Pyongyang accused Seoul yesterday of plotting to topple its regime, souring relations again as a top Chinese official visited North Korea in a new drive to bring it back to nuclear disarmament talks. In another blow for inter-Korean ties the two sides failed to agree on restarting a tourism
Posts Tagged ‘disarmament talks’
North Korea alleges Seoul plot amid push for nuclear talks
February 9th, 2010 |
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North Korea’s Kim pledges to remove nuclear weapons
February 9th, 2010 |
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North Korea’s leader pledged again to remove nuclear weapons from the peninsula, a news report said on Tuesday, and also sent his top nuclear envoy to Beijing in a move that could bode well for stalled disarmament talks. While Kim Jong-il has made, and broken, similar pledges before,
N Korea hints at ‘specific’ talks
July 27th, 2009 |
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North Korea has again insisted it would not return to six-party talks aimed at dismantling its nuclear weapons programmes.
But it has hinted it was still open to some form of dialogue.
"There is a specific and reserved form of dialogue that can address the current situation," state media quoted a foreign ministry statement.
The note follows an exchange of insults between the North and the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week.
The ministry statement quoted by North Korean media did not elaborate on what form any new dialogue could take.
Some analysts saw the statement as a sign that after a series of provocations to the international community, North Korea may now be ready to find a way to ease tension.
But it was clear that the North believes that past patterns of persuasion or pressure for Pyongyang to rejoin talks with China, Russia, South Korea, Japan and the United States were over.
"Any attempt to side with those who claim the resumption of the six-party talks without grasping the essence of the matter will not help ease tension," the foreign ministry spokesman said in the statement.
Six or two
North Korea’s UN envoy, Sin Son-ho, had said on Friday that Pyongyang was not opposed to negotiations with the US, but that it would not return to the six-party format.
In the past, the North has demanded talks only with the US, something Washington has previously been loath to do.
North Korea’s main Rodong Sinmun newspaper also said Sunday that the country’s envoy told an Asian security conference in Thailand last week that the nuclear standoff was a matter only between Pyongyang and Washington.
The US says it is willing to hold direct talks with the North within the six-nation process if it returns to the negotiating table and takes irreversible steps for denuclearisation.
On Sunday, Mrs Clinton said on NBC television that the six-party talk framework was "the appropriate way to engage with North Korea."
The North quit the multilateral disarmament talks after the UN Security Council imposed tough sanctions after the North launched nuclear and missile tests.
These include an expanded arms embargo and beefed up inspections of air, sea and land shipments going to and from North Korea.
Speaking at an Asian regional forum in Thailand last week Mrs Clinton said North Korea had no friends to protect it from international efforts to end its nuclear programme.
Separately, a spokesman in Pyongyang described Mrs Clinton as a "funny lady" – responding to her comments that North Korea’s behaviour was that of an unruly child.
"Her words suggest that she is by no means intelligent," the spokesman said, quoted by state news agency KCNA.
"Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping. Anyone making misstatements has to pay for them."
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Voters want nuclear arms scrapped
July 13th, 2009 |
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Survey for Guardian finds 54% support disarmament rather than replacing Trident deterrent
Voters want Britain to scrap nuclear weapons altogether rather than replace Trident, according to a new Guardian/ICM poll today. The result marks a sharp turnaround in public opinion amid growing debate about the cost of a new generation of nuclear weapons and the impact of conventional defence cutbacks on the war in Afghanistan.
For decades nuclear disarmament has been seen as a minority issue, with most voters assumed to favour continued investment in an independent British nuclear weapons system. But today’s poll shows that 54% of all voters would prefer to abandon nuclear weapons rather than put money into a new generation of Trident warheads, as the government plans.
Last week’s G8 summit brought suggestions that Britain might include Trident in international disarmament talks. “What we need is collective action by the nuclear weapons powers to say that we are prepared to reduce our nuclear weapons,” said Gordon Brown.
Today’s figures mark a dramatic turnaround in public opinion since Trident renewal was announced by Brown three years ago. In July 2006, 51% backed renewal, while 39% opposed it. Since then support for a new Trident system has fallen by nine points while opposition has grown by 15 points.
Overall, only 42% of all voters now back renewal, according to the poll. Until now a majority of voters have always supported a British nuclear system, although one other recent ICM poll showed most people wanting to extend the life of the existing Trident system rather than spend money upgrading it.
In 2006 Gordon Brown reaffirmed Britain’s commitment to Trident, and the government won Commons backing, thanks to Tory support. A design contract is expected to be signed this September, during the parliamentary recess, and the nuclear weapons were excluded from the defence review announced last week.
The poll shows for the first time that a majority of Labour voters oppose nuclear weapons, as well as most Liberal Democrats.
On balance, 59% of Labour voters want Britain to scrap nuclear weapons, against 40% who want to replace them. In 2006 Trident renewal was backed by a majority of Labour voters. Even among Conservative voters, 41% would now rather see unilateral nuclear disarmament than a new generation of weapons. That may encourage the opposition to defer renewal as part of a package of spending cuts.
Today’s results are one consequence of the growing political battle over public spending, with retired defence chiefs, Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs suggesting that the £20bn cost of replacing Trident would be better spent on conventional forces.
The poll also suggests that the Conservatives are outflanking Labour in the debate over spending. More than two-thirds of voters say they want spending to be cut, double the proportion who believe the government should increase expenditure, as some ministers continue to argue. Even a majority of Labour voters want to see cutbacks.
As a result the Conservative party has extended its lead over Labour to 14 points. At 41%, up two, Tory support is at its highest in an ICM poll since March, before the expenses scandal broke. Labour, unchanged on 27%, is stuck on its second-lowest ICM score since June last year.
The Liberal Democrats are on 20%, up two points, while backing for other parties is 12%, down three as minor party support from the European elections fades.
• ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 1,000 adults aged 18+ by telephone on 10-11 July 2009. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.
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