BRAZIL POSTPONES OPENING PYONGYANG EMBASSY OVER

UNCLAS BRASILIA 000667 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PARM MNUC MCAP KN BR ZN SUBJECT: BRAZIL POSTPONES OPENING PYONGYANG EMBASSY OVER NUCLEAR TEST REF: A. 08 BRASILIA 1486 ¶B. 08 BRASILIA 1559 ¶C. BRAZILIA 657 ¶1. (U) Summary. In response to the May 25 DPRK nuclear test, Brazil is indefinitely postponing sending its Ambassador-designate to Pyongyang to open the Brazilian embassy (reftels). The Ministry of External Relations (MRE) issued an uncharacteristically strong note in which it "vehemently condemns" the test, states that it violates UNSCR 1718, calls on the DPRK to observe a strict test moratorium, and appeals to all members of the six-party talks to avoid taking any aggravating steps. End summary. ¶2. (U) According to media reports citing MRE sources, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim ordered Brazil,s Ambassador-designate Arnaldo Carrilho not travel to Pyongyang until further notice because of Brazil,s displeasure over the DPRK nuclear test on May 25. There was no official statement from the MRE about the delay, and press reports said Carrilho is in Beijing making final preparations to go to Pyongyang to open Brazil,s embassy during the week of May ¶25. Brazil decided last year to open an embassy in Pyongyang; North Korea has had an embassy in Brasilia since at least 2004. High level contacts are rare and trade between the two countries is minimal, although the DPRK foreign minister met with FM Amorim in Brasilia on May 8 (septel). ¶3. (U) The text of the MRE press release (unofficial Embassy translation): (Begin text.) Note 238, May 25, 2009 North Korean Nuclear Test The Brazilian government vehemently condemns the nuclear test carried out by the People,s Republic of Korea, today, May ¶25. The test violates Resolution 1718, adopted by the United Nations Security Council on October 14, 2006. Brazil expresses its hopes that the DPRK will rejoin, as quickly as possible and as a non-nuclear armed country, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In the same manner, the government of Brazil calls on the DPRK to sign, in the shortest term possible, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and to observe strictly the nuclear test moratorium. Brazil hopes, also, that the DPRK will return, in a constructive spirit, to the Six-Party Talks, aimed at the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and appeals to all parties to abstain from acts that could aggravate tensions in regional and global contexts. (End). ¶4. (SBU) Comment. Brazil has been cautiously and gradually upgrading its relations with the DPRK (reftels),and the unusually strong MRE response suggests the nuclear test has stopped Brazil in its tracks. Given Brazil,s repeated public and private avowals of respect for UN and especially UNSC decisions, Brazil now has no practical alternative -- despite its inclination to avoid controversial stands -- but to suspend further development of its relationship with the DPRK. KUBISKE