North condemns US move to add sanctions
By Na Jeong-ju
Staff reporter
South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan rejected North Korea’s demand to lift sanctions, calling on the communist nation to take sincere denuclearization steps if it wants to resume international nuclear talks.
Yu was speaking from Hanoi, Vietnam, the host city for a regional security forum, in response to North Korean diplomat Ri Tong-il’s condemnation of U.S.’s planned financial sanctions against North Korea and the Korea-U.S. joint naval exercises. Ri cited this as a violation of the U.N. Security Council’s presidential statement that called for peace and security on the Korean Peninsula.
“The drills and the sanctions threaten peace and stability not only on the peninsula, but also in the region,” said Ri, spokesman for the North Korean delegation to ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), held in Hanoi.
On July 9, the UNSC adopted the statement condemning the March 26 torpedo attack on the South Korean frigate Cheonan, which killed 46 sailors. It, however, failed to clearly mention that North Korea was behind the sinking.
Ri insisted that Pyongyang would return to the stalled six-party talks only on equal footing with other members, not as “a victim and a perpetrator.”
The reaction came a day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Washington will impose new financial sanctions on North Korea in response to the attack.
North Korea has issued no official statement on the U.S. pledge for financial sanctions.
South Korea and the U.S. are scheduled to launch large-scale naval drills from Sunday in the East Sea, a display of military deterrence against North Korea.
The North’s military has showed no unusual activities, according to the defense ministry.
She was visiting Seoul to attend the inaugural “2+2” security talks with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and their South Korean counterparts.
Clinton flew to Hanoi Thursday, along with South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Yu Myung-hwan, for talks with foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The session precedes the ARF to be held Friday, where top diplomats from 27 members will talk about a range of security issues, including North Korea.
North Korean Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun is leading his country’s delegation to the ARF, at which the ship sinking is expected to be a hot topic.
Spokesman Ri said the sanctions against North Korea should be lifted as they are only “adding to the hostile policy against the communist country.”
He also insisted the joint Korea-U.S. naval drills present a grave threat to the regional peace and security.
Seoul and Washington blame the North for the ship sinking, a charge North Korea denies. China and Russia have opposed any punitive steps against the North for the naval incident.
At the end of the security forum in Hanoi, the ARF chairman is expected to issue a statement on security issues, possibly including the ship sinking.
Seoul hopes the statement will denounce the attack without directly blaming the North, like the UNSC statement.