1. Welcome! Please take a few seconds to create your free account to post threads, make some friends, remove a few ads while surfing and much more. ClutchFans has been bringing fans together to talk Houston Sports since 1996. Join us!

North Korea tells Weapons Inspectors to Get Out

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by pgabriel, Apr 14, 2009.

  1. pgabriel

    pgabriel Educated Negro

    Joined:
    Dec 6, 2002
    Messages:
    43,804
    Likes Received:
    3,709
    link

    SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea vowed today to restart its nuclear reactor and to boycott international disarmament talks for good in retaliation for the U.N. Security Council's condemnation of its rocket launch.
    The International Atomic Energy Agency said today that North Korea ordered the immediate expulsion of its inspectors and told the U.N. nuclear watchdog it was reactivating all of its nuclear facilities.

    North Korea told inspectors to remove seals and cameras from its Yongbyon nuclear site and leave the country as quickly as possible, an IAEA statement said.

    Pyongyang informed the IAEA it was "immediately ceasing all cooperation," the statement said.

    "The (North) also informed the IAEA that it has decided to reactivate all facilities and go ahead with the reprocessing of spent fuel," it said.

    The vow to restart its nuclear reactor and boycott international disarmament talks was a serious step in the wrong direction, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

    North Korea must "cease its provocative threats" and respect the will of the international community, which won't accept the communist country unless it abandons what the White House calls its pursuit of nuclear weapons, Gibbs said.

    Russia, voicing regret over the move, urged Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table. Its Foreign Ministry called the U.N. statement "legitimate and well-balanced," and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said all sides must stick to the disarmament process. China, North Korea's main ally, appealed for calm.

    All 15 members of the Security Council, including Beijing and Moscow, agreed to condemn the April 5 missile launch as a violation of U.N. resolutions and to tighten sanctions against the regime. The U.N. statement was weaker than the resolution Japan and the United States had pursued.

    North Korea claims it sent a communications satellite into space as part of a peaceful bid to develop its space program. The U.S. and others call the launch an illicit test of the technology used to fire an intercontinental ballistic missile, even one eventually destined for the U.S.

    A Security Council resolution passed in 2006, days after North Korea carried out an underground nuclear test, prohibits Pyongyang from engaging in any ballistic missile-related activity — including launching rockets that use the same delivery technology as missiles mounted with warheads, Washington and other nations say.

    President Barack Obama called the U.N. statement, which also called for quick resumption of disarmament talks, a "clear and united message" that North Korea's action was unlawful and would result in real consequences, Gibbs said.

    North Korea, following through on earlier threats to withdraw from international disarmament talks if the council so much as criticized the launch, announced Tuesday it would boycott them. Since 2003, envoys from six nations — the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan — have been meeting in Beijing for sporadic negotiations on getting Pyongyang to give up its nuclear program in exchange for aid and other concessions.

    "The six-party talks have lost the meaning of their existence, never to recover," the North's Foreign Ministry said in a statement, declaring it would never participate in the talks again and is no longer bound to previous agreements.

    Under a 2007 six-party deal, North Korea agreed to disable its main nuclear complex in Yongbyon north of Pyongyang — a key step toward dismantlement — in return for 1 million tons of fuel oil and other concessions. Disablement began later that year.

    In June 2008, North Korea famously blew up the cooling tower at Yongbyon in a dramatic show of its commitment to denuclearization.

    But disablement came to halt a month later as Pyongyang wrangled with Washington over how to verify its 18,000-page account of past atomic activities. The latest round of talks, in December, failed to push the process forward.

    On Tuesday, North Korea said it would restart nuclear facilities, an apparent reference to its plutonium-producing reactor at Yongbyon. North Korea already is believed to have enough plutonium to produce at least half a dozen atomic bombs.

    David Albright, whose Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security tracks suspected secret proliferators, said a move to expel IAEA monitors would not necessarily amount to a crisis.

    "Worse things have happened. It's the easiest thing North Korea can do to express its anger," he said.

    "You can't just turn on a reactor in a couple weeks. They could test a nuclear device, but it would be such an escalation that the parties-that-be internationally would have to respond negatively. Kicking out the monitors is something that easily can be reversed and not cause that much harm."

    He said it would take fuel-deficient North Korea six months to a year to restart the reactor.

    ___

    Associated Press writers Kwang-tae Kim in Seoul, Matthew Lee in Washington, Shino Yuasa in Tokyo, George Jahn in Vienna, Christopher Bodeen and Gillian Wong in Beijing, Cara Anna in New York and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, contributed to this report.
     
  2. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Mar 28, 2002
    Messages:
    57,800
    Likes Received:
    41,239
    Not unexpected. What else would they do? Admit the truth? This is North Korea we're talking about. The people in charge are certifiably crazy.
     
  3. A_3PO

    A_3PO Member

    Joined:
    Apr 29, 2006
    Messages:
    46,857
    Likes Received:
    12,447
    IMO, nothing positive in North Korea is possible until Kim's successor takes over, consolidates power and feels secure enough to resume this process.

    I understand how a collapse of that regime would be a colossal humanitarian catastrophe. But I almost wish it would happen because the continued suffering of people for who-knows-how-many more years is worse.
     
  4. DonkeyMagic

    DonkeyMagic Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    May 22, 2006
    Messages:
    21,604
    Likes Received:
    3,487
    It already is a colossal humanitarian catastrophe.

    should be interesting to see how the admin reacts.
     
  5. Major

    Major Member

    Joined:
    Jun 28, 1999
    Messages:
    41,685
    Likes Received:
    16,212
    North Korea is probably the most interesting case study of looking at Presidential styles. Both Clinton and Bush came to agreements with them using very different styles and methodology, and both agreements were basically ignored. It will be interesting to see if Obama can come up with yet another approach and see if it generates any real results.
     
  6. MadMax

    MadMax Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 1999
    Messages:
    76,683
    Likes Received:
    25,924
    i can not imagine wanting to be president of the united states of america.
     
  7. nkbearsnk

    nkbearsnk Member

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2008
    Messages:
    109
    Likes Received:
    7

    That was said during the Election......it does not matter who is in for this term......think of all the Important issues blowing up. NK, Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Russia, China, the Economy, trying to get Europe to man up a bit an grow some balls, fixing the negative perseption the world has on us now.....(etc. cause I am tired of typing!)

    This world is in a mess that no single man, government or country can fix alone. Hopefully people wake up and realize that is the big problem and jump in.
     
  8. A_3PO

    A_3PO Member

    Joined:
    Apr 29, 2006
    Messages:
    46,857
    Likes Received:
    12,447
    Of course, but you know what I mean (the sudden explosion of people beyond NK's borders). It would be unimaginable. Then again, the more I think about it, the better that sounds for people in North Korea. China and some in South Korea would strongly disagree.
     
  9. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Mar 28, 2002
    Messages:
    57,800
    Likes Received:
    41,239
    My biggest fear is that the collapse of the regime, with the population heading for the borders (and who could blame them), might spark a war during the chaos. Seoul is so close to the NK border that tens of thousands of civilians might be killed and wounded within a couple of days. All it might take is an incident brought about by a panicked military. Keeping fingers crossed. It'll happen sooner or later.
     

Share This Page