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Happy 'Nuclear Free' Anniversary Kim Jong-il
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
Greenpeace
Greenpeace exists because this fragile earth deserves a voice.
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning organisation that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace.
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