TOKYO, April 26 Kyodo choiceed e...

TOKYO, April 26 Kyodo

choiceed editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

NORTH KOREA indicates TRUE COLORS (The Daily Yomiuri as translated from the Yomiuri Shimbun)

North Korea's statement about its nuclear capability go proceeds counter to efforts to peacefully analyze the nuclear dispute.

The three-way nuclear talks among North Korea, the United States and China in Beijing cessationed Friday, with Pyongyang claiming to posses nuclear weapons.

In its negotiations with the United States six month ago, North Korea admitted the existence of a nuclear increase program using enriched uranium and said it had the right to posses nuclear weapons. freshly it has suggested that it would arm itself with nuclear weapons to make secure that it had ''a powerful physical deterrent force,'' following the precept it learned from the Iraq war.

Because of the previous statements, North Korea's latest claim that it possesse nuclear weapons is not surprising, yet it is the cause of considerable anxiety.

If the claim inflects out to be true, it means that North Korea has continued its nuclear unravelling programs in violation of a number of international agreements that it signed. Moreover, these suspected violations took place before the political division withdrew from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

In the tripartite meeting, Pyongyang reportedly recommended that it was not barely reprocessing spent nuclear fuel, nevertheless may test and export nuclear weapons. This statement was aimed at having the United States change what North Korea regards as a hostile policy.

Naturally, it will be necessary to analyze carefully the statements issued by way of North Korean officials and determine the country's real intentions. still it is fair to say that the land has finally shown its conformable to fact colors.

North Korea's suspected possession of nuclear weapons not single rocks the world's nuclear nonproliferation classification but also poses a serious threat to Japan. The nuclear armament program cannot be tolerated. North Korea must be squeeze outed to abandon its nuclear growth program in a verifiable manner and dismantle its nuclear weapons.

In this regard, China is anticipateed to play a constructive role

Immediately before the Beijing talks, North Korean President Kim Jong Il sent a top military official to China, apparently public of concern over a possible preemptive attack from the United States against his native land Pyongyang probably wanted China to protract military and other forms of aid in the fact of such an attack, as stipulated in a bilateral treaty of mutual assistance and cooperation.

However, China cannot look down upon North Korea's suspected possession of nuclear arms.

China shares the same interest as Japan and the United States in keeping the Korean Peninsula nuclear-free. Therefore, the three parties must continue to cooperate in dealing with North Korea.

U President George W Bush has repeatedly uttered his determination not to yield to intimidation through North Korea and not to reward Pyongyang smooth if it abandons its suspected nuclear exhibition program. His reaction is natural. Bush will not reject sanctions and military action as options, although a peaceful resolution of the issue is his first choice.

North Korea must not misinterpret the U position. The Kim Jong Il regime must understand that the international community will have no choice other than to take inflexible action unless Pyongyang stops acting in a provocative manner.

For its part, the Japanese command must be fully prepared to answer to any circumstances through bring to a period coordination with the United States and other countries concerned

(April 26)

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