ID :
63062
Thu, 05/28/2009 - 20:03
Auther :

UNSC resolution with 'teeth' needed: senior U.S. official

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TOKYO, May 28 Kyodo -
A key U.S. policymaker on East Asian security issues said Thursday the U.N.
Security Council should adopt a resolution with ''teeth'' in order to show
North Korea ''consequences'' for its recent nuclear test.
Michael Schiffer, the newly appointed U.S. deputy assistant secretary of
defense, criticized the test as ''extremely provocative and extremely
bellicose'' and called for Pyongyang to abide by a joint statement issued in
September 2005 at the six-party multilateral talks on denuclearizing the
communist country.
North Korea ''needs to fulfill its obligations under the Sept. 19, 2005, joint
statement to abandon all of its nuclear weapons programs, accept International
Atomic Energy Agency safeguards and return to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty,'' Schiffer said in a telephone interview with Kyodo News.
The joint statement was a key milestone of the six-party diplomatic process,
which involves the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, and
has been stalled since last December over ways to verify North Korea's nuclear
activities.
North Korea conducted what it claimed was a successful underground nuclear test
Monday, the country's second nuclear test and first since 2006, prompting U.S.
President Barack Obama to condemn the act in a statement as a ''violation of
international law'' that was in ''blatant defiance'' of the UNSC.
''The Security Council must take strong measures to demonstrate to North Korea
that its actions will have consequences,'' Schiffer said.
The focus now is to ''come up with a resolution with teeth,'' he added.
His comments suggest a subtle shift in the Obama administration's approach to
North Korea. By seeking tough unilateral as well as UNSC sanctions, Washington
is no longer simply opening the door for Pyongyang to return to
denuclearization talks but is pressuring Pyongyang to do so.
Regarding possible security concerns in Northeast Asia triggered by the North's
nuclear test, Schiffer reiterated Washington's commitments under the bilateral
security treaty with Tokyo.
''I echo what (U.S. Secretary of State) Hillary Clinton said. There should not
be any doubt in anybody's mind that the U.S. is committed to its obligation
under the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security in the full range of
security commitments to Japan,'' he said.
Schiffer welcomed South Korea's recent decision to fully participate in the
U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative that was set up in 2003 to prevent
smuggling and proliferation activities related to weapons of mass destruction.
''We are obviously very pleased to see South Korea joining the PSI,'' he said,
noting that Seoul's move would help to stabilize the region.
Schiffer expects that a meeting being planned for this weekend in Singapore
involving the U.S., Japanese and South Korean defense ministers will have a
positive impact on the North Korean nuclear issue.
He said the trilateral meeting will send North Korea a very important signal of
unity among the United States and its two key allies.
==Kyodo

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