Press release - 8 October, 2006
Greenpeace today appealed to the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, to halt plans for a nuclear test that would coincide with the ninth anniversary of his leadership.
"Rather than testing a nuclear weapon, Kim Jong-il should
celebrate the occasion by taking a step towards a nuclear free
world," said Steve Shallhorn, Executive Director, Greenpeace
Australia Pacific. "As long as some countries have nuclear weapons
other countries will inevitably seek to achieve them. Not only
should North Korea refrain from this test and renounce its nuclear
weapons programme, so should each and every one of the other
nuclear weapons states."
Such a test will not only increase tensions in the Korean
Peninsular but could also lead to a nuclear arms race in South East
Asia. South Korea has expressed an interest in obtaining stockpiles
of plutonium similar to that of Japan, who has not only one of the
world's largest stockpiles but also the most advanced missile
technology (1).
"North Korea has believed to have benefited from trade of
nuclear materials with Pakistan and Iran. Nuclear power and nuclear
weapons are not the solution they are the problem," concluded
Shallhorn.
Other contacts: Steve Shallhorn, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, +61 400 514 727Mhairi Dunlop, Greenpeace International Communications, +44 7801 212 960
Notes: 1 - The prospects for Japan making the decision to develop nuclear weapons is contained in the 2005 paper, "Thinking the Unthinkable", Dr Frank Barnaby and Shaun Burnie, Oxford Research Group/Greenpeace International.