|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Saturday, 19 February 2005 |
 |
|
 |
World | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Seoul seeks law to ban nuclear weapon development SEOUL, Friday (Xinhua) - South Korean Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) said on Thursday it plans to establish a law aimed at banning any attempts to develop nuclear weapons, reported local English newspaper The Korea Times on Friday. The ministry said the draft of the law, which also is aiming to better controlling use of the nuclear power, will be available in March for presentation to the National Assembly, the newspaper reported. If the bill passes, it would be implemented in September. The new act will contain all regulations related to nuclear security, which until now have been scattered in different laws. "We decided to beef up nuclear regulations to prevent awkward situations like that of last year from recurring. We also want to express our commitment to the non-proliferation of nuclear arms and transparency in nuclear technology," MOST official Ahn Sang- joon was quoted by The Korea Times as saying. South Korean government admitted last September that several researchers had made plutonium-based experiments in 1982 and enriched uranium-based experiment in 2000 without informing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Under the strengthened regulations, South Korea's nuclear researchers will be required to periodically go through security education sessions. Meanwhile the newly appointed lead U.S. negotiator to North Korean nuclear disarmament talks on Friday called Pyongyang's pursuit of atomic weapons a dead end and urged the reclusive state to return to the bargaining table. U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Christopher Hill told a breakfast meeting it was in the best interest of North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions and return to six-party nuclear disarmament talks, or risk even deeper isolation. Hill was in Beijing on Thursday for meetings with his Chinese counterparts on the North Korean nuclear issue. In his first substantive comments since those talks, he said North Korea made a huge mistake in pursuing nuclear weapons because its economy had suffered and relations with leading powers had worsened. "Holding nuclear weapons is a dead end for North Korea. They cannot make progress if they continue on this road," Hill said. "The threat to the DPRK (North Korea) comes from their inability to develop a successful economy. These programmes have cost them greatly and contributed to their economic decline," Hill said. |
|
|
News | Business
| Features | Editorial
| Security Produced by Lake House |
