#12
BBC Monitoring
Russian commentator mulls North Korea's place as "next on US list"
Source: Radio Russia, Moscow, in Russian 0800 gmt 10 Apr 03

It seems North Korea is next on the US list. For the moment, however, Washington's official representatives are saying they want a political solution to the North Korean nuclear crisis. This comes from a statement by US ambassador [to the UN] John Negroponte at a closed sitting of the UN Security Council. Sergey Kolotilinskiy takes up the theme:

[Correspondent] Washington is evidently trying to calm Pyongyang which is afraid - and not without reason - that after Iraq the Americans may continue along the so-called axis of evil proclaimed by George Bush. Moreover, representatives of the US administration are not concealing the fact that they would like Iraq to be an example to anyone the United States doesn't like. That's what Under-Secretary of State John Bolton is saying: Countries that seek to acquire weapons of mass destruction, including Iran, Syria and North Korea, should draw the appropriate lesson from what has happened in Iraq.

As a result, what the US ambassador to the UN said about George Bush wanting to end the North Korean nuclear programme by peaceful and diplomatic means appears to be a conciliatory gesture to the DPRK. Washington nevertheless continues to reject Pyongyang's calls for a bilateral dialogue on the nuclear problem.

Russia, of course, cannot fail to be concerned at the growth of tension on the Korean Peninsula, which lies right on our border. It is no accident that Russian Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov, who is visiting South Korea, does not rule out that should the UN Security Council adopt a resolution on the DPRK it might well be ignored by Pyongyang. For this reason, the head of the Russian defence department believes the problem should be solved by political and diplomatic means, restoring the status quo so that the DPRK gives IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] inspectors access to its territory and lets them get on with their work. As Sergey Ivanov says, however, this is possible only if the DPRK receives absolute guarantees that its security, independence and territorial integrity will be preserved and that it will not come under attack.

BACK TO THE TOP    #252 CONTENTS    NEXT ARTICLE