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Former President Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union speaks at an international symposium in Hwacheon, Gangwon Province, Tuesday, to mark the dedication of the World Peace Bell Park. / Yonhap |
By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
Former President Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union described North Korea's nuclear test Monday as a grave hindrance to world peace.
He stressed the concerted efforts of member nations of the six-party talks, particularly the United States, Russia and China.
Gorbachev made the remarks in Seoul Monday prior to traveling to Gangwon Province, where he is to participate in the dedication ceremony of the World Peace Bell Park, a new memorial in Hwacheon near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
Ahead of the 59th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War (1950-53), Governor Kim Jin-sun of Gangwon Province invited world leaders, diplomats and citizens to join in the event.
``The nuclear threat from North Korea is a long-standing global security issue. I express profound regret toward the latest outbreak of North Korea's nuclear test and launch of short-range missiles,’’ Gorbachev said.
Gorbachev was in office when Russia and Korea established diplomatic ties in 1990. Even after leaving the Kremlin, he has continuously campaigned for world peace and has paid keen interest in the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.
``The non-profit Gorbachev Foundation has been consistently reviewing the North Korean nuclear issue through many international conferences and research projects,’’ he said.
Gorbachev recounted the diplomatic efforts, especially those initiated with former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, aimed at limiting the proliferation of strategic arms.
``Despite past accords to reduce the proliferation of nuclear weapons, some 40 countries either possess or have the capacity to build them. It is a misconception that nuclear capacity is indicative of military power,’’ he said.
He also said that this is not the time to engage in arms competition and called for international cooperation to tackle the global economic crisis and to resolve military confrontations still underway in some parts of the world, including South Korea, which is still technically at war with North Korea.
Situated in the mid-eastern part of the Korean Peninsula, Gangwon stands out for its symbolic stature of the division of the two Koreas. Before 1945, Gangwon and its North Korean neighboring region formed a single province.
The World Peace Bell is made of empty cartridge cases from battlefields from some 30 conflict regions, including Palestine, Ethiopia and Colombia. Created in the style of a Buddhist bell from the Silla Kingdom (57 B.C.-A.D. 936), it will be rung to mark World Peace Day, which falls on the third Saturday of every September, Hwacheon officials said.
Born in 1931 in southern Russia, Gorbachev served as the last general secretary of the Communist Party of the former Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and president of the USSR from 1988 until its collapse in 1991.
jhdo@koreatimes.co.kr
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무디스, 스페인·伊·포르투갈 신용등급 강등
