버락 오바마 미국 대통령은 13일 이명박 대통령과의 전화통 화에서 “ 핵우산을 통한 억지력을 포함해 대한민국에 대한 방위공약을 변함없이 지켜나갈 것”이라고 말했다고 박정하 청와대 대변인이 전했다

양국 대통령은 이날 오전 0시 10분부터 20여분간 북한 핵무기 실험에 대한 대응조치를 논의했다.

오바마 대통령은 “한국과 협력해 유엔 안전보장이사회를 통한 대북제재를 포함해 분명한 조치를 취할 것이며, 이와 별도로 대량살상무기 저지를 위한 미국 자체의 제재 조치를 검토할 것”이라고 강조했다.

이 대통령은 “북한의 핵실험은 한국ㆍ미국은 물론 세계에 대한 도전”이며 “북한이 핵실험을 통 해 더 이상 얻을 것이 없다는 것을 국제사회가 보여줘야 한다”고 강조했다.

또한 “유엔 결의안과 더불어 한ㆍ미 실무자 간 협의를 해온 바와 같이 개별 국가 차원의 제재를 강화하는 것도 중요하다”고 지적했다.

이 대통령은 이어 오전 9시부터 25분간 진행된 아베 총리와의 전화통화에서 “북한의 핵실험이 동북아 평화는 물론 세계평화에 위협을 가하는 행위로, 한일 간, 한미일 간 공동 대처해나가고 중국과도 협력해나가야 한다”고 밝혔다.

아베 총리는 “국제사회는 (북한의 핵실험을) 더 이상 용납해서는 안 되고 안보리 결의를 바탕으로 추가 제재 결의를 즉각 채택해야 한다”고 밝혔다.

또한 한미 군 당국은 오는 21일(현지시간) 워싱턴에서 확장억제정책위원회(EDPC) 회의를 갖고 북한의 핵위협에 대비한 맞춤형 억제전략을 논의한다.

북한이 3차 핵실험을 단행한 직후 열리는 EDPC 회의라는 점에서 북한의 핵 공격 징후를 어떻게 파악하고 징후 포착 때 어떤 단계에서 ‘선제타격’ 개념을 적용할 것인가에 대한 논의가 이루어질 전망이다.

유엔 안전보장이사회가 북한의 3차 핵실험과 관련, 12일(현지시간) 오전 긴급회의를 열어 북한에 대한 제재 방안을 마련하기로 하고 즉각적으로 논의에 착수했다.

북한의 핵실험에 대한 유엔의 제재는 예견된 순서였다. 안보리는 지난해 12월 북한의 장거리 로켓 발사와 관련해 지난달 23일 채택한 결의 2087호에서 핵실험 등

추가 도발에 ‘중대 조치’를 하겠다고 경고했다. 그러나 중국과의 이견으로 북한에 대한 제재가 강도 높은 수준에서 정해지지 못할 가능성도 배제할 수 없다.

미국을 방문중인 김성환 외교장관은 12일(현지시간) 북한의 3차 핵실험과 관련, 유엔의 대북제재 논의를 2월중 매듭짓고 “유엔 제재가 결정된 뒤 한국과 미국간 (별도의) 제재 문제를 계속 논의할 예정”이라고 밝혔다.

통일부는 13일 북한의 제3차 핵실험과 관련, “엄중한 상황을 감안해 국제사회의 대북제재 상황을 봐가면서 남북 간 교류협력을 조정해 나갈 것”이라고 밝혔다.

김형석 대변인은 이날 브리핑에서 “북한의 핵실험은 대한민국을 포함해 국제사회의 일치된 요구에 대한 정면도전이자 매우 안타깝고 실망스럽고 유감스러운 행위”라며 이같이 말했다.

그러나 5ㆍ24조치 이후 “절제”하며 운영해 온 개성공단에 있어서는 “그때 조정된 상황을 현재 유지하는게 이미 엄중한 상황 반영하는 것”이라며 중단가능성을 일축했다.





<관련 영문 기사>


In nuke test’s wake, security dynamics take on new aspect 


In the wake of North Korea’s third nuclear test, the security dynamics in the region appears to be entering a new phase as Seoul and Washington push for more potent sanctions and craft ways to beef up their deterrence capabilities.

President Lee Myung-bak and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama pledged to work out a stronger response and maintain Washington’s nuclear umbrella to protect South Korea during a phone conversation late Tuesday.

They agreed to “seek a range of measures aimed at impeding North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and reducing the risk of proliferation,” the White House said in a statement.

“President Obama unequivocally reaffirmed that the United States remains steadfast in its defense commitments to the Republic of Korea, including the extended deterrence offered by the U.S. nuclear umbrella.”

Next week, military officials from the two countries will meet in Washington to discuss their nuclear deterrence strategy, defense sources said Wednesday.

The meeting comes as part of the two allies’ consultations to outline a nuclear deterrence plan against Pyongyang by the end of 2013. But their efforts have apparently sped up after Tuesday’s nuclear test.

The Security Council strongly condemned the detonation and vowed action after an emergency closed-door meeting, calling it a “grave violation” of its resolutions.

South Korea and the U.S. are pushing for a fresh round of powerful sanctions. Despite China’s lukewarm participation, they are calling for measures in line with “significant action” codified in the council’s recent resolution designed to punish Pyongyang for its Dec. 12 rocket launch.

With Seoul holding presidency of the council this month, Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan and other officials are stepping up diplomacy in New York.

He held telephone talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and exchanged views on the current situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Yang also summoned North Korean ambassador to Beijing Ji Jae-ryong shortly after the nuclear test and expressed “stern opposition,” according to China’s Foreign Ministry.

To rally support, Lee also spoke over the phone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday. They condemned Pyongyang’s underground nuclear blast which threatens peace in Northeast Asia and the world, spokesman Park Jeong-ha said.

The multilateral mechanism aside, Seoul and Washington are also considering separate, country-level sanctions that are more enforceable and can inflict a bigger blow on its nuclear programs, such as possibly targeting the North’s financial assets or sea transport.

The Unification Ministry said Wednesday it will adjust the level of already feeble inter-Korean cooperation in line with international trends.

“There are various policy tools to change North Korea’s attitude,” spokesperson Kim Hyung-suk said, citing measures targeting inter-Korean exchanges, multinational instruments and those on a country level. “You need to look at those policy tools comprehensively.”

But the Kaesong Industrial Complex will remain intact, he said, adding that its “abstained” operation already reflects the “grave” situation.

Seoul rolled back state-level assistance after conservative incumbent Lee Myung-bak took office in February 2008 and ended it following the killing of a South Korean tourist in the northern mountain resort in the summer of that year.

After the regime’s 2010 attacks on the South’s Cheonan corvette and Yeonpyeong Island, the outgoing president imposed the so-called May 24 measures to forbid cross-border trade, investment, travel and other exchanges.

With Pyongyang apparently inching closer to a nuclear state, some experts called for a shift in the focus of disarmament talks to nonproliferation from denuclearization, saying it is the only exit for the long-festering nuclear standoff.

The North in 1985 signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, an international accord aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and related technology. The other five members -- the U.S., Russia, China, the U.K. and France -- have called for its return since its 2003 departure.

“The world’s focus must now be on containing North Korea and preventing it from proliferating its weapons of mass destruction,” Michael Auslin, an East Asia specialist at the American Enterprise Institute, wrote Tuesday.

“That means acknowledging North Korea is a nuclear state, and one that has a ballistic-missile capability, to boot. The game has moved, then, to limiting the fallout from Pyongyang’s nuclear program, and ensuring that it does not sell or transfer technology or weapons to Iran, other rogue regimes, or even terrorist groups.”

But other officials and experts have expressed skepticism about the drift, stressing denuclearization as an uncompromisable principle.

They also worry that recognizing its atomic-armed status may embolden other rogue states and nuclear aspirants and fuel an arms race in the region and beyond.

While Obama has yet to signal a shift in his “strategic patience” strategy, South Korea’s President-elect Park Geun-hye vowed to balance engagement and deterrence through her signature “trust-building” process policy.

“Nonproliferation may seem to be a doable option to break the current deadlock with North Korea. But it must take substantial risks for political leaders not just to abandon the denuclearization concept but also to talk your own allies and partners into following suit, given saber-rattling and provocations we’ve seen all the while,” a senior foreign ministry official said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject.

“It’s like you admit the failure of diplomacy, which the international community has prioritized for so long in resolving any confrontation, and end up acceding to demands of a rogue state. I don’t think either Seoul or Washington is ready for that.”


By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)