclear or other WMD program.(Resolution text)

Burns said the measure has "real teeth."

"These are very tough sanctions, they're among the toughest ever imposed on any country by the United Nations," he said. "And we hope they will convince the North Koreans to recalculate the cost and benefits of what they're trying to do, developing a nuclear weapons program."

U.S. confirms test
An analysis of air samples collected shortly after North Korea declared it had conducted the test confirms it took place, according to the office of the U.S. director of national intelligence.

The analysis detected radioactive debris, indicating the explosive yield was less than one kiloton, said a statement from John Negroponte's office. That is relatively small for a nuclear test.

The first air sample collected after Pyongyang's announcement last week contained no radioactive debris, but a second one did.

S. Korea plays down North’s statement on “war”

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayA...ction=theworld

17 October 2006

SEOUL - South Korea played down North Korea’s statement on Tuesday that UN sanctions on Pyongyang were a ”declaration of war,” saying it was nothing new since the crisis erupted over the North’s nuclear test.

“There are no surprises,” said Chun Yung-Woo, Seoul’s lead negotiator in stalled six-nation talks on the North’s disarmament, which the communist regime has boycotted since late last year.

Chun called it “the usual rhetoric that they have been using.”

His comments came just before a meeting in Seoul with his Russian and US counterparts as delegates to the talks, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev and US envoy Christopher Hill.

Hill arrived in the South Korean capital Tuesday as part of a swing through Asia to shore up enforcement of the sanctions, which were approved unanimously by the UN Security Council on Saturday after the North tested an atomic bomb.

In a foreign ministry statement, North Korea said the UN resolution was a “declaration of war” and warned nations not to follow the United States in trying to implement them.

“We will deliver merciless blows without hesitation to whoever tries to breach our sovereignty and right to survive under the excuse of carrying out the UN Security Council resolution,” a ministry spokesman said.