Allies and Foes Rebuke North Korea

The United States have sent a blunt warning to North Korea that America ?will not live with? a nuclear armed Pyongyang that conducts nuke weapons tests, an implicit threat to the Stalinist regime not to test such weapons in defiance of the international community. Even close allies of North Korea such as Russia and China have warned against the North?s announced intentions, though the ability of China to influence its Communist brethren on the Korean Peninsula appears diminished in the wake of the July test launches of missiles, which Beijing did not want to take place.

The People?s Republic, instead of issuing the usual messages insisting on the need for all parties to commit to dialogue without mentioning North Korea by name (but directing such messages implicitly at Pyongyang), this week issued a direct rebuke ? mentioning North Korea ? while still urging all parties involved (including China) to return to the negotiating table. ?We hope that North Korea will exercise necessary calm and restraint over the nuclear test issue,? a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, said.

Rapprochement talks with South Korea have also been cast into doubt in the wake of the North?s announcement that it intends to conduct a test of its nuclear arsenal, while Seoul has not suspended aid being sent across the border as part of a relief effort following massive flooding in the realm of Kim Jong-Il, officials state that any nuclear test conducted by Pyongyang would bring about a negative response. One South Korean statement put it thus: ?If North Korea pushes ahead with a nuclear test, North Korea should take full responsibility for all consequences.?

                                 

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