Global Policy Forum

Talks at UN Target Nuclear Program

By Colum Lynch

The Bush administration resumed today its campaign to persuade the U.N. Security Council to condemn North Korea for failing to dismantle its nuclear weapons programs. The move reflects mounting frustration in Washington over the lack of progress in talks among the United States, China and North Korea aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions. It came as North Korea's Foreign Ministry issued a statement indicating that it will bolster its "nuclear deterrent" to defend the country from the United States.

The United States held closed-door talks in New York with Russia, France and Britain to forge an agreement on a statement that would criticize North Korea for withdrawing from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The United States hopes the council will adopt a formal statement by the end of the month. China, North Korea's closest ally on the 15-nation council, has been excluded from the meeting because it previously blocked council action on the issue, diplomats said. U.S. officials are hopeful that China may grudgingly agree to support a toughly worded statement if it enjoys broad support in the council. But there were indications that Russia, which has been reluctant to isolate China in the council, had misgivings over the U.S. proposal. "The Russians have a lot of questions," one council diplomat said.

North Korea sparked the latest crisis with the United Nations on Jan. 10, when it announced its decision to withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The nuclear accord obliges states with no nuclear weapons to forgo atomic arms and allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure that they are not diverting nuclear fuel to covert weapons programs. The Vienna-based agency concluded in February, after its inspectors were ordered out of North Korea, that it could no longer verify whether Pyongyang was diverting fissile material from its civilian program to a banned weapons program. It referred the matter to the Security Council.

Facing resistance from China and Russia, the United States and its European allies in early April halted their efforts to adopt a relatively mild resolution criticizing Pyongyang for withdrawing from the treaty, and urged it to submit to inspections. At the urging of Asian governments, the United States agreed to talks with China and North Korea on the fate of Pyongyang's nuclear program. But U.S. officials said that the talks have yet to yield results, and that Pyongyang's repeated threats to restart its nuclear weapons program require a timely response from the council.

John D. Negroponte, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the council statement should note that North Korea is "out of compliance" with its obligations to subject its nuclear energy program to oversight by the IAEA. He added that it should also call on Pyongyang to "rejoin the international community" by resuming cooperation with U.N. inspectors and meeting its obligations under the treaty to pursue peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

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