Page 3 of 5 CHINA AND THE
US PART 9: The North Korean
perspective By Henry C K Liu
trilateral meeting including the South
Korean authorities in the DPRK-US talks to discuss
countermeasures for eradicating the danger of
nuclear war and providing a turning point for
peaceful resolution of DPRK-US hostility. At the
third session of the seventh SPA on January 25,
1984, to stave off growing danger of nuclear war,
an appeal was made to launch an international
campaign to withdraw all nuclear weapons from
South Korea and
turn
the Korean Peninsula into a denuclearized and
peaceful region.
In a statement released
on December 8, 1985, North Korea welcomed the
US-Soviet agreement on issues regarding the
reduction of nuclear weapons and the prevention of
nuclear war. The statement emphasized that if the
US truly wanted peace, it should withdraw its
nuclear weapons from South Korea and respond by
turning the Korean Peninsula into a nuclear-free
peace zone. Thus the nuclear issue involved not
just non-proliferation in North Korea, but also
denuclearization in South Korea and on a regional
level, and in US bases in Japan.
The DPRK
joined the Non-Proliferation Treaty in December
1985 to facilitate denuclearization of the Korean
Peninsula in the context of preserving national
sovereignty. After becoming a signatory to the
NPT, the North Korean government proposed
additional initiatives for peace. In a June 23,
1986, statement, the DPRK declared that it would
not test, manufacture, store or bring in nuclear
weapons and would not allow any military bases,
including nuclear bases, overseas. It also
declared it would not allow foreign countries'
nuclear weapons to pass through its territory,
territorial air, and territorial waters.
In the statement, North Korea indicated
that if the US and South Korea should request
negotiations regarding the DPRK proposal to turn
the Korean Peninsula into a nuclear-free peace
zone, irrespective of form, it would respond to
such demands promptly.
Through a July 13,
1987, Foreign Ministry statement, North Korea
again clarified its stand regarding practical
measures to establish a nuclear-free peace zone on
the peninsula and firmly secure its status. In the
statement, the DPRK demanded US withdrawal of its
nuclear weapons and promise of canceling operation
plans regarding the use of nuclear weapons.
Regarding Japan, the DPRK suggested that it "not
make its territory into another country's base to
sally forth, relay, and supply nuclear weapons to
threaten the Korean Peninsula". The DPRK also
asked all the states that possessed nuclear
weapons to restrain themselves from engaging in
any type of military actions that could stir up a
nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula and its
vicinity.
North Korea also appealed to the
South to withdraw nuclear weapons, transport
means, and all military bases, including nuclear
bases, in its region and not bring in or store
nuclear weapons from then on, as well as not
develop or possess nuclear weapons and totally to
prohibit other countries' nuclear weapons from
passing through its region.
A Joint
Declaration on denuclearization of the Korean
Peninsula was again reviewed and approved at the
February 5, 1992, joint meeting of the DPRK
Central People's Committee and the SPA Standing
Committee. This was an epochal event that served
as a milestone in turning the Korean Peninsula
into a nuclear-weapon-free peace zone as well as
in realizing Korea's reunification. As an
additional practical measure, a proposal to ratify
the safety accords between the DPRK and the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was
considered, deliberated and approved at the 16th
session of the delegates to the ninth SPA Standing
Committee on February 18, 1992, as well as at the
third session of the ninth SPA that was held that
April and came into effect on April 10.
On
June 3, 1992, the Secretariat of the Committee for
the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland
disclosed and severely condemned US and South
Korean authorities for aggravating tension on the
Korean Peninsula and increasing the dangers of a
nuclear threat while violating the basic spirit of
the North-South Agreement and Joint Declaration on
denuclearization.
In a memorandum issued
on September 12, 1997, the DPRK exposed
maneuvering by US and South Korean authorities to
reinforce nuclear weapons behind the screen of
talks. Through the Foreign Ministry's memoranda
and the bills of indictments issued by the Korean
Anti-Nuclear Peace Committee and the Korean
Democratic Lawyers Association on March 15, 1993,
April 20, 1994, January 7, 1999, and February 28,
2003, the DPRK called attention to the danger of a
nuclear war flaring up on the Korean Peninsula as
a result of US and South Korean simulated
nuclear-war exercises and the biased behavior in
some quarters of the IAEA Secretariat. The DPRK
proposed constructive and substantial proposals to
settle these matters.
The North Korean
government allowed a IAEA delegation to visit the
country from May 11-16, 1992, to inspect all
nuclear facilities that they demanded access to,
as well as suspected nuclear facilities. On May 4,
the DPRK had submitted to the IAEA its initial
inventory report on nuclear material and
nuclear-facility design information as required by
Articles 42 and 62 of the nuclear-safety accords
between North Korea and the agency. The DPRK
actively cooperated in the work of the ad hoc
inspection team six times from May 1992 to early
February the following year. The DPRK also
accepted a US demand for an inspection of
Kumch'ang-ni in 1998 under the pretext of
so-called intelligence-data collection.
As
part of a program to achieve denuclearization on
the Korean Peninsula, North Korea froze its
graphite-moderated reactors and
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