AUSTRIA IN FULL AGREEMENT ON UNSCR 1718 AND NORTH

C O N F I D E N T I A L VIENNA 003091 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/AGS - SAINT-ANDRE E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/18/2016 TAGS: PREL KNNP PARM KN AU SUBJECT: AUSTRIA IN FULL AGREEMENT ON UNSCR 1718 AND NORTH KOREA REF: A. STATE 172816 ¶B. VIENNA 3037 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Economic-Political Counselor Gregory E. Phillips. Reaso ns: 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) EconPolCouns delivered ref (a) demarche on October 17 to Nikolaus Scherk, the Austrian MFA's (assistant secretary-equivalent) Director for Asia. SIPDIS ¶2. (C) Scherk said Austria agrees entirely with our points, and backs implementation of UNSCR 1718. He said the MFA had sent the text of the resolution to the relevant departments of the Austrian government to work on implementation of the measures it contains. The EU was also working on legally-binding langauge for the implementation of UNSCR 1695, which condemned North Korea's missile launches. ¶3. (C) As noted ref (b),Scherk and Non-Proliferation Director Dorothea Auer received North Korean Ambassador to Austria Kim Gwang Sop on October 16. Scherk said he told Kim that Austria is extremely angry at North Korea for conducting the nuclear tests, which Austria considered completely unacceptable. He told Kim that Austria fully supported UNSCR ¶1718. He also told Kim that the EU was united in its opposition to North Korea's action. Scherk said that Kim, who has been in Austria for thirteen years, complained that the Austrians could not understand the difficulties North Korea faces, being surrounded by threats. Scherk said he told Kim that the difference was a matter of security policy: if North Korea put its resources into economic development for its people instead of a nuclear weapons program, it would not have so many enemies. Kim argued that North Korea was ready to return to the six-party talks, on the condition that the U..S. withdrew its financial sanctions against the North Korean leadership. Scherk said it seemed that what the North Koreans feared most was not isolation -- which simply reinforced their own paranoic view of the world -- but the collapse of the regime. ¶4. (U) Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik released a statement on October 17 calling UNSCR 1718 "an appropriate response by the international community of states." She added, "the North Korean regime's nuclear plans jeopardise international peace and security. North Korea must step out of its increasing isolation and re-embark on a rational course. A return to the six-party talks and a constructive attitude towards them are the only feasible option." McCaw