Obama Seeks Verifiable Ban on Nukes
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has stated that his foreign policy will seek a verifiable global ban on the production of nuclear weapons material.
In the ``Obama-Biden Plan,'' Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden also vowed to strengthen the nuclear non-proliferation treaty for countries like North Korea and Iran.
``Obama and Biden will secure all loose nuclear materials in the world within four years. While working to secure existing stockpiles of nuclear material, Obama and Biden will negotiate a verifiable global ban on the production of new nuclear weapons material,'' the President-elect office said through its official Web site www.change.gov.
This will deny terrorists the ability to steal or buy loose nuclear materials, it added.
The plan also stipulates that Obama and Biden will crack down on nuclear proliferation so that North Korea and Iran will automatically face strong sanctions if they break the rules.
The platform renewing American diplomacy also said the United States will rebuild its alliances to confront the common challenges of the 21st century such as terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease.
Talking to U.S. foes and friends, the scheme said if America is willing to come to the table, the world will be more willing to rally behind American leadership to deal with the challenges of confronting terrorism and Iran and North Korea's nuclear programs.
Obama and Biden will forge a more effective framework in Asia that goes beyond bilateral agreements, occasional summits and ad hoc arrangements such as the six-party talks on North Korea, the Web site said.
``They will maintain strong ties with allies like Japan, South Korea and Australia; work to build an infrastructure with countries in East Asia that can promote stability and prosperity; and work to ensure that China plays by international rules,'' it said.
Meanwhile, North Korea has agreed to allow international inspectors to sample fissile material on its territory, according to the Kyungyang Shinmun newspaper Wednesday.
But Pyongyang said this will only happen after it enters the next phase of the denuclearization process, the report said.
The reclusive state refused to let the team in, claiming it had never agreed on the issue with the United States.
Washing and Pyongyang reportedly reached the verbal accord early last month when U.S. top nuclear envoy Christopher Hill visited Pyongyang to discuss verification of the North's declaration of its nuclear stockpile.