Skip to main content
World
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ON TV
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Beijing urges caution with North Korea

Staff and wires

The U.S. believes North Korea may already have some nuclear weapons
The U.S. believes North Korea may already have some nuclear weapons

   Story Tools

more video VIDEO
CNN's Andrea Koppel says the Bush administration wants a peaceful resolution to avoid a crisis on the Korean peninsula (October 17)
premium content

CNN's Sohn Jie-Ae reports on the mood of South Koreans since learning North Korea has admitted to having a nuclear weapons program. (October 17)
premium content

Japan digests the news that North Korea has been running a nuclear weapons development program. CNN's Rebecca MacKinnon reports. (October 17)
premium content
RELATED
1994 agreement
North Korea promised to give up its nuclear weapons program and allow inspections to verify that it did not have the material such weapons would require. The country has yet to allow the inspections.
Source: The Associated Press
N. Korea nuclear facts
  • North Korea launched a medium-range "test" missile over Japan in 1998.
  • The 1994 Agreed Framework was signed by North Korea with the Clinton administration.
  • In return, an international consortium is building new nuclear reactors in North Korea.
  • QUICKVOTE
    Should the U.S. continue to negotiate with North Korea after its admission of its nuclear weapons program?

    Yes
    No
    VIEW RESULTS

    HONG KONG, China -- Beijing has opposed the use of force to resolve the issue of North Korea's nuclear armaments program even as two senior U.S. officials have arrived in the Chinese capital for urgent consultations on the subject.

    In talks with Chinese officials scheduled for Friday, Assistant Secretaries of State John Bolton and James Kelly are expected to ask Beijing to put pressure on Pyongyang to stop its program to develop nuclear bombs and other weapons of mass destruction.

    U.S. officials say North Korea conceded October 4 it had a nuclear weapons program and also said it had "more" and "other weapons."

    The officials said the North Koreans did not elaborate, but one said North Korea is known to have chemical and biological weapons capabilities.

    U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday North Korea may have nuclear weapons already.

    "No one that I would have any confidence in their judgment has touched them, but I believe they have a small number of nuclear weapons," he said. (Full story)

    Bolton and Kelly will also firm up the agenda of the summit between Presidents Jiang Zemin and George W. Bush next week, in which the Korean question and other issues of weapons proliferation will figure prominently.

    In her regular briefing on Thursday, however, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said Beijing favored diplomatic means to resolve the issue of Pyongyang's nuclear program.

    "We have consistently supported the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as well as maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula," state media on Friday quoted Zhang as saying.

    "We think Korea's nuclear problem should be solved peacefully through dialogue and consultation."

    Zhang, however, skirted a question on whether Beijing had known about Pyongyang's nuclear program.

    Diplomatic sources in the Chinese capital said while Beijing had probably been aware all along of its ally's weapons programs, it is unlikely Jiang would make a pledge to force Pyongyang to dismantle already developed nuclear weapons.

    "In the summit with Bush, Jiang may agree to talk with [North Korean counterpart] Kim Jong-il about limiting the scale of Pyongyang's nuclear program," a diplomatic source said.

    "However, it is unlikely Beijing will use strong-armed tactics because China still likes to play the North Korean card in its dealings with the U.S., Japan and South Korea."

    Diplomatic analysts say since NATO's strikes on Kosovo in 1999, Pyongyang has asked for Chinese help to prevent the U.S. from launching "pre-emptive strikes" against North Korea's weapons manufacturing bases.

    Meanwhile, a senior U.S. official told CNN Washington was urging governments around the world to reconsider any sales of sophisticated technology to North Korea in light of its admission that it is actively developing nuclear weapons.

    This official said there was no information that North Korea had obtained key supplies with the blessing of the Russian or Chinese governments: "As a matter of government policy, no," the official said.

    The official declined to elaborate, but in the past the U.S. has complained that military contractors in both Russia and China were involved in weapons proliferation in violation of agreements their governments had signed.

    "We call on North Korea to meet its obligations... and to end its nuclear weapons program in a way that is verifiable," the official said. "We want to resolve this peacefully. We don't want a crisis."

    As a major supplier of food and fuel to North Korea, China is a critical player in the diplomacy just ahead.



    Story Tools

    Top Stories
    Iran poll to go to run-off
    Top Stories
    EU 'crisis' after summit failure
     
     
     
     
      SEARCH CNN.COM:
    © 2004 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
    A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
    Terms under which this service is provided to you.
    Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us.
    external link
    All external sites will open in a new browser.
    CNN.com does not endorse external sites.