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SEOUL: South Korea said Tuesday that sanctions against North Korea for its nuclear test should pressure it to resume negotiations and must not spark armed conflict.
“Sanctions against the North should be carried out in a way to push North Korea back to the dialogue table,” Prime Minister Han Myeong-Sook said at a cabinet meeting.
“They must not be implemented in any way that could spark an armed clash,” she was quoted as saying by a spokesman.
The denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and the abolition of North Korea's nuclear programmes are the government's top policy goals, she said.
“At the same time, the basic policy principle is that security risks and economic instability must be minimized,” Han said, restating the position laid out Monday by the office of President Roh Moo-Hyun.
Pressure is rising on South Korea to join a US-led drive to search cargo ships for weapons of mass destruction after North Korea's October 9 nuclear test, despite fears that such inspections could trigger war.
The sanctions under a UN resolution adopted on Saturday include a ban on heavy conventional weapons and luxury goods being sent to the North and a freeze on funds connected to its weapons programmes.
But the most controversial measure allows nations to inspect cargo being shipped in and out of North Korea, something both South Korea and China are reluctant to take part in.
The inspections are in line with the Proliferation Security Initiative, a key policy of US President George W. Bush aimed at stopping the spread of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction.
