Happy 'Nuclear Free' Anniversary Kim Jong-il
Seoul, South Korea, 8 October, 2006 -- Greenpeace today appealed to the
North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, to halt plans for a nuclear test that
would coincide with the ninth anniversary of his leadership.
"Rather than testing a nuclear weapon, Kim Jong-il should celebrate the
occasion by taking a step towards a nuclear free world," said Steve
Shallhorn, Executive Director, Greenpeace Australia Pacific. "As long as
some countries have nuclear weapons other countries will inevitably seek
to achieve them. Not only should North Korea refrain from this test and
renounce its nuclear weapons programme, so should each and every one of
the other nuclear weapons states."
Such a test will not only increase tensions in the Korean Peninsular but
could also lead to a nuclear arms race in South East Asia. South Korea
has expressed an interest in obtaining stockpiles of plutonium similar
to that of Japan, who has not only one of the world's largest stockpiles
but also the most advanced missile technology (1).
"North Korea has believed to have benefited from trade of nuclear
materials with Pakistan and Iran. Nuclear power and nuclear weapons are
not the solution they are the problem," concluded Shallhorn.
For further information please contact:
Steve Shallhorn, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, +61 400 514 727
Mhairi Dunlop, Greenpeace International Communications, +44 7801 212 960
1 - The prospects for Japan making the decision to develop nuclear
weapons is contained in the 2005 paper, "Thinking the Unthinkable", Dr
Frank Barnaby and Shaun Burnie, Oxford Research Group/Greenpeace
International.
Ends