U.S. - NORTH KOREA
President Obama Calls North Korea’s Nuclear Test Reckless
By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer
May 26, 2009
Washington — North Korea’s recent underground nuclear test and short-range missile launches pose “a great threat to the peace and security of the world, and I strongly condemn their reckless action,” President Obama said at the White House.
Obama said May 25 that these actions by the North Korean regime endanger all of Northeast Asia, are a violation of international law and contradict North Korea’s previous commitments not to test nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles. North Korea conducted an underground nuclear explosion on May 25 (9 p.m. EDT May 24), when it also test-fired three short-range ground-to-air and ground-to-ship ballistic missiles. On May 26, North Korea test-fired two more missiles.
“North Korea will not find security and respect through threats and illegal weapons,” the president said. “North Korea’s attempts to develop nuclear weapons, as well as its ballistic missile program, constitute a threat to international peace and security.”
On May 25, the U.N. Security Council unanimously condemned North Korea’s latest nuclear test, including strong objections from North Korea’s traditional allies China and Russia, according to U.S. officials.
North Korean officials notified the U.S. State Department less than one hour before the 9 p.m. EDT May 24 (01:00 GMT May 25) explosion that it intended to test a nuclear bomb, a U.S. senior administration official said. The U.S. Geological Survey identified a man-made seismic event on North Korea’s east coast test facility at the same time of the announced underground nuclear test, a senior U.S. administration official said.
Immediately after being notified by North Korean representatives of the pending nuclear test, the United States notified China, Japan, South Korea and Russia, which are partners in the Six-Party Talks, aimed at convincing North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons development program, the senior official said.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the nuclear test had an explosive yield of a few kilotons of TNT, about the same as the 2006 nuclear test. Additional analysis of the explosion by U.S. nuclear weapons experts will continue for the next few days, the senior official said.
North Korea conducted its first nuclear bomb test in October 2006. As a consequence, the U.N. Security Council passed Security Council Resolution 1718, which forbids North Korea from testing missiles, nuclear weapons and launches. But on April 5, North Korea launched a Taepodong-2 missile, with a projected range of 6,700 kilometers, which could pose a direct threat to Alaska, Hawaii and most of East Asia. That test, which U.S. officials say failed (with the rocket plunging into the Pacific Ocean), was termed a violation of the Security Council resolution and the council subsequently issued a presidential statement condemning the April 5 launch.
Ambassador Susan Rice, the U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, said May 26 on CBS Television’s Early Show that “we need to step back and acknowledge that North Korea’s reckless behavior over the last few days — its test of a nuclear device, its efforts to launch short-range missiles — are clearly provocative and destabilizing actions.”
She added that the Security Council will pursue a new resolution “that will have teeth in it. And I expect additional sanctions.” However, she also said that the United States and its partners in the Six-Party Talks want a diplomatic resolution of the issues.
“We will work with our friends and our allies to stand up to this behavior and we will redouble our efforts toward a more robust international nonproliferation regime that all countries have responsibilities to meet,” Obama said in the White House’s Rose Garden.
According to the senior administration official, Obama spoke with Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to consult and coordinate actions on the North Korean nuclear test. At the same time, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called Russian and Chinese officials. The White House said that they pledged to seek further Security Council action with concrete measures to curtail North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile activities.
South Korea’s Lee announced that South Korea was joining the U.S.-sponsored Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), which includes more than 90 nations authorized to intercept ships and aircraft suspected of carrying and spreading weapons of mass destruction and the materials to support them.
As the president and the secretary were consulting with world leaders, Obama held meetings with National Security Advisor James Jones and his national security staff.