South Korean, US Foreign Ministers Warn North Against Second Nuclear Test

Excerpt from report in English by South Korean news agency Yonhap

Washington, 5 January: South Korea and the United States warned Friday [5 January] another North Korean nuclear test would only deepen the isolation of its regime and serve no purpose.

“I don’t think that from the North Korean point of view, this would seem to be a reasonable course,” US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a joint press conference following her talks with her South Korean counterpart, Song Min-soon.

“North Korea has to know that a nuclear weapon does not guarantee its security, nor help in resolving its economic problems,” Foreign Minister Song said.

ABC News on Thursday reported on what appear to be preparatory nuclear test activities in North Korea as multilateral efforts were under way to reopen six-nation denuclearization talks. [passage omitted]

Neither Rice, nor Song pinpointed specifics on the resumption. “I know of no substantive responses from the North Koreans,” the [US] secretary said.

“When we think that there is some prospect of success, I think we will be prepared to return and return quickly.” [passage omitted]

Pyongyang has been accused of making and circulating bogus American dollars and trafficking drugs and contraband, and laundering the profits through banks abroad, including Macao’s Banco Delta Asia (BDA), which the Treasury designated as a primary money laundering concern abetting Pyongyang illicit activities.

“We think that this BDA issue should be handled in parallel with the denuclearization talks,” said Song. The nuclear and financial issues should not be mixed together, he said. “But in this regard, we still encourage the North Koreans to come along with some ideas (on) how to convince the others that the suspected illicit activities will not be repeated,” the foreign minister said.

It is Song’s first visit here as foreign minister, although he has extensive experience in working with the US as South Korea’s presidential adviser on national security and as a diplomat on American affairs.

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.