N. Korea warns may resume nuclear plans if U.N. acts

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BEIJING, March 26 Kyodo -
North Korea on Thursday warned that even the discussion by the U.N. Security
Council of its planned rocket launch will be viewed as a ''hostile act'' and
prompt it to reverse its denuclearization efforts, according to a Korean
Central News Agency report.
''We would like to remind once again that there are not a few countries in the
world that launched satellites but the UNSC has never dealt with nor taken
issue with the satellite launches by other individual countries,'' a spokesman
for the North Korean Foreign Ministry said in an interview carried by KCNA.
''The UNSC's discussion on the DPRK's projected satellite launch for peaceful
purposes itself, to say nothing of its adoption of any document containing even
a single word critical of the launch whether in the form of a 'presidential
statement' or a 'press statement,' will be regarded as a blatant hostile act
against the DPRK,'' the spokesman was quoted as saying. DPRK stands for the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
''The moment the Sept. 19 joint statement is ignored due to such act the
six-party talks will come to an end, all the processes for the denuclearization
of the Korean Peninsula, which have been pushed forward so far, will be brought
back to what used to be before their start and necessary strong measures will
be taken,'' the spokesman said, referring to a 2005 accord reached at the
six-party talks.
KCNA said the spokesman was responding to a question raised by KCNA Thursday
regarding the ministry's statement on Tuesday concerning the launch.
On Tuesday, the ministry warned that attempts by Japan and the United States,
both members of the six-party talks on curbing the North's nuclear ambitions,
to have the U.N. Security Council impose fresh sanctions on the North would
''deprive the six-party talks of any ground to exist or their meaning.''
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.
The six-party negotiations remain stalled since December, when they broke down
over differences on ways to verify North Korea's nuclear programs.
==Kyodo
2009-03-26 23:13:24