N. Korea says U.N. sanctions may lead to end of 6-party talks

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BEIJING, March 24 Kyodo -
North Korea warned Tuesday that attempts by members of the six-party talks on
curbing the North's nuclear ambitions to impose fresh sanctions if it goes
ahead with a planned rocket launch would ''deprive the six-party talks of any
ground to exist or their meaning.''
''The attempts of Japan and the U.S., the parties to the six-party talks, to
deny the DPRK's right to use space for peaceful purposes and infringe upon its
sovereignty as a discriminatory measure diametrically run counter to the
'spirit of mutual respect and equality' enshrined in the Sept. 19 joint
statement on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,'' a spokesman of the
North Korean Foreign Ministry said, referring to a 2005 accord reached at the
six-party talks, according to the North's Korean Central News Agency. DPRK
stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official
name.
''If such hostile act is perpetrated in the name of the UNSC, this will
precisely mean its denial of the said statement,'' the unnamed spokesman said.
''The abrogation of the said statement would deprive the six-party talks of any
ground to exist or their meaning,'' he said.
North Korea has said it will launch a communications satellite between April 4
and 8. The United States, Japan and South Korea believe it to be a cover for
the test-firing of a longer-range ballistic missile.
Japan, South Korea and the United States have said any launch by North Korea
would violate existing U.N. Security Council resolutions prohibiting the North
from engaging in ballistic missile activities because it would employ the same
technology as that for firing a missile.
Japan is eager to play a key role in securing strong condemnation of North
Korea by the U.N. Security Council, such as new resolutions with further
sanctions.
The spokesman also said that the six-party talks are now ''on the verge of
collapse'' due to Japan's ''non-fulfillment of its commitment.''
Japan has refused to join with the United States, China, South Korea and Russia
in providing energy aid worth a total of 1 million tons of fuel oil to North
Korea in exchange for denuclearization steps.
Tokyo has said it will not do so unless progress is made on the issue of past
abductions of Japanese citizens to North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s, an issue
that has prevented the two countries from normalizing diplomatic relations.
''The reality today when the said talks are in the danger of collapse due to
the hostile acts of some participating countries once again testifies to the
truth of the DPRK's stand that it cannot abandon its nuclear weapons even in
100 years unless the hostile relations are terminated,'' the spokesman said.
He added that the responsibility for the deadlocked talks ''will rest entirely
with Japan, to begin with, and other countries which rejected the 'spirit of
mutual respect and equality' enshrined in the Sept. 19 joint statement.''
The six-party negotiations remain stalled since December, when they broke down
over differences on ways to verify North Korea's nuclear programs.
==Kyodo
2009-03-24 23:19:37