China can't work alone to bring DPRK back to table

• Source: Global Times
• [10:59 April 17 2009]

By Mang Jiuchen in Seoul and Qiu Wei in Beijing

The international community remained committed yesterday to diplomatic dialogue in a joint attempt to persuade the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to abandon its nuclear endeavors, despite Pyongyang going as far as ordering United Nations nuclear inspectors out of the country.

The order came a day after the DPRK rebuked the six-party nuclear talks following the UN Security Council’s condemnation of the DPRK’s April 5 rocket launch.

Western media such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Reuters blamed China for “playing a guarded hand” on the issue. They also urged Beijing to “pressure the DPRK to reverse its threats.” But Chinese scholars interviewed by Global Times dismissed such accusations as groundless.

“Serious step in wrong direction”

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors in the Yongbyon facility were asked to “leave the country at the earliest possible time,” and the DPRK decided to reactivate all its nuclear facilities, IAEA spokesperson Marc Vidricaire said in a statement.

The DPRK “has requested the removal of all containment and surveillance equipment, following which, IAEA inspectors will no longer be provided access to the facility,” the statement said.

Russia reiterated yesterday the significance of the stalled six-party talks and said it still opposed sanctions against the DPRK, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin.

Earlier, US President Barack Obama’s spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said the DPRK’sthreat to withdraw from the six-party talks and restart its nuclear program is “a serious step in the wrong direction.”