NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR TEST ANNOUNCEMENT: POLAND

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 002176

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2011
TAGS: PREL KN PARM KNNP PINR PL
SUBJECT: NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR TEST ANNOUNCEMENT: POLAND
RESPONDS QUICKLY AND FIRMLY

REF: A. STATE 169418


B. WARSAW 2152

C. STATE 166404

Classified By: Political Counselor Mary Curtin, reasons 1.4(b)
and (d)


1. (C) In the course of a previously scheduled meeting
October 9 with MFA U/S Witold Waszczykowski, DCM delivered
the substance of Ref A. Waszczykowski indicated that the GOP
fully supported the U.S. position on the North Korean
announcement of a nuclear test. MFA Director for East Asia &
Pacific Jacek Najder had called in North Korean Ambassador
Kim Pyong Il (N.B. step-brother of North Korean President Kim
Jong Il) on October 9 to protest the announced test. The MFA
issued a sharply worded public statement (text below in para
3),which closely mirrors the Polish message to Ambassador
Kim. According to Najder's staff, Kim's response mirrored
nearly verbatim DPRK public statements on the test.


2. (C) Embassy separately provided to Najder on September 10
Ref A demarche and the text of President Bush's statement.
However, we do not expect a further Polish response, as U/S
Waszczykowski has already addressed the substance of the
demarche.


3. (U) Informal Embassy translation of the Polish MFA
statement follows:

Communiqu of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic
of Poland regarding the nuclear test conducted on October 9,
2006 by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

October 9, 2006

In connection with the nuclear test conducted by the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea on October 9, 2006, the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland wishes
to express its deepest concern and disappointment with the
North Korean authorities' decision. Poland fully supports
the EU Presidency's statement on this issue.

The test that was conducted constitutes an unprecedented
threat to peace and stability in the region and to the
international system of non-proliferation and arms control.
Its direct consequence can only be a deepened isolation of
North Korea and a further deterioration of the living
standard of its citizens.

In this situation, the Polish MFA calls upon the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea to immediately return to the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and to
establish conditions that will enable inspectors of the
International Atomic Energy Agency to be present again on its
territory. The Polish MFA also appeals to the North Korean
authorities to make an immediate decision on the return to
the Six Party talks and to implement the provisions of the
Joint Statement of the parties that was issued at the end of
the fourth round of these talks in September 2005. In the
Ministry's opinion, the Six Party talks still remain the best
formula for solving the nuclear problem on the Korean
Peninsula.

Poland, taking into account more than fifty years of
engagement on the Korean Peninsula, and in particular its
uninterrupted participation in the activities of the Neutral
Nations Supervisory Commission in Korea, is particularly
interested in the continuation of actions aimed at
maintaining peace and stability in the region of
North-Eastern Asia.

The situation on the Korean Peninsula was the topic of a
conversation of the North Korean Ambassador at the Polish MFA
today.

Andrzej Sados, MFA's Press Spokesman

END TEXT.
ASHE