It's a little late.
Bruce http://cbs4.com/topstories/topstories_story_279131700.html All Eyes On North Korea <javascript:void(0);> CBS News Interactive: North Korea Threats (CBS News) UNITED NATIONS With speculation mounting of a North Korean nuclear test as early as this weekend, a unanimous U.N. Security Council urged the secretive, communist nation Friday to abandon all atomic weapons as it promised last year and cancel plans to detonate a device. Japan hinted the North could face sanctions or possible military action. A statement adopted by the council expresses "deep concern" over North Korea's announcement that it planned a test - which would confirm strong suspicions it is a nuclear power - and warns Pyongyang of unspecified consequences if it carries through. The message also urges the North to return to six-party talks on scrapping its nuclear weapons program. "North Korea's declaration that it would conduct a nuclear test threw down the gauntlet, forcing the U.N. Security Council to act," said CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk, "but the proposed resolution does not go very far to lay out the consequences if the test occurs." With tensions rising, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il met hundreds of his top military commanders and urged them to bolster the nation's defenses, as officers cheered, "Fight at the cost of our lives!" the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported earlier Friday. On Saturday, South Korean troops fired warning shots after five North Korean soldiers crossed a boundary in the Demilitarized Zone separating the two countries, South Korean military officials said. Four of the North Korean soldiers were unarmed, while one was carrying a rifle, an official at South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said on condition of anonymity, citing official policy. They crossed the Military Demarcation Line separating the two armies before retreating to their own side after South Korean forces fired about 40 warning shots, the official said. There were no reported injuries. A North Korea expert in China, the North's closest ally, said only the removal of American economic sanctions against Pyongyang could dissuade the country from carrying out a nuclear test. "North Korea has already made a decision to carry out a test," said Li Dunqiu, of China's State Council Development Research Center, a Cabinet-level think tank. But "if the U.S. removes sanctions ... then tensions can be eased. Otherwise launching a nuclear test is unavoidable for North Korea." The United States imposed economic sanctions on North Korea last year to punish it for alleged counterfeiting and money laundering. For the last 13 months, North Korea has boycotted six-nation talks aimed at persuading it to abandon its nuclear ambitions. "North Korea's deputy foreign minister was clear in last month's General Assembly session that Pyongyang wants financial sanctions lifted," Falk added, "but the threat is real and makes it more difficult for the nations involved in the six-party talks to offer North Korea incentives." North Korea said Tuesday it decided to act in the face of what it claimed was "the U.S. extreme threat of a nuclear war," but gave no date for the test. Washington has repeatedly said it has no intention of invading North Korea. Both China and Russia have urged the United States and North Korea to hold talks, which Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Friday "could be useful in resolving the situation." But he said U.S. Ambassador John Bolton informed the council that there would be no North Korean-U.S. talks except in the margins of resumed six-party talks. Bolton said the Security Council needs to adopt a long-term strategy to deal with North Korea but the top U.S. priority now is to stop a nuclear test. "We take the threat by North Korea seriously. We don't think this is an attention-getting device of people waving their arm to say `see me, see me.' We think this would be consistent with the unfortunate logic that North Korea has been following," he said. "North Korea should understand how strongly the United States and many other council members feel that they should not test this nuclear device," Bolton said. "And that if they do test it, it would be a very different world the day after the test ... because there would be another nuclear power." Russia's Churkin said threatening or conducting a nuclear test "would not help anybody including North Korea." "This message is very clearly conveyed in the useful presidential statement which we today adopted," he said. "Let's hope that things will cool off and that everybody will return to six-party talks." South Korea's Foreign Ministry also urged its communist neighbor to return to talks and applauded the council's warning. South Korean nuclear envoy Chun Yung-woo said he will visit China on Monday for two day of talks with Chinese officials over the North's planned test. "North Korea should be held responsible for any consequences that could be caused by a test," the South's Foreign Ministry said. The warning was read at a formal meeting by the council president, Ambassador Kenzo Oshima of Japan. The Japanese Foreign Ministry issued a statement later saying if North Korea defies international concerns about a test, "the Security Council must adopt a resolution outlining severely punitive measures." Japan, which would be in close proximity to any North Korean nuclear test, proposed the initial text of the statement, which becomes part of the council record. Oshima had pressed to have it adopted before Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe travels to China on Sunday and South Korea on Monday with a message that the North should stop testing. "It's good that the council has come up with a very clear, strongly worded message warning against a nuclear test" before the "very important" Japan-China summit meeting, Oshima said. The statement says a nuclear test would not help Pyongyang address its concerns, especially strengthening its security. It warns that a nuclear test would bring "universal condemnation," lead to further unspecified council action, and "jeopardize peace, stability and security in the region and beyond." The council said it "deplores" the pursuit of nuclear weapons by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, known as the DPRK. "The Security Council will be monitoring the situation closely," the statement said. "Should the DPRK ignore calls of the international community, the Security Council will act consistent with its responsibility under the Charter of the United Nations." Oshima indicated that the North could face sanctions or possible military action under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter if it detonates a nuclear device. Chapter 7 outlines actions the council can take to deal with threats to international peace. He stressed that the statement says a nuclear test would constitute such a threat, which "is clear enough." "I think the terms in which this statement was prepared clearly indicate what will be the consequences of their action if they, in fact, resort to a nuclear test," Oshima said. The statement also urges North Korea to return immediately to the six-party talks and work toward implementation of a September 2005 agreement in which the North pledged to give up its nuclear program in exchange for aid and security guarantees. The six parties to the talks are the two Koreas, China, Japan, the United States and Russia. The council acted amid speculation that a nuclear test could come on Sunday, the anniversary of Kim's appointment as head of the Communist party in 1997. Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi, currently in Washington, told the Japan's TV Asahi: "Based on the development so far, it would be best to view that a test is possible this weekend." The dispatch by North Korea's news agency did not mention a nuclear test. North Korean state television showed still photos of Kim, with his distinctive bouffant-hair, waving to an assembled crowd of about 500 olive-suited officers in dress caps. Kim later posed for a group photo with his commanders in front of Pyongyang's sprawling mausoleum for his father and national founder, Kim Il Sung. The meeting was the reclusive leader's first reported appearance in three weeks and the first since Tuesday, when his government shocked the world by announcing plans to test a nuclear device on its way to building an atomic arsenal. It was unclear when the rally took place, or how many attended, but it could show that Kim is trying to polish his credentials with the military at a time when international pressure is mounting on Pyongyang. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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