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Four S. Korean elder statesmen issue statement calling for world free of nuclear weapons
By Chang Jae-soon
SEOUL, June 22 (Yonhap) -- Four elder statesmen of South Korea's political, diplomatic and defense communities issued a joint statement Tuesday calling for a world free of atomic weapons, including ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
The statement from former Prime Minister Lee Hong-koo, former Foreign Minister Han Sung-joo, former parliamentary speaker Park Kwang-yong and legendary former Army general Paik Sun-yop is modeled after a similar 2007 statement from four senior U.S. statesmen -- Henry Kissinger, George Schultz, William Perry and Sam Nunn.
Two years after their plea, carried in the Wall Street Journal, U.S. President Barack Obama delivered a historic speech in Prague last year in which he laid out plans for significant nuclear reductions and a nuclear-weapons-free world.
"Our support for these efforts is directly related to the grim reality we face in Korea and the vision of the Korean Peninsula without nuclear weapons," the four Koreans said in the statement, praising the U.S. efforts. "The nuclear weapons programs in North Korea constitute a clear and present danger to the peace and stability in this region."
The statement called for strengthening the implementation of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty (NPT) and denying new atomic weapons aspirants, such as North Korea, recognition as a nuclear weapons state while urging the United States and Russia to accelerate arms reduction.
It also called for bringing into force the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), calling it a "core element of the international nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation regime."
"We strongly encourage the U.S. Senate to accelerate the ratification process of the CTBT so that other remaining states will follow suit," it said. "Such a move will send a strong signal to nuclear aspirants such as North Korea, which conducted nuclear tests."
Their appeal included launching negotiations on a treaty to halt production of fissile material for weapons globally and removing them.
They also urged "North Korea to fulfill its commitments under the six-party talks" on ending its nuclear weapons programs and return to the NPT.
"We believe now is the right time to act and carry the momentum of nonproliferation and disarmament forward," the statement said. "We in Korea will join the journey toward these goals in the year marking the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War and the 40th anniversary of the NPT."
jschang@yna.co.kr
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