HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------
UK
opens door to North Korea
Peter Beaumont and Kamal
Ahmed in Barcelona Britain is to welcome North Korea,
described by President George Bush as part of the 'axis of evil', back into the
international fold. An ambassador will go there there for the first time in
nearly 50 years.
Under the dictatorship of Kim Jong-il, North Korea has been accused by the US
of attempting to develop nuclear weapons, and has launched a three-stage rocket
capable of carrying a nuclear warhead into space. This is despite widespread
poverty and starvation in one of the world's most closed and intolerant police
states.
The moves follow the recent warming of relations between London and Iran -
another 'axis of evil state' - which included a visit by Foreign Secretary Jack
Straw to Tehran.
A North Korean trade delegation visited London last week to meet Foreign
Ministers Baroness Symons and Denis McShane. A ministerial visit to Pyongyang,
North Korea's capital, during the World Cup being partly staged in South Korea
this summer, has been discussed.
Government sources said that despite the singling out of North Korea by Bush
as one of three pariah states responsible for proliferating weapons of mass
destruction, the Government had decided it is time for constructive dialogue
with the West.
Ministers have also recognised that North Korea's belated abandonment of its
isolationist position that was more Ice Age than Cold War may lead to trade
opportunities in a country bordering South Korea and rapidly developing markets
in China.
Foreign Office sources have told The Observer that the upgrading of mission
to include an ambassador would require North Korea letting Britain upgrade its
existing its communications facilities in its embassy in Pyongyang, so diplomats
would be able to communicate with London without being eavesdropped on.
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