AUSTRIAN RESPONSE TO NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR TEST

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 VIENNA 003020 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/11/2016 TAGS: KNNP PARM PREL KN AU SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN RESPONSE TO NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR TEST ANNOUNCEMENT REF: A. SECSTATE 169418 ¶B. VIENNA 00515 ¶C. VIENNA 02968 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Scott Kilner for reasons 1.4 (b) and ( d). ¶1. (C) On October 10, Charge met with Thomas Mayr-Harting, the MFA's Political Director, and Ambassador Nikolaus Scherk, Director of the MFA's Asia Division, to deliver ref A talking points on North Korea,s announced nuclear test. ¶2. (C) Charge emphasized the extreme gravity of the situation. He said the international community needed to send an unequivocal message to the DPRK that its actions are unacceptable. Charge welcomed Austrian Foreign Minister Plassnik's statement condemning the test (text para 7). Charge also noted that cooperation with Austrian financial authorities to hinder DPRK financial proliferation activities (reftel B) had been excellent, but he stressed the need for continued vigilance. ¶3. (C) Mayr-Harting said Austria remains fully committed to the nonproliferation regime and that this test was unacceptable. He also said that the DPRK must return to the six party talks. ¶4. (C) Scherk mentioned that the North Koreans had floated the idea of having one of their Vice Foreign Ministers visit Vienna in mid-November (reftel C),presumably along with stops in a few other European capitals. Mayr-Harting and Scherk said the GoA is currently debating whether to cancel the visit in response to the test, or to receive the Vice Minister in order to deliver a firm message. Charge urged the GoA to cancel, arguing that cancelation of the meeting would send a stronger signal to the DPRK that its nuclear test was unacceptable. Mayr-Harting agreed with the Charge,s perspective, but said that Austria wanted to touch base with its European partners before making a final decision. ¶5. (C) Scherk added that the EU was working towards a common response to the previous North Korean missile test in the context of UNSCR 1695. Scherk opined that a response to the nuclear test could be folded into that process. -------------- NPT Review PrepCon -------------- ¶6. (C) Separately, Mayr-Harting also raised the issue of the First Preparatory Conference for the NPT Review scheduled for the first two weeks of May 2007. He stated that Austria would like to hold this conference in Vienna to recognize and celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the IAEA. -------------- Text of FM Plassnik's Statement -------------- ¶7. (U) Text of Austria MFA statement dated October 9, 2006: Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik strongly condemned last night's nuclear test in North Korea: "This will not create more security, but rather worsen the current security situation. North Korea must stop playing with fire and return to the negotiating table immediately. The strategy of aggressive self-isolation pursued by the North Korean leadership with nuclear means is a dangerous dead-end." Just last September, the six-party talks involving the two Koreas, China, the USA, Japan, and Russia entered a promising stage. However, no negotiations have taken place since November ¶2005. "Following the unilateral escalation by Pyongyang, the resumption of negotiations is more important than ever. We must not stop insisting on a negotiated solution towards Pyongyang. Every other development carries the danger of increased tensions and further rearmament efforts", the Foreign Minister continued. "Alongside the threat to regional stability, the example of North Korea once again underlines the importance of the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) Austria is thus consistently committed to promoting non-proliferation along with the disarmament of the nuclear states", Plassnik emphasized. "Now the UN Security council will have to concern itself with this matter. I hope the UN Security Council's confirmation of the candidacy of Ban Ki-moon for the office of the UN Secretary-General, scheduled for today, will open up new SIPDIS opportunities for finding a solution for the Korean VIENNA 00003020 002 OF 002 peninsula", Plassnik concluded. End statement. McCaw