Luke's Korea

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

New regime in N. Korea to maintain nuclear ambitions: Seoul official

HONG KONG (Kyodo) -- North Korea's position on its nuclear weapon program is unlikely to change under the new leadership, but the resumption of the six-party talks is much needed to address the issue, a South Korean foreign affairs official said Monday. Hahn Choong Hee, South Korean spokesman for the biennial Nuclear Security Summit set for Seoul in March, said North Korea has not committed to denuclearization, a condition for Korean peninsula talks mooted by South Korean President Lee Myung Bak toward the North's late leader Kim Jung Il who died last month and was succeeded by his son Jong Un. The country's nuclear ambition remains unclear, but "I don't think (North Korea) will change drastically their position or insistence on nuclear weapons, but we have to continue to discuss among members of six-party talks what is the best way to handle the North Korean nuclear weapons program," Hahn said at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Hong Kong. The six parties are China, Japan, Russia, the United States and South and North Korea, who started meeting in 2003 to broker a deal for denuclearization. Hahn said nuclear issues regarding North Korea and Iran are not on the agenda of a two-day nuclear security summit in Seoul, but the 50 participating states could use the opportunity to raise those concerns, apart from focusing on nuclear proliferation, security and safety issues. "The summit itself will give a serious message to North Korea on the importance of denuclearization. The North Korean nuclear issue should be resolved as early as possible and also once and for all," Hahn said. In addition to occasional missile testing, North Korea is blamed for the sinking of a South Korean warship and the shelling of a South Korean island in 2010, apparently with the aim of gaining negotiation leverage. The first nuclear security summit was held in 2010 in Washington, and the focus for this year's Seoul summit will be on nuclear security and safety in view of the post-Osama bin Laden era, the Arab Spring-led regional instability and the Fukushima nuclear fiasco. "Fukushima gave us certain implications from nuclear safety to nuclear security. What if that particular situation, like the malfunction of a pump, or malfunction of the cooling water system and backup electricity could be done by a terrorist (with) malicious intentions? We have to tackle this issue," Hahn said. (Mainichi Japan) January 31, 2012

[CEO Column]One World, and One Dream/Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power CEO Kim Jong-shin

The term "quantum leap" came from quantum mechanics, when an energy form in an atom changes in to another energy form. Today this term is also used in economics and business to refer to "discontinuous leap" or "groundbreaking leap". Every firm needs "quantum leap" for sustainable growth. This also applies to national development. For more than a decade, Korea is wavering near the 20,000 dollar barrier which is the entry to becoming a developed country. We cannot waver longer. We all need to pull together and go for the "groundbreaking leap" and make the second "Miracle of Han's River" to get into the line of developed countries. We need to decide on a far-sighted national policy to achieve this target, but there are a couple of tasks to ponder on. One of them is the establishment of energy security. Self reliance of energy is a difficult task but it is critical in order to achive second leap. Especially for a country that has no oil or other natureal resource, securing energy resource is a task of survival. In March, Korea will host a major nuclear related international summit. World leaders will discuss nuclear energy in the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit and the Nuclear Industry Summit. 50 world leaders and representatives from UN, IAEA, EU, Interpole as well as other nuclear international organizations and CEOs of nuclear industry will participate in the summit. Therefore Korea will recieve attention from all over the world. Korea already has the experience of raising the national brand awareness by hosing '86 Asian Game, '88 Olympic, 2002 World Cup, G20 Summit, and etc. Moreover, Seoul Nuclear Security Summit aims the nuclear aniterrorism which is a critical matter to international security; therefore, it will be the largest summit that Korea has ever hosted. Foreign Affairs Experts have anticipated that when this Summit, successfully hosted, will strengthen the nuclear security and safety which are the prerequisites of the peaceful use of Nuclear, and will also be the first step for South Korea to become the leading nation in the world. I wish that this Summit hopefully becomes the opportunity for South Korea to show their potential strength and capability. Although there will be many obstacles for us in the path of joining the ranks of advanced countries, these same obstacles will make our challenges glorious. I wish that, by hosting this Summit, it will act as the opportunity for South Korea to heighten its position in the world and to build the footstep for our next leap. Our Nuclear Industrial World has developed to the highest level in last 30 years and has history of exporting Nuclear Plant to UAE. Also, South Korea has set an example to other nations as we have used Nuclear energy safely while maintaining the Nonproliferation campaign. Therefore, 'Seoul Nuclear Security Summit' and 'Nuclear Industry Summit' will upgrade our status in the world, and will be the opportunity to imprint South Korea's Nuclear Technology to the world. Also it will provide South Korea, an energy-hungry nation, a chance to enhance Energy independency. I, as the chairman of the organizing committee of 'Nuclear Industry Summit', am working hard for the successful host. As a human being, a company or a nation, there is a moment when we leep high beyond our imagination. Being in a leading role in the international society, works as the foundation to reach the highest level. By taking full advantage of this opportunity, we should provide rich lives to our descendants.