*EPF305 02/12/2003
North Korea Nuclear Issue Sent to U.N. Security Council
(Move voted by IAEA governing board) (840)

By Judy Aita
Washington File Staff Writer

United Nations -- The governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) voted overwhelming February 12 to send the crisis over North Korea's nuclear program to the United Nations Security Council.

Declaring that North Korea is in further noncompliance with its obligations under its safeguards agreement with IAEA and its obligations under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), the board decided to report the issue to the Security Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations.

In the resolution, the IAEA board "stresses its desire for a peaceful resolution of the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) nuclear issue and its support for diplomatic means to that end."

The board adopted the resolution by a vote of 31 to 0 with Russia and Cuba abstaining. Two other members of the 35-nation board were absent when the vote was taken.

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said: "We want to make use of all the options available to the Security Council to find a diplomatic solution.... A report to the Security Council does not mean anything other than using the Security Council as a focal point for a diplomatic solution."

IAEA "is not washing its hands of the matter," ElBaradei said at a news conference after the vote. "The agency and I will continue to be engaged."

Sending the matter to the council does not mean that sanctions are going to be imposed automatically upon North Korea, he stressed.

"It is not the intention to jump to sanctions right now. That is not the message coming from the board here," ElBaradei said. "Everybody is saying it is not the time to use enforcement measures. Let us first try to find a diplomatic solution."

ElBaradei also said that continuing to a diplomatic course now "does not foreclose other options in the future."

The 15-nation Security Council, which is based at U.N. headquarters in New York, has the power to impose mandatory economic and military sanctions and, if all else fails, authorize the use of force.

The prevailing view, ElBaradei said, is that North Korea has to take the first step and come into compliance with its safeguard agreements, then "the door is open for many different approaches" to resolve North Korea's humanitarian and security concerns.

"None can be addressed by blackmail. The first step has to be to abide by the nonproliferation agreement and then the other parts of the solution will follow," he said.

ElBaradei reported to the board that North Korea's "chronic noncompliance" with its NPT obligations since 1993 "sets a dangerous precedent."

"If we aim to maintain and preserve the integrity of the non-proliferation regime, then it must be incumbent on all parties to that regime to fully meet their respective obligations, and all cases of non-compliance must be consistently addressed by the international community in a uniform fashion," he said.

Whether it is the issue of Iraq's nuclear programs or North Korea's, the IAEA director said, "nonproliferation must be addressed with the same approach -- zero tolerance."

In December 2002 Pyongyang expelled IAEA inspectors and cut seals and blocked surveillance cameras IAEA placed in North Korean nuclear facilities. In January the IAEA board adopted a resolution declaring North Korea's actions to be contrary to its safeguards agreement and calling on Pyongyang to work with the IAEA.

"Unfortunately all my repeated efforts in so many different ways to engage the DPRK went in vain," ElBaradei said. "The DPRK declared the resolution was unjust; and a few days after, it decided to withdraw from the NPT."

ElBaradei said that he was aware of North Korea's concerns, but "the key to the resolution of all outstanding issues, both multilateral and bilateral, is a clear commitment by the DPRK to comply fully and promptly with its safeguards and non-proliferation obligations."

"I am encouraged by the increasing readiness of concerned parties to pursue a peaceful resolution of outstanding issues through multilateral and bilateral discussions, and I hope that (the board's) decision will serve as an impetus to explore all available means for the resolution of these concerns while preserving the integrity of the non-proliferation regime," he said.

Security Council President Ambassador Gunter Pleuger of Germany said the council had not received official notification of the IAEA action. When he receives a letter from IAEA, the issue will be placed on the council's agenda, the ambassador said.

The Security Council already has February 14 and 18 set aside to discuss Iraq's failure to comply with the Gulf War cease-fire demands to eliminate its weapons of mass destruction, including its nuclear weapons programs.

U.S. Ambassador Richard Williamson said that "we're pleased that the IAEA board of governors referred it to New York and we'll be taking it up as soon as we can."

"We are confident we can resolve this issue diplomatically," Williamson
said.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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