[Kabar-indonesia] 7 NKorea Reports: RI Slams Test; Fears Regional Arms Race [+IHT]

[Joyo at aol.com]

7 reports: 

- Indonesia slams North Korea over 
  its announced nuclear test, predicts 
  regional tensions

- Indonesia fears NKorean test may fuel 
  arms race

- IHT: China's reaction signals a rift 
  with North Korea  

- North Korea has enough plutonium for 
  up to seven bombs: intelligence

- S.E. Asian nations fear N. Korea nuke 
  test may destabilize Asia

- World Condemns Reported NKorea 
  Nuke Test

- IPS: N. Korean Nuke Tests Say World 
  Must Return to Peace Agenda

Indonesia slams North Korea over its announced 
nuclear test, predicts regional tensions

JAKARTA, OCtober 9 (AP) - Indonesia condemned North Korea over its
announced test of a nuclear weapon on Monday, saying the test would
add to regional tensions.

"The Government of Indonesia reiterates its position that the recent
nuclear test conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is
unacceptable under any justifiable reason," a statement from the
Foreign Ministry said. "The nuclear test conducted by the DPRK will
only create new tensions and threaten stability in the Asia-Pacific
region."

The test could also lead to nuclear proliferation in the region, the
statement said.

North Korea said Monday it had performed its first-ever nuclear
weapons test in defiance of international objections.

Indonesia and North Korea have close historical ties.

Indonesia's first president, Sukarno, was a good friend of North
Korean leader Kim Jong Il's late father, Kim Il Sung. Sukarno's
daughter, Megawati Sukarnoputri, was Indonesian president between 2001
and 2004 and has kept up a friendship with Kim Jong Il.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Indonesia fears NKorean test may fuel arms race

JAKARTA, October 9 (AFP) -- Indonesia on Monday condemned North
Korea's nuclear test, saying it could trigger an arms race, as it
urged nations involved in talks on Pyongyang's nuclear program to find
a peaceful solution to the crisis.

"The Indonesian government again reiterates its stance rejecting the
nuclear test carried out by the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of
Korea) for any reason," the foreign ministry said in a statement
posted on its website.

"The nuclear test will only create new tension and disturb the
creation of stability in the Asia Pacific," it said.

It added that the test "could trigger the proliferation of nuclear
arms in the region and delay efforts to comprehensively disarm nuclear
weapons based on the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty".

Indonesia also called on members of six-party talks aimed at resolving
the Stalinist state's long-running nuclear crisis to "truly maximise
the narrowing efforts" to find a peaceful solution to the stand-off.

North Korea pulled out of the talks -- involving the two Koreas,
China, the United States, Japan and Russia -- in November last year.

Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had planned a trip to
both Koreas in July but cancelled it amid concerns over North Korea's
missile tests the same month.

He had been expected to urge Pyongyang to resume the stalled talks.

Jakarta has long-standing ties with North Korea, dating from the era
of Indonesia's first president Sukarno. South Korea and Indonesia
established diplomatic ties in 1973.

-----------------------------------

International Herald Tribune
October 9, 2006

China's reaction signals a rift with North Korea  

By David Lague 

BEIJING China's unprecedented criticism of the reported North Korean nuclear 
test points to a fissure with its longstanding neighbor and ally and 
demonstrates that Pyongyang's nuclear program has the potential to destabilize the 
region.
 
Analysts warn that Pyongyang's test could have far-reaching consequences for 
the security climate in Asia if Japan and South Korea are tempted to develop 
nuclear weapons as a counter to North Korea.
 
There are also fears that the anticipated, tough international sanctions 
could lead to a collapse of the stagnant North Korean economy or even provoke a 
military strike against South Korea.
 
In addition, some influential Chinese strategic thinkers believe that 
Beijing's reaction shows that the test has dealt a serious blow to ties between China 
and North Korea.
 
Beijing departed from its normal restraint in dealing with North Korea on 
Monday when it accused Pyongyang of "flagrantly" conducting a nuclear test in 
defiance of universal international opinion.
 
"The Chinese government is totally opposed to this act," the Chinese Foreign 
Ministry said in a statement on its Web site. "The Chinese government strongly 
demands that North Korea honor its commitments towards a non- nuclear Korean 
Peninsula and cease all actions that make the situation worse."
 
China also called on Pyongyang to return to the stalled six-party talks that 
are aimed at reaching a solution to the standoff.
 
Yan Xuetong, an international affairs expert at Tsinghua University in 
Beijing said that China's harsh language indicated a fissure separating China and 
North Korea.
 
"The term flagrantly is usually only used for enemies, not a country that has 
friendly or normal relations with China."
 
Yan said he expected further conflict between Beijing and Pyongyang if North 
Korea continued to defy the international community.
 
China deployed a huge army to fight alongside North Korea in the Korean War 
and has remained Pyongyang's most important ally, particularly since the 
collapse of the Soviet Union.
 
Until very recently, top-level military delegations from China have traveled 
to North Korea for talks on enhancing security cooperation, according to 
official communiqués from both sides.
 
And, some security experts believe that China has played an important role in 
assisting North Korea with nuclear and missile technology, at least in the 
early stages.
 
However there have been recent signs that North Korea's determination to 
proceed with its nuclear program has become a serious diplomatic liability for 
Beijing.
 
The Chinese ambassador to the United Nations, Wang Guangya first warned last 
week that North Korea would face "serious consequences" if it proceeded with a 
nuclear test.
 
Security experts suggest that Beijing is now clearly frustrated that it is 
unable to restrain Pyongyang despite the fact that North Korea relies heavily on 
China for energy, food and technology.
 
"This is a disaster for Beijing because it makes China look weak in relation 
to a state over which it was supposed to have the greatest influence," said 
Allan Behm, a security analyst and former senior Australian Defense Department 
official based in Canberra.
 
"The international community was looking to China to fix this and they have 
failed to do that."
 
Some Chinese security analysts believe that the most dangerous outcome from 
the North Korean test is that it provides Japan with a reason to further 
increase its already considerable military power.
 
The Japanese government has been working to revise its pacifist constitution 
to make it easier for the country's armed forces to respond to an attack or 
send forces overseas.
 
Japan has also been upgrading its forces and streamlining its defense 
bureaucracy in such a way to allow its military to operate more like its counterparts 
in other countries.
 
These developments are unwelcome in China, which fears that a militarily 
powerful Japan could once again pose a threat to its neighbors.
 
Senior Chinese defense officials acknowledge that Japan could exploit its 
huge economy, state-of-the-art manufacturing and high technology base to become a 
major military power.
 
This would pose a serious challenge to Beijing's plans to builds a military 
force aimed at making China Asia's dominant power.
 
Chinese commentators are noting that Japan has reacted strongly to the North 
Korean test.
 
"Japan can use this as an excuse to revise its constitution so it regains the 
right to wage war and modernize its military," Yan said.
 
In addition, some experts believe Japan will consider developing nuclear 
weapons if the international community fails to persuade Pyongyang to abandon its 
nuclear program.
 
"It puts the nuclear weapons debate in Japan right on the table," Behm, in 
Canberra, said.
 
"It is no longer an issue just for right- wing nationalists."
 
The danger of a nuclear arms race in North Asia would be a major threat to 
international arms control efforts.
 
Most experts believe that this means Washington will seek to reassure Japan 
that it remains secure under the U.S. nuclear umbrella.
 
-----------------------------------

Agence France-Presse
October 9, 2006

North Korea has enough plutonium for up to seven bombs: intelligence

North Korea is believed to have stored up to 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of 
plutonium, enough to make as many as seven nuclear bombs, South Korea's 
intelligence chief has been quoted as saying.

Kim Seung-Gyu, head of the National Intelligence Service, also reportedly 
told parliament that the North might carry out further nuclear tests following 
Monday's one.

"North Korea is believed to have stored some 30 to 40 kilograms of 
plutonium," he was quoted as telling parliament's intelligence committee on Monday.

Chung Hyung-Keun, an opposition Grand National Party lawmaker who serves on 
the committee, quoted the intelligence chief.

The 40 kilograms includes 10-12 kilograms that it had secured before it 
opened its nuclear facilities in Yongbyon, 90 kilometers (56 miles) north of 
Pyongyang, to International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, Kim said.

"As one bomb needs five to six kilograms of plutonium, North Korea would be 
able to make up to seven atomic bombs," Chung told journalists.

"We cannot rule out the possibility of the North carrying out further nuclear 
tests as Pakistan, for example, carried out six nuclear tests," he said.

------------------------------------

S.E. Asian nations fear N. Korea nuke test may destabilize Asia

MANILA, October 9 (Kyodo News) -- Southeast Asian countries expressed
deep concern Monday that a nuclear test conducted by North Korea could
destabilize Asia and urged the country to immediately return to the
multilateral framework of talks to end the ongoing nuclear impasse.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo condemned Monday's
nuclear test, saying the ''act clearly poses a threat to the
political, security and economic stability of Northeast Asia.''

Arroyo, in a statement, urged North Korea to desist from further
tests, adhere to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and immediately
return to the six-party talks aimed at dissuading it from pursuing
nuclear development.

The talks among the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and
Russia have been stalled since the fifth round was held in November
last year.

Arroyo also called ''on the regional and global stakeholders to exert
all efforts, using constructive dialogue and diplomacy, to bring a
peaceful resolution to this issue of utmost concern for the
international community.''

Singapore's Foreign Ministry also denounced the nuclear test, calling
it a ''rash and dangerously provocative act'' that, if confirmed,
''will have grave consequences that could threaten to destabilize the
entire region.''

It urged Pyongyang to return to the six-party talks without
preconditions, saying, ''Peaceful dialogue is the only way to secure
the DPRK's security and economic interests.''

Indonesia, which has been trying to play a role in facilitating peace
on the Korean Peninsula, expressed similar concerns, saying North
Korea's nuclear test ''will only add new tension and harm efforts to
create stability in the Asia-Pacific region.''

''The Indonesian government reiterated its stance that it cannot
accept the nuclear test conducted by the Democratic People's Republic
of Korea with any reasons,'' it said in a Foreign Ministry statement.

It said the nuclear test may spark the proliferation of nuclear
weapons in the region and interrupt comprehensive efforts for nuclear
disarmament as stipulated by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Thailand said in a statement, ''This provocative act poses a serious
threat to the regional nuclear nonproliferation as well as regional
and international peace and stability.''

''Thailand deeply regrets that the DPRK once again chose to ignore the
wishes and goodwill of the international community as well as the
spirit enshrined in the Joint Statement of the fourth round of the
six-party talks,'' held in Beijing on Sept. 19, 2005,'' the Foreign
Ministry statement stated.

The reference was to a joint statement reached at the fourth round of
six-party talks in September in which North Korea agreed to give up
its nuclear programs in exchange for energy aid, multilateral security
assurances and other benefits.

Bangkok also reiterated calls for Pyongyang to abide by the principles
of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and the International Atomic
Energy Agency safeguards.

Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told reporters, ''Our
region is of course very worried and concerned with this new
development but I hope Russia and China can use their good influence
to convince the North Koreans that they should stop all these nuclear
test activities.''

''We do not need another cause for global conflict,'' he said. ''We
are still trying to resuscitate the six-party talks because we believe
the nuclear issue in North Korea should proceed with dialogue and
negotiations,'' the minister said.

Vietnam's Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung said Hanoi was
''extremely concerned'' by the development, lamenting that it does not
bode well for peace and stability in the region.

Om Yintieng, a senior adviser to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen,
told Kyodo News that Cambodia does not support the action taken by
North Korea. ''The nuclear test made by North Korea is useless'' and
the act will affect the region, he said.

The Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and
Cambodia are grouped together in the 10-member Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, which also includes Myanmar, Laos and Brunei.

At their last meeting on July 25, the ASEAN foreign ministers
expressed concern over North Korea's test-firing of its Taepodong-2
missiles on July 5, called for realization of a nuclear-free Korean
Peninsula and voiced continued support for the early resumption of the
six-party talks on Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

World Condemns Reported NKorea Nuke Test

By KELLY OLSEN
Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, October 9 (AP) - The United States and Australia demanded
immediate U.N. Security Council action against North Korea for its
reported nuclear test, while China condemned its ally for blatantly
defying the world.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair called the move "completely
irresponsible," and his government warned of serious consequences for
the isolated regime.

The U.N. Security Council planned to discuss the crisis Monday, and
the United States and Japan are likely to press for a resolution
imposing additional sanctions on Pyongyang.

North Korea said it tested its first atomic bomb in an underground
explosion Monday morning. The White House said U.S. and South Korean
intelligence detected a seismic event at a suspected North Korean
nuclear site and were trying to confirm Pyongyang's claims.

"A North Korean nuclear test would constitute a provocative act in
defiance of the will of the international community," said White House
spokesman Tony Snow. "We expect the U.N. Security Council to take
immediate actions to respond to this unprovoked act."

"The United States is closely monitoring the situation and reaffirms
its commitment to protect and defend our allies in the region," he
added.

China, a longtime North Korea supporter and host of stalled
international talks to persuade the fellow communist country to give
up its nuclear ambitions, strongly condemned the act.

"China expresses its resolute opposition," the Chinese Foreign
Ministry said. The North "defied the universal opposition of
international society and flagrantly conducted the nuclear test."

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said his government would call
on the U.N. Security Council to take "swift and effective action"
against North Korea, including financial, trade and travel sanctions.

"But if the United Nations fails to act effectively against this
outrage from North Korea, it will represent a further diminution of
its authority," Howard said.

A Security Council resolution adopted in July after a series of North
Korean missile launches imposed limited sanctions on North Korea and
demanded that the reclusive communist nation suspend its ballistic
missile program -- a demand the North immediately rejected.

The resolution bans all U.N. member states from selling material or
technology for missiles or weapons of mass destruction to North Korea.
It also prohibits all nations from receiving missiles, banned weapons
or technology from the North, known as the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea, or DPRK.

Britain warned there would be repercussions for the reported nuclear test.

"I condemn this completely irresponsible act by the government of the
DPRK," Blair said in a statement issued by his office. "This further
act of defiance shows North Korea's disregard for the concerns of its
neighbors and the wider international community."

The European Union called for "a decisive international response to
this provocative act." French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy
echoed the appeal.

"It is again up to the international community to react very firmly,"
Douste-Blazy told The Associated Press at the United Nations office in
Geneva.

South Korea, which shares the world's most heavily armed border with
the North, said it put its military on high alert.

North Korea has created "a severe situation that threatens stability
on the Korean Peninsula and in northeast Asia," South Korean President
Roh Moo-hyun told journalists after a summit with Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe.

He said the test would make it difficult for Seoul to maintain its
efforts to strengthen ties with its communist neighbor.

"This is a warning as well as my prediction," Roh said. "Under this
situation, it's difficult for South Korea to maintain engagement
policy."

Abe said the development and possession of nuclear weapons by North
Korea would transform the security environment in the region.

"We will be entering a new, dangerous nuclear age," said Abe, who is
facing his first major foreign policy test since his recent election.

Earlier Abe called for a coordinated and levelheaded response.

"It is important for Japan and South Korea, along with the United
States and China, to work together and send a message to the world,"
he said.

Indonesia also condemned the reported test as "unacceptable under any
justifiable reason."

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Inter Press Service
October 9, 2006

N. Korean Nuke Tests Say World 
Must Return to Peace Agenda

Commentary

by Praful Bidwai*

NEW DELHI - North Korea has shocked the world by detonating a nuclear
explosion and making good the threat it had held out six days earlier.
Pyongyang's action is one more blow to the existing global
non-proliferation order and will trigger greater instability in
Northeast Asia and in the Asian continent and world as a whole.

Yet, the world would be profoundly mistaken to a make a knee-jerk
response to the test by imposing sanctions on North Korea and
reiterating the importance of nuclear non-proliferation, while
ignoring the critical agenda of nuclear disarmament.

In particular, the Big Powers would commit a blunder if they encourage
or allow Japan and South Korea to re-arm by citing a new threat from
North Korea and stoking Cold War-style rivalry and an arms race.

The United States must take the lion's share of the blame for the
failure of recent efforts to restrain Pyongyang from crossing the
nuclear threshold. Complicit in it are two close U.S. allies and North
Korea's neighbours, Japan and South Korea.

President George W. Bush has over the past six years torpedoed the
reconciliation process between the two Koreas, aggravating their
insecurities. In January 2002, he named North Korea as an "Axis of
Evil" state and pledged to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons.

This led North Korea to terminate the 1994 Agreed Framework accord
with the United States, under which it had suspended its nuclear
activities. Earlier, Washington reneged on its commitment to annually
supply North Korea 500,000 tonnes of fuel oil for power generation. It
also did not deliver on its promise to build, with Japanese and South
Korea's collaboration, light-water nuclear power reactors in North
Korea.

In 2003, Pyongyang walked out of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
(NPT), citing security reasons.

After this, the U.S. joined Russia, China, Japan and South Korea in
six-party talks with Pyongyang to negotiate nuclear restraint on its
part. When these faltered, largely because of Washington's inept
diplomacy, the U.S. put North Korea under quarantine.

As North Korea's isolation increased, it flexed its military muscle.
It conducted a series of missile test-flights, including seven past
July. One of these, of the Taepodong-2 missile, capable of reaching
Alaska, reportedly failed. North Korea became more frustrated and
restless.

The North Korean regime observed the U.S. invasion of Iraq, premised
upon the trumped-up charge that President Saddam Hussein had weapons
of mass destruction. Its rulers probably drew the conclusion,
attributed originally to India's former Chief of Army Staff General K.
Sundarji, that: "one principal lesson of the [first] Gulf War is that,
if a state intends to fight the U.S., it should avoid doing so until
and unless it possesses nuclear weapons."

Three recent developments seems to have clinched Pyongyang's decision
to conduct the nuclear test, and its timing. These include the
appointment of Right-wing militarist Shinzo Abe as Japan's Prime
Minister, the lead taken by South Korean foreign minister Ban Ki-Moon
in the race for the election of the United Nations Secretary General,
and a contentious remark by China's ambassador to the UN ahead of a
Security Council meeting which was expected to issue a strong warning
to North Korea against testing.

U.S. envoy John Bolton said last week that while Washington's Western
allies were agreed on a stiff warning, he was not sure "what North
Korea's protectors on the (Security) Council are going to do." In
reply, Chinese ambassador Wang Guangya said: "I'm not sure which
country he is referring to, but I think that for bad behaviour in this
world no one is going to protect them."

By testing a nuclear weapon, North Korea has posed a serious challenge
to the global nuclear order. A cornerstone of this is the NPT, under
which the non-nuclear weapons-states (non-NWSs) agree not to make or
acquire nuclear weapons and subject themselves to inspections or
safeguards under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In return, the NWSs must undertake serious negotiations to eliminate
nuclear weapons worldwide and also offer civilian nuclear technology
and materials to the non-NWSs.

However, the NWSs have refused to undertake nuclear restraint and arms
reduction, leave alone disarmament. The International Court of Justice
ruled in 1996 that they are obliged under international law to
completely eliminate nuclear weapons.

North Korea was an NPT signatory, but walked out of the Treaty under
Article XI, which permits this with three months' notice.

Earlier, three NPT non-signatory states, Israel, India and Pakistan
went nuclear.

The North Korean test will be seen the world over as successful
defiance of the U.S. It will be viewed as an object lesson by Iran,
which too has said it would consider walking out of the NPT if it is
cornered by the Western powers over its nuclear activities. It is
certain to encourage, not deter, future breakouts.

There is a strong likelihood that Pyongyang's crossing of the nuclear
Rubicon will strengthen forces in Japan which want to rewrite its
post-War constitution by allowing the country to build a full-fledged
military capability with offensive forces. Under Abe's leadership,
Japan will probably consider a radical revision of a principle, which
commits it not to "bring in", make or acquire nuclear weapons.

Japan has a stockpile of 40.6 tonnes of plutonium, allegedly for
civilian use. This is enough to make 5,000 nuclear weapons. It plans
to annually stockpile another 8 tonnes.

Similarly, South Korea might be tempted to develop nuclear weapons in
"self-defence". Technically, the two Koreas are still at war although
a ceasefire has held between them since 1953. (However, there are
occasional skirmishes. On the weekend, South Korean troops fired
warning shots after North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the border.)

Taiwan too may feel that the North Korean test has strengthened the
case for nuclearisation. Any move in that direction is certain to
bring about a hostile response from China.

Ironically, tit-for-tat responses by North Korea's neighbours will
only spur an arms race. Northeast Asia will get trapped in a
"security-insecurity syndrome" in which a state arms itself in the
perceived interests of security, but ends up losing it because its
adversaries develop superior capabilities.

Such rivalry spells insecurity and instability for all concerned. This
climate will encourage other countries too to acquire more lethal
weaponry.

Pakistan has had major armaments transactions with North Korea. Its
missile programme is based on North Korean designs. These were
reportedly traded in exchange for uranium enrichment technology
developed by the A. Q. Khan network.

Yet another destabilising factor is the U.S.'s ballistic missile
defence (BMD or "Star Wars") programme. One component of it aims to
provide a "theatre BMD" shield to Japan and South Korea against
possible threats from North Korea and China. Washington's likely
response to North Korea's test would be to accelerate work on this.

This is bound to elicit a hostile response from China. Beijing has
long regarded the U.S. BMD programme as directed specifically against
itself.

A nuclear and missile arms race centred in Northeast Asia, but not
confined to it, will make the world a far more dangerous place.

However, such an outcome is not inevitable. It can be averted if the
NWSs address one of the root-causes that drive nations to acquire
nuclear weapons. This lies in double standards. The NWSs want to
prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, but stiffly oppose fulfilling
their part of the global bargain by moving towards their global
elimination.

So long as the NWSs treat these terrible mass-destruction weapons as a
currency of power, other states too will want to acquire them.

North Korea proves that even a desperately poor, industrially backward
and politically isolated country, which has recently suffered from
famines, can acquire nuclear weapons if it is determined to do so. The
technology is not hard to master.

At least 40 other countries of the world can develop a nuclear
capability. Their resolve not to do so will be weakened unless the
spread of nuclear weapons and the NWSs' addiction to them are ended.

North Korea's test should shake the NWSs out of their complacency and
double standards.

(Praful Bidwai is an independent nuclear analyst, co-author of a
prize-winning book on South Asian nuclear weapons and global
disarmament, and a founder-member of the Coalition for Nuclear
Disarmament and Peace, India.)

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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