South Korea on Sunday vowed to take appropriate measures in implementing a resolution by the U.N. Security Council over North Korea's proclaimed nuclear test.
South Korea "welcomes and supports the U.N. Security Council resolution over North Korea's nuclear test and will implement it in good faith," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry also urged North Korea to give up all nuclear weapons programs and return to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) in recognition of the firm international position expressed in the resolution. It also called on the North to return to the six-party talks and honor a joint statement agreed upon on Sept. 19 last year.
"We will make all-out efforts to solve the nuclear issue and secure peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula by closely cooperating with the concerned countries based on the principle of not tolerating North Korea's nuclear weapon possession," the ministry said. The 15-member council unanimously adopted the resolution which authorizes far-reaching, non-military sanctions on North Korea.
The communist state drew international condemnation after proclaiming last week that it performed a successful nuclear test.
The resolution requires the international community to prevent the sale or transfer of materials related to Pyongyang's unconventional weapons programs, as well as demands nations freeze funds overseas of people or businesses connected with North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
It is still unclear how the resolution will affect South Korea's initiative for joint ventures with its communist neighbor.
"Seoul will take appropriate measures in line with the resolution," Foreign Ministry spokesman Choo Kyu-ho told Yonhap News Agency by phone.
Suh Choo-suk, senior presidential secretary for security affairs, and other senior officials held a meeting earlier in the day to evaluate the ramifications of the resolution on inter-Korean relations and economic projects and come up with the measures.
South Korea is considering holding a higher-level meeting to be presided over by the office of Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook or the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, according to officials.
Han made clear that the government will hew to the principle of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and respond in a stern and firm manner to North Korea's nuclear test in close cooperation with the United Nations "All the consequences of the nuclear test should lie with North Korea. It is an unpardonable provocative act which threatens stability in Northeast Asia and global order," she said in an commemorative speech to a sports festival by South Koreans who fled North Korea before or after the 1950-53 Korean War.
Such projects as an industrial complex in the North Korean town of Kaesong, and tourism business at the North's Mount Geumgang, have been criticized by hard-liners at home and in the U.S. who claim they provide the North with financial sources to develop its WMD program.
A South Korean government official, asking not to be identified, said the resolution is unlikely to bring the two inter-Korean projects to a halt but Seoul could have difficulties in pushing for the expansion of the businesses or fresh joint ventures.
Rep. Kim Geun-tae, chairman of the ruling Uri Party, said the exchange projects at the civilian level such as the industrial complex and the tourism project should continue unaffected by the passage of the U.N. resolution.
"It is fortunate that the international community agreed on the resolution excluding military measures. The government should not take part in cargo searches and inspections, which may give rise to a clash between the two Koreas," Kim said.
South Korea has not formally joined the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), a voluntary association of more than 70 countries hoping to work together against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
The PSI, introduced in 2003, calls for the interdiction of vessels and airliners suspected of carrying WMD or related materials.
Despite continued U.S. requests, South Korea has been reluctant to take part in the initiative in consideration of the unique geopolitical situation on the Korean Peninsula.
The resolution lacks military options against North Korea and calls for wide-ranging diplomatic and economic sanctions against the North. The U.S. had sought to act under Article 42 of the U.N. Charter's Chapter 7 which opens the way military action under the world body.
The binding resolution, which North Korea "totally" rejected, calls upon all U.N. member states to "report to the Security Council within 30 days of the adoption of this resolution on the steps they have taken with a view to implementing" it.
The member states are also obliged to report at least every 90 days to the council with recommendations on ways to strengthen the effectiveness of the measures.
Seoul, Oct. 15 (Yonhap News)
S. Korea to take measures in line with U.N. resolution on N. Korea |
