Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




NUKEWARS
China on S.Korea drill: No one should 'promote conflict'
by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Dec 20, 2010


N.Korea agrees to restart UN nuclear inspections: Richardson
Seoul (AFP) Dec 20, 2010 - North Korea has agreed to permit the return of UN nuclear inspectors as part of a package of measures to ease acute tensions on the peninsula, US troubleshooter Bill Richardson said Monday. In a statement issued as he visited Pyongyang, Richardson said North Korean leaders also agreed to negotiate the sale of nuclear fuel rods to a third party, "such as South Korea", and to discuss a military commission and hotline. Richardson, a former US ambassador to the UN, said also he was "very encouraged" that North Korea's military had forsaken retaliation after South Korean forces held a live-fire artillery drill on a flashpoint border island.

"During my meetings in Pyongyang, I repeatedly pressed North Korea not to retaliate," the New Mexico governor said. "The result is that South Korea was able to flex its muscles, and North Korea reacted in a statesmanlike manner. I hope this will signal a new chapter and a round of dialogue to lessen tension on the Korean peninsula," he said. Confirming a CNN report, Richardson's statement said Pyongyang had agreed to allow the return of inspectors from the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

North Korea in April 2009 pulled out of six-nation nuclear disarmament talks and ordered US and IAEA nuclear inspectors out of the country, after the UN Security Council condemned Pyongyang for an April 5 rocket launch. It staged its second nuclear test a month later. Tensions have soared anew since a North Korean artillery attack last month on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, which killed four people including civilians and damaged dozens of homes. In addition, the North's disclosure last month of a new uranium enrichment plant on top of its longstanding plutonium operation has sparked fears of a potential new source of bomb-making material. Richardson said the North Koreans would allow "IAEA monitors access to North Korea's uranium enrichment facility".

They were also prepared to negotiate "a deal for a third party, such as South Korea, to buy fresh-fuel rods from North Korea". They would discuss the military commission, grouping representatives from the two Koreas plus the United States, "to monitor and prevent conflicts in the disputed areas of the West (Yellow) Sea". And they were ready to create "a hotline between the North Korean and South Korean militaries to avert potential crises", Richardson's statement said. In Pyongyang over the weekend, Richardson met top nuclear negotiator Kim Kye-Gwan and Major General Pak Rim-Su, who leads North Korean forces along the tense border with the South. Richardson was due to brief reporters in Beijing on Tuesday, after his flight out of Pyongyang was cancelled on Monday owing to bad weather.

China on Monday called for "maximum restraint" on the Korean peninsula, saying no one had a right to "preach or promote conflict" after South Korea staged a live-fire drill on a border island.

Beijing, North Korea's main ally, had earlier warned that any bloodshed on the Korean peninsula would be a "national tragedy", as tensions soared in the build-up to Monday's drill on the island bombarded by Pyongyang last month.

"China always maintains that peace and stability must be maintained on the peninsula. This is a goal we have been working very hard to achieve all along," Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai told reporters.

"No one has any right to preach or promote conflict or war, and no one has any right to cause bloodshed between the peoples in the north and south of the peninsula," he said when asked to comment on the drill carried out by Seoul.

In his comments, delivered at a press conference following a meeting with Australian officials on human rights issues, Cui neither directly criticised the South nor warned Beijing's ally Pyongyang against retaliation.

The Chinese official said dialogue was the only way forward to resolve the crisis sparked by the North's November 23 shelling of Yeonpyeong island, which left four people dead including two civilians.

"In recent weeks and months, we have had quite intensive diplomacy with the relevant parties related to the Korean peninsula," Cui said.

"Whatever the differences and disputes relevant parties may have, they can only be addressed through dialogue and negotiation rather than by conflict or war."

In a subsequent statement, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu called on all parties concerned to exercise "maximum restraint" and take a "responsible attitude" in order to keep the situation from escalating further.

US troubleshooter Bill Richardson, who was wrapping up a trip to Pyongyang as the drill was carried out, has described the situation on the peninsula as a "tinderbox" and urged North Korea to show "maximum restraint" over the drill.

In New York, China made a "strong appeal" at the United Nations for restraint by the two Koreas and vowed to make new efforts to ease the military tensions.

"We strongly appeal relevant parties to exercise maximum restraint, act in a responsible manner and avoid increase of tensions," China's deputy ambassador Wang Min said in a rare public statement at the UN.

"China has spared no efforts to engage both sides of the peninsula," Wang added, highlighting recent ministerial contacts with North and South Korea.

"China strongly urges both sides of the peninsula to keep calm and restraint, solve issues through peaceful dialogue and engagement. China will continue to make our efforts toward this end," he said.

China blocked efforts at the UN Security Council to agree a statement on the Korea crisis and Russia warned that the international community was now left without "a game plan" to counter escalating tensions.

earlier related report
UN council fails to agree on North Korea
United Nations (AFP) Dec 20, 2010 - The UN Security Council has failed to agree a statement on the Korean military crisis, with Russia warning that the international community was now left without "a game plan" to counter escalating tensions.

China on Sunday fended off Western demands that North Korea be publicly condemned for its November 23 artillery assault on Yeonpyeong island which killed four South Koreans, diplomats said.

It even rejected a proposed statement which did not mention North Korea or the Yeonpyeong name in a paragraph on the attack, diplomats said.

China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations Wang Min said his country had voiced its deep worries over the current situation on the Korean Peninsula, called on the parties concerned to exercise maximum restraint and return to the negotiation table at an early date, Xinhua news agency reported.

Wang told the meeting that "bloodshed and conflict would lead to a national tragedy of fratricide" between the two Koreas, damage regional stability and affect neighbouring countries, according to Xinhua.

But Russia's UN envoy Vitaly Churkin emerged from the Security Council to explain how eight hours of formal negotiations, and private talks which included the ambassadors from North and South Korea, had failed.

Unofficial contacts were to continue but US ambassador Susan Rice, the Security Council president for December, told reporters it was "safe to predict that the gaps that remain are unlikely to be bridged."

Russia demanded the meeting hoping for a Council statement to send a "restraining signal" to the two Koreas and to call on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to send a special envoy to negotiate with the rival states, Churkin said.

He expressed hope that a UN envoy could still go, warning that the international community now has no weapon against the spiraling tensions.

"Now we have a situation with very serious political tension and no game plan on the diplomatic side," Churkin said.

Six nation talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons have come to a halt "and there is no other diplomatic activity, so we believe that there must be an initiative."

The ambassador reaffirmed a call by the Russian and Chinese foreign ministers for South Korea to call off a live-firing drill near Yeonpyeong. North Korea has said it will retaliate against the exercise.

But the United States again strongly condemned the communist North's "unprovoked aggression" and defended South Korea's right to stage drills.

"The majority of council members made clear their view that it was important to clearly condemn the events of November 23 and the attack by DPRK (North Korea) on Yeonpyeong island," Rice said.

Britain proposed a statement which said the council "condemns the attack launched by the DPRK on the ROK (South Korea) on November 23."

In an effort to overcome China's objections, Russia produced a new draft which said simply: "The members of the Security Council condemned the shelling of 23 November 2010 resulting in the loss of human life, including civilians, and strongly deplored the aggravation of tension in the Korean peninsula it led to."

That was blocked by China, diplomats told AFP.

Rice said most council members opposed a statement "that was ambiguous in some fashion about what had transpired in the run up to today and simply to pretend that time began today.

"That's not the case. There is a history, there have been two very serious attacks by DPRK on the Republic of Korea over the last nine months.

"The vast majority of the Council thinks that that needs to be clearly stated and condemned."

She said the Seoul government had shown "enormous restraint" ever since the warship Cheonam was sunk in March with the loss of 46 crew.

"The planned exercises are fully consistent with South Korea's legal right to self defense," Rice declared.

"It has been done and notified transparently, responsibly, and will not occur in a fashion that we believe gives North Korea any excuse to respond in the fashion that it has threatened to do."

North Korea had warned of a "disaster" if the firing drill were to take place on the contested sea border. But after they had been conducted, North Korea's military said they were "not worth reacting" to, according to the North's Korean Central News Agency.

.


Related Links
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








NUKEWARS
US troubleshooter proposes N.Korea military hotline
Seoul (AFP) Dec 19, 2010
US troubleshooter Bill Richardson has proposed to officials in Pyongyang that North and South Korea set up a military hotline to address incidents along their border, CNN reported Sunday. He also proposed a military commission with members from North and South Korea plus the United States to monitor disputed areas in the Yellow Sea, CNN said, as Richardson visited Pyongyang aiming to defuse ... read more


NUKEWARS
Total Lunar Eclipse: 'Up All Night' With NASA

Robotic Excavations Could Help Get Helium 3 From Moon To Earth

A Softer Landing on the Moon

Neptec Wins Canadian Space Agency Contract To Develop A New Generation Of Lunar Rovers

NUKEWARS
Wind And Water Have Shaped Schiaparelli On Mars

The Three Ages Of Mars

Odyssey Orbiter Nears Martian Longevity Record

Drilling For The Future Of Science

NUKEWARS
Voyager Crosses Point Of Solar Stillness

Japan's low-cost space programme pushes the limits

Virgin Galactic To Join NASA Submissions For Orbital Spaceflights

Paolo Nespoli Heads To ISS On MagISStra Mission

NUKEWARS
China Builds Theme Park In Spaceport

Tiangong Space Station Plans Progessing

China-Made Satellite Keeps Remote Areas In Venezuela Connected

Optis Software To Optimize Chinese Satellite Design

NUKEWARS
New ISS Crew Members Set For Friday Arrival

New crew members dock with space station

ISS Tracks Months-Long Voyages Of Ships At Sea

Busy Day For ISS Commander

NUKEWARS
Arianespace To Launch ESA's First Sentinel Satellite

The Flight Of The Dragon

SpaceX Dragon Does Two Orbits Before Pacific Splashdown

NASA, SpaceX giddy over historic orbit launch

NUKEWARS
Qatar-Led International Team Finds Its First Alien World

Planetary Family Portrait Reveals Another Exoplanet

New Pictures Show Fourth Planet In Giant Version Of Our Solar System

Carbon-Rich Planet: A Girl's Best Friend

NUKEWARS
New Google TV sets facing delays: reports

'iCrime' wave fuelled by insatiable appetite for smartphones

Physicist Developing And Improving Designer optical Materials

A2100 Commercial Satellite Fleet Achieves 300 Years In Orbit




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement