Bush urges implementation of U.N. resolution on WMD nonproliferation

(ATTN: UPDATES with U.N. secretary general's remarks in paras 6-7)
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President George W. Bush Tuesday urged the
United Nations to fully implement a U.N. resolution to impose sanctions on North
Korea and Iran with the aim of preventing proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction.
In a speech to the U.N. General Assembly, Bush said, "We must remain vigilant
against proliferation by fully implementing the terms of Security Council
Resolution 1540 and enforcing sanctions against North Korea and Iran," according
to a transcript released by the White House here.
The speech titled "Meeting The Challenges of the 21st Century" was made as Bush
urges the international community to join in the fight against terrorism in the
wake of a deadly terrorist attack on a hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, targeting
foreigners.
"We must continue working to deny the terrorists refuge anywhere in the world,
including in ungoverned spaces," he said. "Some suggest that these men would pose
less of a threat if we would only leave them alone, but bringing terrorists to
justice does not create terrorism. It is the best way to protect our people."
Resolution 1540 was adopted by the United Nations in 2004 to head off the
transfer of weapons of mass destruction amid fears of terrorist elements
obtaining dirty bombs or any other WMDs. Attacks with passenger planes killed
nearly 3,000 Americans in New York and Washington in 2001.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also called on North Korea and other parties
to the six-party nuclear talks to abide by the nuclear deal under which North
Korea is supposed to abandon its nuclear ambitions in return for energy and other
economic aid and diplomatic recognition.
"I note the progress in the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula and urge that
all agreements be implemented," Ban said in a speech to the General Assembly. "I
am thinking of global terrorism, and the enduring importance of disarmament and
non-proliferation."
The remarks by Bush and Ban follow reports that North Korea has asked for the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to remove seals and cameras from its
nuclear facilities. Concerns are that Pyongyang might expel IAEA inspectors from
Yongbyon as it did in 2002 in a standoff involving its alleged uranium-based
nuclear program.
An earlier nuclear crisis ended with the Geneva framework agreement of 1994 under
which the North was supposed to freeze its Yongbyon reactor in return for two
light-water reactors and interim energy aid.
Under a recent series of multilateral nuclear deals signed by the two Koreas, the
U.S., China, Japan and Russia, the North is supposed to complete the disablement
of its nuclear facilities by the end of October in exchange for 1 million tons of
heavy fuel oil or alternative energy.
The U.S. wants the North to present a verification protocol for its nuclear
programs, and has made that a condition for delisting the communist state as a
sponsor of terrorism. Pyongyang has denounced Washington for demanding unfettered
access.
Speaking to reporters in New York Monday, U.S. chief nuclear envoy Christopher
Hill rebuffed that notion.
"This has come up in North Korean public statements as a desire on our part to
conduct house-to-house searches, which is, of course, not what we're interested
in," he said. "We just need the means to make sure that what they've declared to
us is something we can verify."
Some say North Korea's threat to restart its nuclear reactor aims to pressure the
U.S. to lift the North from the terrorism blacklist, but others say North Korea's
hardline military is taking advantage of leader Kim Jong-il's fragile health to
nullify the nuclear deal. Kim has not been seen in public since Aug. 14 amid
reports he is recovering from brain surgery.
Hill said he did not know what the North Koreans are thinking, but added, "I
think they have been staking out some very tough negotiating positions."
North Korea's Foreign Ministry announced last week it would no longer seek to be
delisted as a state sponsor of terrorism, adding it has "suspended the
disablement of its nuclear facilities," and work has begun to restore the
facilities at Yongbyon.
Hill said North Korea has agreed on "some of the major elements of what
verification will be," but added, "There are some details that do need to be
pinned down. And if they're not pinned down, you'll end up with a problem later
on. So we're going to try to get those things pinned down and try to stick with
the task and try to get it done."
On the North's claim that it had begun reversing the disablement, Hill said that
could take weeks or months.
"So they're not ready to reprocess now, but certainly they have taken the
machinery out and put it back together," he said.