Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PRETORIA4208
2006-10-11 05:08:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Pretoria
Cable title:
SOUTH AFRICA CONDEMNS NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR TEST
how-toVZCZCXRO5137 RR RUEHMR RUEHRN DE RUEHSA #4208 2840508 ZNY CCCCC ZZH R 110508Z OCT 06 FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6218 INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0615 RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 0186 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0460 RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L PRETORIA 004208
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR AF/S, ISN, IO, AND EAP
DEPT PASS TO NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY COLLECTIVE
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/09/2016
TAGS: PREL KNNP PARM KN SF
SUBJECT: SOUTH AFRICA CONDEMNS NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR TEST
REF: A. STATE 169418
B. STATE 169269
C. STATE 166404
D. 05 PRETORIA 4375
E. PRETORIA 2872
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Donald Teitelbaum.
Reasons 1.4(b) and (d).
C O N F I D E N T I A L PRETORIA 004208
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR AF/S, ISN, IO, AND EAP
DEPT PASS TO NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY COLLECTIVE
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/09/2016
TAGS: PREL KNNP PARM KN SF
SUBJECT: SOUTH AFRICA CONDEMNS NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR TEST
REF: A. STATE 169418
B. STATE 169269
C. STATE 166404
D. 05 PRETORIA 4375
E. PRETORIA 2872
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Donald Teitelbaum.
Reasons 1.4(b) and (d).
1. (U) The Government of South Africa (SAG) expressed "deep
concern" about North Korea's reported nuclear test and urged
Pyongyang to "terminate any nuclear weapons program" (full
text of statement at para 5). The October 9 statement also
encouraged all parties to "intensify efforts" to return to
the six-party talks and called for "full implementation of
the 19 September 2005 Joint Statement."
2. (C) This SAG statement follows Post's delivery of Ref C
demarche on October 5 to Ambassador B.S. Kubheka, head of the
Japan and Koreas office at the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Kubheka, the former South African ambassador to South Korea,
told PolOff October 6 that he appreciated the communication
and would utilize the points in formulating the South African
position on the North Korean nuclear test issue.
3. (C) Charge is separately seeking an appointment with
Deputy FM Aziz Pahad, who has been traveling, to deliver Ref
A demarche. Post has been engaging Pahad and other senior
officials on North Korea for more than a year, including
facilitating a U.S. Embassy briefing in Beijing in 2005 on
North Korea's nuclear ambitions (Ref D).
4. (C) COMMENT: The Department of Foreign Affairs statement
on the reported North Korean nuclear test, which received
wide play in the local media, is unusually blunt by South
African standards. South Africa rarely criticizes fellow
"South" countries publicly and had previously discouraged
UNSC action on North Korea (Ref E),a point notably absent
from the October 9 statement. Pretoria is deeply committed
to its non-proliferation agenda, and -- unlike Iran, where
the SAG insists there is no clear evidence of a nuclear
weapons program -- Post believes we can count on South Africa
to be a strong voice against North Korea's weapons of mass
destruction programs. END COMMENT.
5. (U) Full text of South African statement:
"The South African Government is deeply concerned at the
reported nuclear test by the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea (DPRK),as announced on 9 October 2006.
The South African Government is fully convinced that nuclear
weapons threaten the total annihilation of humanity and are
therefore not a source of security and do not serve any
deterrent purpose whatsoever.
Accordingly, the South African government calls upon the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea to fully and verifiably
terminate any nuclear weapons programme, to return to the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT),
sign and ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
(CTBT),and to open all its nuclear facilities and materials
to comprehensive IAEA safeguards inspections and surveillance.
The South African Government encourages all parties to
urgently seek to intensify efforts that would facilitate the
early resumption of the Six-Party Talks, and the full
implementation of the 19 September 2005 Joint Statement,
which would contribute to an early resolution of this nuclear
issue in a peaceful manner through multi-party dialogue."
TEITELBAUM
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR AF/S, ISN, IO, AND EAP
DEPT PASS TO NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY COLLECTIVE
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/09/2016
TAGS: PREL KNNP PARM KN SF
SUBJECT: SOUTH AFRICA CONDEMNS NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR TEST
REF: A. STATE 169418
B. STATE 169269
C. STATE 166404
D. 05 PRETORIA 4375
E. PRETORIA 2872
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Donald Teitelbaum.
Reasons 1.4(b) and (d).
1. (U) The Government of South Africa (SAG) expressed "deep
concern" about North Korea's reported nuclear test and urged
Pyongyang to "terminate any nuclear weapons program" (full
text of statement at para 5). The October 9 statement also
encouraged all parties to "intensify efforts" to return to
the six-party talks and called for "full implementation of
the 19 September 2005 Joint Statement."
2. (C) This SAG statement follows Post's delivery of Ref C
demarche on October 5 to Ambassador B.S. Kubheka, head of the
Japan and Koreas office at the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Kubheka, the former South African ambassador to South Korea,
told PolOff October 6 that he appreciated the communication
and would utilize the points in formulating the South African
position on the North Korean nuclear test issue.
3. (C) Charge is separately seeking an appointment with
Deputy FM Aziz Pahad, who has been traveling, to deliver Ref
A demarche. Post has been engaging Pahad and other senior
officials on North Korea for more than a year, including
facilitating a U.S. Embassy briefing in Beijing in 2005 on
North Korea's nuclear ambitions (Ref D).
4. (C) COMMENT: The Department of Foreign Affairs statement
on the reported North Korean nuclear test, which received
wide play in the local media, is unusually blunt by South
African standards. South Africa rarely criticizes fellow
"South" countries publicly and had previously discouraged
UNSC action on North Korea (Ref E),a point notably absent
from the October 9 statement. Pretoria is deeply committed
to its non-proliferation agenda, and -- unlike Iran, where
the SAG insists there is no clear evidence of a nuclear
weapons program -- Post believes we can count on South Africa
to be a strong voice against North Korea's weapons of mass
destruction programs. END COMMENT.
5. (U) Full text of South African statement:
"The South African Government is deeply concerned at the
reported nuclear test by the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea (DPRK),as announced on 9 October 2006.
The South African Government is fully convinced that nuclear
weapons threaten the total annihilation of humanity and are
therefore not a source of security and do not serve any
deterrent purpose whatsoever.
Accordingly, the South African government calls upon the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea to fully and verifiably
terminate any nuclear weapons programme, to return to the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT),
sign and ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
(CTBT),and to open all its nuclear facilities and materials
to comprehensive IAEA safeguards inspections and surveillance.
The South African Government encourages all parties to
urgently seek to intensify efforts that would facilitate the
early resumption of the Six-Party Talks, and the full
implementation of the 19 September 2005 Joint Statement,
which would contribute to an early resolution of this nuclear
issue in a peaceful manner through multi-party dialogue."
TEITELBAUM