North Korea's Nuclear Program Threatens Regional, Global Stability
Current News/Info | North Korea's Gas Chambers | Nuclear Program Threatens Stability | Weapons of Mass Destruction| Korean War Shop | Korean War Historical Overview (incomplete)
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
SINGAPORE, May 31, 2003 - There's no greater threat to peace and stability
facing Asian - and other -- nations today than North Korea's nuclear
program, U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz said here May 31.
In his remarks to attendees at the second annual Asia Security Conference in
Singapore, Wolfowitz observed that the spirit of multilateral cooperation
embodied by such conferences holds "important promise for enabling countries
in the region to resolve problems peacefully." The conference is sponsored
by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
And, he asserted, "nowhere is that challenge greater than in confronting the
problem posed by North Korea's nuclear program."
North Korea's behavior over the past year, in both its public declarations
and actions, "threatens regional and global stability," Wolfowitz
maintained.
For example, in October North Korea declared that it had violated and would
continue to violate its promise not to proceed with its uranium-enrichment
program, he pointed out.
And earlier this year, Wolfowitz continued, the North Koreans announced that
they were reactivating their plutonium production program.
Also, just two weeks ago the North Koreans characterized the 1992
North-South Korean denuclearization agreement they had signed as "a
worthless piece of white paper," Wolfowitz noted.
It's evident that North Korea is "a state that has little regard for the
commitments it undertakes," Wolfowitz observed, "or for the delicate nature
of the northeast Asia security environment."
North Korea's nuclear program "affects the whole region," Wolfowitz
observed, noting the issue therefore "requires a multilateral approach."
If North Korea continues with its uranium-enrichment and
plutonium-processing programs, Wolfowitz noted, "it could export fissile
material - and even entire (nuclear) weapons systems."
Due to its past track record, there's little likelihood that "North Korea
would restrain itself from selling nuclear materials and technology to the
highest bidder," Wolfowitz pointed out.
In view of this "real and immediate danger," the deputy defense secretary
urged that "all responsible countries in the region - indeed in the world -
must step up to the challenge."
The only way the North Korean nuclear weapons problem can be solved
peacefully, Wolfowitz declared, "is through a carefully managed,
multilateral approach to Pyongyang."
North Korea is "heading down a blind alley," regarding its pursuit of
nuclear and other weapons, he said. The United States, Japan, South Korea,
China and Russia, he emphasized, all strongly oppose nuclear weapons on the
Korean Peninsula.
By misspending its treasure in acquiring costly weapons systems and
maintaining a vast military it doesn't need, North Korea faces collapse
"from the total failure of its system," Wolfowitz observed.
The diversion of North Korea's scarce resources to nuclear weapons and other
military programs, Wolfowitz pointed out, "only exacerbates the weaknesses
of North Korea's underlying system."
The deputy defense secretary noted that North Korea should follow the
example set by China 25 years ago.
"China pointed the way for how a failed communist system can undertake a
process of reform - without collapsing," Wolfowitz remarked.
"That is the course North Korea needs to pursue if it is to avoid the kind
of collapse that is viewed with apprehension throughout the region," he
noted.
If North Korea ceases its belligerent ways and stops wasting money on
military capabilities "it does not need and cannot afford," Wolfowitz
declared, then "it will find the door open to all kinds of fruitful
cooperation with the countries of the Asian-Pacific region."
Wolfowitz is on the third day of a trip that will take him next to South
Korea and Japan. He is slated to return to Washington June 3.
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
this file not directly accessible
