Date:28/12/2002 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2002/12/28/stories/2002122802431400.htm

International

N. Korea to expel IAEA inspectors

By P. S. Suryanarayana

RE-ACTIVATING FEARS: The Soviet-designed, 5-megawatt nuclear reactor in Yongbyon, North Korea, seen in this satellite image taken in March.

SINGAPORE Dec. 27. North Korea today announced that it had decided to expel the inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from the Yongbyon complex where the controversial 5-mw nuclear research reactor, which could yield weapons-grade plutonium, is located. The North Korean official announcement, as monitored in Seoul, is reported to have prompted the IAEA to point out in Vienna that the agency had not so far received any notification from Pyongyang on this score.

The monitored decision is a direct sequel to the North Korean action of beginning the elaborate process of refuelling the experimental reactor which was "unfrozen'' in terms of Pyongyang's recent controversial announcement on the nuclear issue. North Korea's reasoning context is that the mandate of the IAEA inspectors automatically lapsed when Pyongyang decided to reactivate the frozen nuclear facilities following America's stoppage of supplies of heavy fuel oil.

On a related plane, North Korea intensified its war of words against the U.S. over its perceived arrogance and "pipe dreams'' of subjugating Pyongyang. In South Korea, on the other hand, its political leaders sustained their campaign for a `peaceful' resolution of the crisis. The South Korean Foreign Minister today reiterated that ``international cooperation'' would be essential to convince the North of the futility of nuclear weaponisation of the kind apparently contemplated.

Not surprisingly, the South Korean Defence Ministry today issued a policy document that did not identify the North Korean Army as "the primary (or main) enemy''. This marked a departure from South Korea's perceptions in recent years. This is being interpreted in regional circles as a sign of South Korea's considered desire to engage Pyongyang in some manner so that the two would not move from their long-time estrangement towards open hostilities.

The South Korean President, Kim Dae-jung, reaffirmed opposition to the North's suspected policy of making and deploying weapons of mass destruction. Such opposition was once again laced with an assertion that the South "will continue to use the diplomatic approach'' to ride out the current storm.

This sentiment was shared by the South's President-elect, Roh Moo-hyun, who said today that "although there are concerns about the possibility of this issue developing into a war'', he remained "confident of resolving (it) through dialogue''.

At a different level, the Rumsfeld-speak on the war options before the U.S. have prompted much speculation in the regional diplomatic circles and in South Korea's political domain.

The guessing game is about the level of troops that the U.S. might send to this theatre, to buttress America's existing presence of 37,000 military personnel in South Korea.