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[article_id] => 1044902
[headline] => US says North Korea should not 'aggravate tensions'
[abstract] =>
The United States has urged North Korea not to "aggravate tensions" as it slammed Pyongyang's latest missile test, apparently timed for the US Independence Day holiday, as "not helpful".
[keywords] => North Korea, missile tests, US
[content] =>
The United States has urged North Korea not to "aggravate tensions" as it slammed Pyongyang's latest missile test, apparently timed for the US Independence Day holiday, as "not helpful".
"North Korea should refrain from actions that aggravate tensions and focus on denuclearisation talks and the implementation of its commitments from the September 19, 2005 joint statement," State Department spokesman Karl Duckworth said.
"This type of North Korean behaviour is not helpful," he told AFP after North Korea test-fired seven missiles off its east coast earlier on Saturday, according to South Korean officials.
The ballistic missiles – which the North is banned from firing under UN resolutions – were launched into the Sea of Japan.
It was the biggest salvo of ballistic weaponry since the North fired a long-range Taepodong-2 and six smaller missiles on US Independence Day in 2006.
Under the 2005 agreement, North Korea promised to give up its nuclear program in exchange for a US pledge not to attack or invade it and to work toward normalised relations.
The United States and other parties to the agreement – China, Japan, Russia, and South Korea – also offered to put together an energy package for North Korea.
But North Korea announced last April that it was walking out of the six-party talks and resuming operation of its nuclear facilities.
Pyongyang conducted its second nuclear test in May.
"What North Korea needs to do is fulfill its international obligations and commitments," Duckworth said, adding that North Korean missile launches "highlight the importance of fully
implementing the provisions of the UN resolutions".
Timed to coincide with Independence Day
Professor Kim Yong-Hyun of Seoul's Dongguk University said the launches were clearly timed to coincide with US Independence Day.
"This is a thinly veiled warning to the United States and the international community that it may launch long-range missiles next time," he said.
Chinese officials and their Russian counterparts said on Saturday after a meeting in Moscow that both countries are "convinced" there is no alternative to the six-party talks.
The negotiations are an "efficient instrument to resolve the nuclear problem on the Korean peninsula", the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
A US delegation met this week with Chinese officials for talks on implementing UN sanctions imposed on North Korea.
Delegation head Philip Goldberg – the State Department's point man on coordinating implementation of the sanctions – told reporters on Thursday he had "very good discussions" in Beijing.
"We intend to implement these resolutions with the overall goal of returning to a path of denuclearisation and non-proliferation on the Korean peninsula."
US embassy spokesman Richard Buangan said Goldberg met with officials from China's foreign ministry.
China, which supported the UN resolution, has been criticised by the United States in the past for lacking enthusiasm for implementing UN sanctions against North Korea, its neighbour and ally.
In Israel, Trade and Industry Minister Benjamin Ben-Elizer blasted the US reponse to the latest missile launches.
"I am very concerned about the United States' reaction to North Korea's gross provocation," Ben-Eliezer said in a speech delivered outside Tel Aviv.
[start_date] => 05 July 2009 | 10:33:18 AM
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[source] => AAP
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[caption] => The US has slammed North Korea's latest missile test. (Getty)
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[id] => 1044897
[label] => Smith says North Koreans improving their capability
[display_order] => 2
[type] => Article
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[1] => Array
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[id] => 1044612
[label] => North Korea fires fifth missile
[display_order] => 3
[type] => Article
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[id] => 1044537
[label] => NKorea urged not to 'aggravate tensions'
[display_order] => 4
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[article_id] => 1044897
[headline] => Smith says North Koreans improving their capability
[abstract] =>
The most worrying aspect of North Korea's latest missile tests is how much they have improved their capability, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says.
[content] =>
The most worrying aspect of North Korea's latest missile tests is how much they have improved their capability, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says.
Mr Smith said previous North Korean tests of a nuclear weapon and ballistic missiles in 2006 were deemed failures.
He said the latest missile tests were clearly a provocative act aimed at the US and there had been unanimous international condemnation which Australia shared.
"If you look at their most recent efforts, the most worrying thing is not their current capacity in terms of distance or scope but how they have improved," he told the Nine Network on Sunday.
"We have seen improvements regrettably in their technology and their approach. But even the most recent efforts at ballistic missile tests were unsuccessful in their third stage."
North Korea test-fired seven missiles off its east coast earlier on Saturday, US Independence Day. The ballistic missiles - which the North is banned from firing under UN resolutions - were launched into the Sea of Japan.
It was the biggest salvo of ballistic weaponry since North Korea fired a long-range Taepodong-2 and six smaller missiles on US Independence Day in 2006.
Mr Smith said Australia was concerned to ensure that North Korea did not achieve a clear nuclear delivery capability.
"The insidious combination here is of course worrying about a developing nuclear weapons capacity, as we saw with the recent underground test, coupled with improvement in the delivery system," he said.
‘Threat could extend further’
Mr Smith said the immediate threat was to the Korean peninsula, North Asia and Japan but that threat could extend further if North Korea improved its technology.
"If we don't get that under control through the (UN) security council and the international community, then we do worry about the increase of tensions, the lack of confidence and the danger that other countries in the region will seek to respond," he said.
Mr Smith said it was vital to get North Korea back into a sensible dialogue and that would not be an easy or short-term solution.
"We know that the North Koreans are difficult customers. There is not going to be a short-term solution to this but we need to continue to have unanimous international community support of the various UN Security Council resolutions," he said.
[content_type_id] => 3
[site_name] => World News Australia
[articledate] => 5 July 2009
[articletime] => 5 July 2009
[display_order] => 2
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[1] => Array
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[article_id] => 1044612
[headline] => North Korea fires fifth missile
[abstract] => North Korea has fired a fifth missile off its eastern coast, South Korea says, in what is likely to be seen as a message of defiance to the United States on its Independence Day holiday.
[content] =>
North Korea has fired another missile, South Korea officals have announced. The latest missle fired brings the total number to five launched. The launch came today at 2.50pm local time.
Critics have seen the lanuches as a message of defiance to the United States on its Independence Day holiday.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff says three missiles were fired early on Saturday and the fourth at about noon.
The launches, two days after North Korea fired four short-range missiles, could further escalate tensions in the region as the US tries to muster support for tough enforcement of the UN resolution imposed on the communist regime for its May nuclear test.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff declined to elaborate on the type of missiles fired.
Suspected Scud missiles
South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted military officials as saying the missiles appeared to be a type of Scud missile.
A senior presidential official told The Associated Press the missiles fired are believed to have a range of less than 500km.
"Our military is fully ready to counter any North Korean threats and provocations based on strong South Korea-US combined defence posture," the Joint Chiefs of Staff statement said.
North Korea's state news agency carried no reports on the launches.
US, South Korea ‘ready’ for tests
The chief of US Naval operations, Admiral Gary Roughead, said the American military was ready for any North Korean missile tests.
"Our ships and forces here are prepared for the tracking of the missiles and observing the activities that are going on," Roughead said after meeting Japanese military officials in Tokyo on Saturday.
Speculation had been high that the communist country might launch more missiles. North Korea had warned shipping to stay away from its east coast effective through July 10.
The senior presidential official cautioned that North Korea could fire more missiles in coming days, but said there was little possibility it could fire the intercontinental ballistic missile it threatened in April.
He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to media.
Tests coincide with July 4 celebrations
Saturday's launches came on July 4, or US Independence Day. The North has a record of timing missile tests for the US national day.
"The missiles were seen as part of military exercises, but North Korea also appeared to have sent a message to the US through the missile launches," the presidential official said, without elaborating.
Japan condemns tests
The Japanese government condemned the North's action.
The launch "is a serious act of provocation against the security of neighbouring countries, including Japan, and is against the resolution of the UN Security Council," Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said in a statement.
In 2006, Pyongyang fired a barrage of missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2 that broke apart and fell into the ocean less than a minute after liftoff. Those launches while Americans were celebrating the Fourth of July holiday also came amid nuclear tensions with the US.
A long-range missile launch by North Korea toward the United States would directly flout a UN sanctions resolution punishing Pyongyang for its May 25 nuclear test.
Firing a ballistic missile on July 4 would be a snub to Washington, which has been trying to muster international support for a tough enforcement of the UN resolution that bans Pyongyang from any further nuclear or ballistic missile tests.
Despite early speculation fuelled by Japanese media and the North Korean warning to shipping, spy satellites have apparently not detected any of the preparations that would normally presage a launch.
[content_type_id] => 3
[site_name] => World News Australia
[articledate] => 4 July 2009
[articletime] => 4 July 2009
[display_order] => 3
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