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North Korea: Security Council Makes No Progress; Envoy Says Talks Possible By Jim Wurst In January, Pyongyang announced that it was withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (see GSN, Jan. 10) after expelling International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors in December (see GSN, Dec. 30, 2002). That withdrawal becomes effective tomorrow, 90 days after North Korea’s announcement, although North Korea has asserted its withdrawal took effect immediately after its January declaration. The IAEA Board of Governors adopted a resolution declaring North Korea “in noncompliance” with its safeguard agreement under the NPT that ensures nuclear material is not used in military programs and referred the issue to the council (see GSN, Feb. 12). On Feb. 20, the council turned the issue over to national experts to explore further. Those experts have not yet reported back. This is the first council meeting on North Korea since then. Speaking after today’s closed-door session, U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said, “The United States attaches great importance to close consultations with Security Council members and with countries in the region.” He added, “We haven’t taken any option off the table.” Mexican Ambassador Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, the council president for April, said, “Members of the council expressed their concerns and the council will continue to follow-up developments. There is nothing more to add.” No council delegate referred to the question of sanctions in connection with today’s meeting. British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock said yesterday, “We’re taking it quite slowly and steadily at the moment. … We’re in no rush, there is still some diplomacy on the ground.” Russian Ambassador Sergei Lavrov said this morning going into the meeting that he would “like to see the members of the council strongly reiterating their position in favor of a political solution. Condemnations would not help. Whatever multilateral formats might be used, they would not produce a result without a direct dialogue between the United States and North Korea.” North Korea’s position is that the matter should be addressed bilaterally between itself and the United States. Washington wants multilateral discussions, either through a regional meeting or through the Security Council. Secretary General Kofi Annan’s adviser on North Korea, Maurice Strong, said at a news conference yesterday, “The positions of both [North Korea and the United States] could be accommodated … to permit them to meet in settings both multilaterally and bilaterally.” The gap between them is narrowing “so that it should no longer be a real reason for delaying.” “It is something of a paradox in that both sides seem to be willing to move in the direction that the other is primarily requiring and yet they still have not been able to agree on the modalities of a meeting,” said Strong. Strong said the council “cannot substitute for direct negotiations, perhaps it can facilitate them.” If the council imposes sanctions, “that will escalate the confrontational nature of this” but it would help “if the movement is in the direction of trying to create a settlement on the two main issues, which are security guarantees for the North Koreans and at the same time [commitments] that they will not move towards the development of nuclear weapons,” he said. Annan was less specific about the makeup of any negotiations. “The next step really is to get the parties talking and to find a format that will be acceptable to both parties and bring them to the table to talk,” he said this morning. Strong said North Korea’s “primary concern” is what it sees as the threat to its security from the United States. If that threat can be addressed bilaterally, he said he believed Pyongyang would be willing to discuss multilateral issues, including halting its nuclear program and rejoining the NPT. In answer to a question about his earlier comments that war was possible as a result of the North Korea standoff, Strong said, “I simply said there is a risk of war. … The risks are there. I certainly don’t think war is inevitable or even likely, but certainly possible.” Negroponte said the United States “has proposed a multilateral forum to discuss paths to verifiable elimination of the North Korean nuclear weapons program.” He added, “Diplomatic contacts are taking place in the region [are] multifaceted. ... This is an issue of active diplomacy between ourselves and countries in the region.” Negroponte said North Korea’s actions “threaten the stability of Northeast Asia. It is not just a matter of getting the North to give up its nuclear weapons ambitions. North Korea must also accept a reliable verification regime.”
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