Divide over North Korea threat

A TOP South Korean official yesterday said he does not believe North Korea possesses nuclear weapons, contradicting US assertions that the communist nation has one or two atomic bombs.

The comment by Prime Minister Kim Suk-soo appeared to reflect differences in how South Korea and its main ally, the United States, view North Korea. Many South Koreans do not think their neighbour’s nuclear development is a serious threat, while US President George W Bush has defined the North as part of an “axis of evil” intent on acquiring weapons of mass destruction.

In Tokyo, the top US diplomat warned of a possible North Korean missile test over Japan in what could be an effort to ratchet up tension over the North’s nuclear programs. North Korea alarmed the region by firing a rocket over Japan and into the Pacific in 1998.

“We hear reports that they may engage in a missile test, perhaps overflying the island of Japan,” US Ambassador Howard Baker said during a speech at a forum on regional security. He cited unidentified sources, including news reports.

In comments in the South Korean National Assembly, Mr Kim said there was no evidence that North Korea had atomic bombs.

“North Korea is believed to have extracted enough plutonium to make one or two bombs before 1994,” he said. “Since there has been no confirmation that it actually has produced nuclear weapons, we believe that they do not have any.”

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said recently in Germany that most intelligence services know the North Koreans have “one or two nuclear weapons” and “they may have enough nuclear material to make an additional six to eight nuclear weapons” by June.

North Korea has only said it has the right to develop nuclear weapons.

The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency is likely to refer the dispute to the UN Security Council at a meeting tomorrow, agency spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said. The council could consider economic and political sanctions.

In Washington on Sunday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said China should take a more active role in urging North Korea to abandon its nuclear activities.

Mr Powell said he believed there eventually would be talks between Washington and Pyongyang. But he said they should occur in a multilateral setting.

He cited China, which wants the Korean Peninsula to be free of nuclear weapons, and is a traditional ally of North Korea.

Eighty percent of North Korea’s wherewithal, with respect to energy and economic activity, comes from China. China has a role to play, and I hope China will play that role,” Mr Powell said.

However, China’s ties with North Korea have waned recently. Also, China is likely mindful that economic pressure on North Korea could send more North Koreans across the border, leading to a humanitarian crisis on Chinese soil.