Japan, U.S., S. Korea warn Pyongyang

By Oei Eng Goan and Meidyatama Suryodiningrat

SINGAPORE (JP): Japan, South Korea and the United States warned of "serious negative consequences" for North Korea if it proceeded with a planned missile test.

In a joint statement issued here on Tuesday, foreign ministers from the three countries expressed "deep concern over the possibility of a missile or satellite launch, and agreed that this action would adversely affect peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and beyond".

The statement was issued following a trilateral consultation between Japan's Masahiko Koumura, South Korea's Hong Soon-young and United States' Madeleine Albright, who are attending meetings here between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its dialog partners.

There remains a strong suspicion that North Korea will follow up its last missile test launched over Japan in August.

The three ministers said the key to stability and peace was the easing of tensions through reconciliation. They therefore called on North Korea to optimize the opportunity for a positive engagement presented during former U.S. defense secretary William Cohen's visit to Pyongyang in May.

During the visit, a package deal was presented that held out the possibility of normalizing diplomatic and trade relations with North Korea along with other wide-ranging assistance.

South Korean foreign minister Hong Soon-young said that whether or not Pyongyang continues with it missile test will determine if the olive branch has been accepted.

"Given the secretive nature of the regime, we do not expect it to come out with a clear yes or no. We believe it is still weighing the consequences," he said.

"What it does with the possible missile launch will be an indication of its thinking."

"But given North Korea's unpredictable nature, we must think through the eventuality that it will go ahead... It if does, South Korea, in close cooperation with the U.S. and Japan, will respond with a firmness matching the seriousness of the missile launch," he asserted.

Hong maintained that engagement -- securing peace through dialog -- remains Seoul's guiding precept. However "we have no illusions about North Korea... Engagement is not appeasement," he warned.

Japanese foreign minister Koumura said Tokyo would find future cooperation difficult if another missile test was carried out.

Japan is a US$1 billion donor in an international consortium (KEDO) for a North Korean nuclear energy project, in which Indonesia is also a member.

Under a 1994 agreement, the consortium agreed to help build two light water reactors and provide heavy fuel oil in exchange for a freeze on North Korea's nuclear weapons program.