Japan weighs options over N. Korea missile
24-June=2006
Japan warned Sunday it would consider "all options" against North Korea, including sanctions on oil and food sales, if the reclusive communist country goes ahead with a test launch of a long-range missile that could reach the United States.
The United States, Japan and other countries have been weighing options to try to head off a missile launch, and Washington and Tokyo have made clear that sanctions are an option if North Korea refuses to cooperate.
In Pyongyang, "hundreds of thousands" of North Koreans marked the anniversary of the 1950 start of the Korean War by "denouncing the U.S. imperialists, the sworn enemy of the Korean people," according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
The protesters "reiterated the firm stand of the army and people of (the North) that should the U.S. imperialists ignite another war of aggression on this land, they will mobilize all the political and ideological might and military potentials built up generation after generation ... and mercilessly wipe out the enemies and victoriously conclude their standoff with the U.S.," KCNA reported.
The Korean War ended in a 1953 cease-fire.
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun told war veterans that the North's apparent moves to launch a missile show that security on the peninsula is "still volatile," but he stressed that Seoul will continue reconciliation efforts.
The government in Pyongyang has given no hint whether it will fire a missile, said Jane Coombs, New Zealand's ambassador to the Koreas, who met with top North Korean officials.
"They did not confirm that such a test was imminent ... nor did they deny that such a test was" imminent, Coombs said Saturday in Beijing after a four-day trip to Pyongyang.
U.S., Japanese and South Korean officials have said there is cause for grave concern. Intelligence reports say fuel tanks have been seen around a missile at the North's launch site on the northeastern coast, but officials say it is difficult to determine from satellite photos if the rocket is actually being fueled.
The potential test is believed to be of a Taepodong-2 missile, which the U.S. government estimates has a range of between 5,000 and 7,500 miles.
"All options are on the table," Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Sunday on public broadcaster NHK, referring to what Japan would do if there was a launch. "I believe public opinion would condone sanctions, even on oil or food."
The Bush administration has said it is relying on diplomacy to head off the suspected test, but there has been speculation it might use its fledgling missile defense system to shoot down an incoming missile if it is fired.
In New York, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said the Americans had approached the North Koreans last weekend "and told them that we thought the idea of a launch was a very bad idea."
Pyongyang has said it is willing to talk to the United States about its missile concerns, repeating its long-held desire for direct meetings with the Americans. Washington, however, has refused, insisting it will only meet the North amid six-nation talks aimed at ridding Pyongyang of its nuclear weapons program.
Aso said Sunday that the North's brinkmanship would not help it reach its goal of direct negotiations with Washington.
"How can you put up a rocket and then demand talks? That's intimidation, and makes it most difficult for America to engage in talks," he said.
The six-country nuclear disarmament talks — involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia — have stalled since November.
The North shocked the world in 1998 by firing a missile that flew over northern Japan and into the Pacific Ocean. It has been under a self-imposed moratorium on long-range missile tests since 1999, but has since test-fired many short-range missiles.
South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, who hopes to visit Beijing in the coming days for talks, said China has an important role to play in resolving the crisis.
"I will ask China to actively persuade North Korea," Ban said Saturday, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
China, a key provider of aid to impoverished North Korea, is believed to be the only country that has considerable leverage with the North.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has built ties with Pyongyang while clashing with Washington, said Friday he would visit North Korea to finalize bilateral agreements in science and technology. He did not say when he would travel or what the agreements would be.
"This is not a secret trip," Chavez told reporters in Panama.
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