Shuttle Diplomacy Hopes to Prevent Second Test

Shuttle Diplomacy Hopes to Prevent Second Test
With North Korea making noises about wanting to conduct a second nuclear test, shuttle diplomacy is in full force. US Secretary of State Rice is in Asia to forge a common front against Kim Jong Il's country. China has delivered a personal message.


REUTERS
The world is struggling to find an answer to North Korea's Kim Jong Il, here on a poster held by a South Korean protester.
Amid growing indications that North Korea is planning to carry out further nuclear tests, diplomatic efforts on Wednesday and Thursday have reached a fever pitch to convince the country to refrain from doing just that.

China, still trying to regain face after failing to stop the first underground detonation on October 9, sent State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan to warn Kim Jong Il directly against further tests. Beijing gave no details of the high-level meeting but called it "a very significant visit, against the backdrop of major changes on the Korean peninsula."

Still, it's unclear just how much influence China still has with its tiny, Stalinist neighbor as relations between the two countries have deteriorated in recent years. China -- along with South Korea -- has also said it is reluctant to board ships to look for equipment or material that could be used in the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction or ballistic missiles. The sanctions imposed by the United Nations over the weekend proscribe such trade, but North Korea's immediate neighbors are worried about provoking North Korea and its enigmatic leader Kim Jong Il.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice continued her shuttle diplomacy in the region on Thursday and pressed her Asian counterparts to enforce the new sanctions and resist a regional arms race. She met with Japan's foreign minister Taro Aso on Wednesday, who said Tokyo would not try to develop its own nuclear weapons.

Rice will be in Seoul today holding a three-way meeting with Aso and Ban Ki-moon, South Korea's foreign minister. Having just been elected to succeed Kofi Annan as UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon will likely be keen to enforce the new UN sanctions. He's already said the international reaction to a second test would be "much more severe."


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President Bush, meanwhile, warned Pyongyang that it would face "a grave consequence" if it sells nuclear weapons to Iran or al-Qaida. In a televised address on Wednesday, he said the US would intervene in any transfer of nuclear weapons outside North Korea.

Whether unified diplomacy will discourage Pyongyang from a second test isn't yet clear, but it certainly hasn't changed their rhetoric. Li Gun, deputy head of North Korea's foreign ministry told ABC News a follow up test would be "natural." Referring to the international pressure against his country, he said "we don't have to care much about this issue."

jsg/afp/ap/reuters