Tightening The Net Around N Korea

There are good reasons for Australia to consider joining a coalition of nations willing to put a stop, through legal and peaceful means, to North Korea’s illegal export trade in misery and death.

Under a proposal being developed by the US, a coalition of 11 nations would undertake to board and search North Korean ships and aircraft suspected of trafficking weapons of mass destruction. The plan would take effect only within the waters or airspace of the co-operating countries.

Meanwhile, at multilateral talks in Madrid and Tokyo, Australia has been pushing a parallel proposal for changes to international law that would allow suspect North Korean ships and aircraft to be intercepted by responsible nations anywhere in the world, including international waters.

Although more complicated than the US plan, and requiring UN Security Council approval, the Australian proposal would include North Korea’s illegal trade in hard drugs and counterfeit currency, as well as weapons of mass destruction. Desperately poor, North Korea earns about $1 billion a year from a variety of Mafia-like international enterprises that include drugs and pornography.

Both the US and Australian proposals depend on the co-operation of China, which is in an especially difficult position with its long land border with North Korea. The best outcome by far would be a successful result to the US-China-North Korea talks on the whole question of North Korea’s threat to international peace and security, including the most serious dimension: North Korea’s own declared nuclear weapons ambitions.

Category:     International Affairs
Source:        Adapted from: The Australian, June 18, 2003
Words:        251

拉紧围住朝鲜的网

一个多国联盟准备通过法律手段与和平方式制止朝鲜从事非法的、导致不幸和死亡的出口交易，澳大利亚有充足的理由考虑参加这个多国联盟。

美国正在拟订的一项建议提出，由11个国家组成一个多国联盟，负责对涉嫌走私大规模杀伤性武器的朝鲜船只和飞机进行登船登机搜查。此计划的适用范围仅限于合作国家的水域或领空。

同时，在马德里和东京举行的多边会谈当中，澳大利亚一直在推动一项类似的建议，要求修改国际法，允许有关国家在世界任何地方，包括国际水域，拦截可疑的朝鲜船只和飞机。

虽然澳大利亚的建议比美国复杂，而且需要联合国安理会的同意，但在朝鲜从事非法交易的问题上，该建议的内容除了大规模杀伤性武器之外，还包括硬毒品和伪钞。朝鲜是个极度贫穷的国家，它每年有10亿澳元的收入来自各种各样类似黑手党的国际企业，其中包括毒品和色情业。

美澳双方提出的建议是否可行有赖于中国的合作。因中国同朝鲜有着很长的陆地边界，在此种情形下中国的处境特别困难。

迄今为止最好的结局就是美中朝三方会谈能有好的结果产生，而会谈议题是朝鲜威胁国际和平与安全的整个问题，其中包括最重要的方面：朝鲜自己公开宣布的核武野心。