Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06ASTANA35
2006-10-10 12:04:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Astana
Cable title:  

KAZAKHSTAN REACTION TO NORTH KOREAN ANNOUNCEMENT: "YOU CAN

Tags:  PARM PREL KZ KN 
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VZCZCXRO4138
RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTA #0035 2831204
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 101204Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY ASTANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7163
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS ASTANA 000035 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN - O'MARA
DEPT FOR ISN, EAP, AND IO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PARM PREL KZ KN
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN REACTION TO NORTH KOREAN ANNOUNCEMENT: "YOU CAN
RELY ON US"

REF: STATE 169418

UNCLAS ASTANA 000035

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN - O'MARA
DEPT FOR ISN, EAP, AND IO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PARM PREL KZ KN
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN REACTION TO NORTH KOREAN ANNOUNCEMENT: "YOU CAN
RELY ON US"

REF: STATE 169418


1. (SBU) Summary. Charge delivered reftel points to Deputy Foreign
Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov on October 10, taking the opportunity
to thank Abdrakhmanov for the Government of Kazakhstan's (GOK)
October 9 statement (paragraph 4) denouncing North Korea's
announcement of a nuclear weapon test. Abdrakhmanov termed the
presumed test "inexcusable" and "clearly provocative." "You can
rely on us," Abdrakhmanov vowed, telling the Charge that the GOK was
prepared to stand "shoulder-to-shoulder" with its international
partners on this issue. The GOK, he added, "would be ready to join
further international actions," potentially including the
implementation of Chapter VII UNSC sanctions, once it had "examined
the situation thoroughly." End Summary.


2. (SBU) Responding to the Charge's thanks for the GOK's "strong
and timely" statement denouncing the North Korean announcement,
Abdrakhmanov commented that, "as a responsible member of the
international community, Kazakhstan is striving to add its voice to
the strong position of the world community in order to condemn such
'provocative' actions." The presumed test was "inexcusable," the
Deputy Foreign Minister continued, and there existed no doubt that
"we need to take decisive steps" to prevent similar future actions,
not only on behalf of North Korea, but "other critical regimes."
Abdrakhmanov told the Charge that, in his view, North Korea had
timed its nuclear test "deliberately and provocatively" to coincide
with the announcement that South Korea's Foreign Minister is to
become the next UN Secretary-General.


3. (SBU) In response to the Charge's request for GOK support in
adopting a Chapter VII UNSC resolution, Abdrakhmanov stated the GOK
"would be ready" to join further international actions, potentially
including the adoption of a Chapter VII UNSC resolution, once the
GOK had "examined the situation thoroughly." Regarding the
possibility of implementing "other defensive measures," against
North Korea, Abdrakhmanov told the Charge that the GOK had already
begun to assess existing financial and commercial ties with North
Korea, with an eye toward imposing "sanctions or other actions."
While the issue of fairness toward any Kazakhstan companies doing
business with North Korea would have to be considered, he continued,
the GOK's steps would be "sustained and clear." "We have no biases,
no prejudices toward the North Korean regime," Abdrakhmanov
concluded. "We will go alongside the international community on
this, shoulder-to-shoulder with our partners. You can rely on us."



4. (U) Text of the October 9, 2006 statement of the Kazakhstani
Ministry of Foreign Affairs follows (Embassy translation):

"As a state that closed a nuclear test site and as a participant in
the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test
Ban Treaty and the Agreement on creation of a nuclear-free zone in
Central Asia, the Republic of Kazakhstan considers the DPRK's
decision to test a nuclear weapon a wrong one and denounces this act
executed on October 9 of this year.

We are confident that this step will aggravate the overall crisis in
the sphere of non-proliferation and cause serious damage to global
security.

Kazakhstan urges North Korea to resume the talks on the nuclear
problem in the six-country format with the participation of China,
Russia, USA, South Korea, and Japan and to abandon nuclear
ambitions."

MILAS