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World Nuclear Summit Starts to Stands Up to Nuclear Threat

Summary: By Lee Jeong eun U S President Barack Obama greets UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon L at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington April 12 2010 REUTERS President Barack Obama optimistically opened a 47 nation nuclear summit Monday boosted by Ukraine announcement that it will give up its weapons grade uranium More sobering The White House counterterror chief warned that al Qaida is vigorously pursuing ingredients and expertise for a bomb At the same time Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao sought agreement on potential sanctions to discourage Iran efforts to come up with its own nuclear weapon Obama called the 47 nation summit in Washington the biggest hosted by a US leader since 1945 to try to secure loose materials in military and civilian stockpiles worldwide within four years The gesture from ex Soviet republic Ukraine site of the horrific 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion gave early impetus to the summit Newly inaugurated President Viktor Yanukovych told Obama in a bilateral meeting that he would give up 90 kilos 180 pounds of Ukraine highly enriched uranium enough to make several bombs the White House said Ukraine to dispose of all highly enriched uranium But Obama top terrorism advisor John Brennan warned that Al Qaeda interest in nuclear weapons was strong and warned the risk of nuclear terrorism was real serious and growing Leaders from China Pakistan Russia and dozens of other countries converged on a heavily guarded conference center for the two day meeting on securing worldwide stocks of separated plutonium and enriched uranium that militant groups could use to manufacture crude but devastating weapons North Korea which defied international pressure to produce a nuclear weapon was also likely to loom over the summit Neither the leaders of North Korea or Iran attended Iran envoy to the UN nuclear watchdog Ali Asghar Soltanieh accused Washington of being the real threat to global peace given its large nuclear arsenal The outcome of the Washington conference is already known Any decision taken at the meeting is not binding on those countries who are not represented at the conference Soltanieh told ISNA news agency Another notable absentee from Washington was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who dropped plans to attend reportedly because of concern that Islamic states planned to press for Israel to open its own nuclear facilities to international inspection Obama told reporters that his consultations so far with world leaders had been impressive I think it an indication of how deeply concerned everybody should be with the possibilities of nuclear traffic I think at the end of this we e going to see some very specific concrete actions that each nation is taking that will make the world a little bit safer The conference is also a precursor to the United Nations Non Proliferation Treaty review conference next month seen as another important moment in heading off a future nuclear arms race However on Monday night South Korean President Lee Myung bak emphasized the direct nuclear threats from communist neighbor North Korea in the first day session During the 90 minute dinner hosted by U S President Barack Obama for worldwide leaders Lee said South Korea is more concerned about nuclear weapons threats than any other nation as it is directly exposed to North Korea nuclear threats according to Lee office Cheong Wa Dae officials said The official described the dinner as the first of the four parts in the two day summit which has attracted the heads of state from more than 40 countries and the representatives from the U N IAEA and the EU Another major concern of many attendees at the conference is that Iran will build or obtain a nuclear weapon Iran was a major topic of a lengthy meeting between Obama and Hu said White House national security aide Jeff Bader They e prepared to work with us Bader said of the Chinese position on Iran a stance he called a sign of international unity Obama stressed to Hu the need to act urgently against Iran nuclear program and Hu agreed that Beijing would help craft a U N resolution a U S official said afterward Their 90 minute encounter came at the start of an unprecedented two day summit of nearly 50 countries that Obama has called to highlight the global threat of nuclear terrorism and to agree an action plan to prevent weapons grade atomic material from falling into the hands of terrorists Iran nuclear program which the West fears is a cover to build an atomic bomb is not on the agenda of the summit but the presence of so many world leaders in one place gave Obama an opportunity to again make his case for fresh sanctions to be imposed on Tehran over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment China has close economic ties with Iran and has so far been reluctant to agree to tougher sanctions U S and Chinese officials who briefed reporters after the Hu Obama talks described a positive constructive atmosphere on Iran Hu told Obama that China and the United States shared the same overall goal on reining in Iran nuclear program Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said Ma comments confirmed China recent decision to join discussions with world powers on Iran but they did not indicate a new willingness to embrace harsher sanctions such as ones that would target the Islamic Republic energy sector Ma also repeated China standard call for dialogue and negotiations with Iran Hu agreement to attend the summit was perceived as a positive sign in Washington after U S Chinese relations were strained by Obama meeting with the Dalai Lama China Internet censorship and U S pressure over China currency U S Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House economic adviser Larry Summers attended the meeting with Hu in which Obama also raised U S concerns about China currency the yuan and urged the country to move to a more market oriented exchange rate a U S official said Hu told Obama economic and trade frictions between the two countries should be resolved through consultations on an equal footing Ma said Washington has been pressing Beijing to lift the value of the yuan and many U S lawmakers say that by deliberately holding down its currency China is giving its firms an unfair export subsidy that costs jobs in many countries The United States recently delayed a decision on whether to declare China a currency manipulator a move that would have potentially jeopardized Hu attendance at the summit U S officials have denied any link between Hu visit and the decision Iran dismissed the U S summit and said it would not be swayed by any decisions made there World summits being organized these days are intended to humiliate human beings Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in Tehran Obama spent Monday holding a series of meetings with foreign leaders before the serious business of the summit gets under way on Tuesday when delegations representing 47 nations will gather to discuss how to combat nuclear terrorism The summit in Washington downtown convention center which was surrounded by a heavy security cordon of troops and police and high fences is the culmination of a hectic period of nuclear diplomacy for Obama Last week he signed a new treaty to cut U S and Russian nuclear arsenals and unilaterally announced the United States would limit its use of nuclear weapons a plan that came under heavy fire from his conservative critics The summit the biggest U S hosted assembly of world leaders in six decades will be a test of Obama ability to rally global action on his nuclear agenda It had its first tangible outcome when Ukraine announced it would give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium by 2012 most of it this year Kiev has enough nuclear material for several weapons It will convert its civil nuclear program to operate on low enriched uranium Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged to return a significant quantity of Canada spent nuclear fuel to the United States the original supplier by 2018 A draft final communique shows leaders will pledge to work toward safeguarding all vulnerable nuclear material within four years and take steps to crack down on nuclear smuggling The list of leaders in attendance ranged from heads of state of traditional nuclear powers like Russia and France to nuclear armed foes like India and neighboring Pakistan nvcess ajnews co kr 아주경제 ajnews co kr 무단전재 배포금지 By Lee Jeong eun U S President Barack Obama greets UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon L at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington April 12 2010 REUTERS President Barack Obama optimistically opened a 47 nation nuclear summit Monday boosted by Ukraine announcement that it will give up its weapons grade uranium More sobering The White House counterterror chief warned that al Qaida is vigorously pursuing ingredients and expertise for a bomb At the same time Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao sought agreement on potential sanctions to discourage Iran efforts to come up with its own nuclear weapon Obama called the 47 nation summit in Washington the biggest hosted by a US leader since 1945 to try to secure loose materials in military and civilian stockpiles worldwide within four years The gesture from ex Soviet republic Ukraine site of the horrific 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion gave early impetus to the summit Newly inaugurated President Viktor Yanukovych told Obama in a bilateral meeting that he would give up 90 kilos 180 pounds of Ukraine highly enriched uranium enough to make several bombs the White House said Ukraine to dispose of all highly enriched uranium But Obama top terrorism advisor John Brennan warned that Al Qaeda interest in nuclear weapons was strong and warned the risk of nuclear terrorism was real serious and growing Leaders from China Pakistan Russia and dozens of other countries converged on a heavily guarded conference center for the two day meeting on securing worldwide stocks of separated plutonium and enriched uranium that militant groups could use to manufacture crude but devastating weapons North Korea which defied international pressure to produce a nuclear weapon was also likely to loom over the summit Neither the leaders of North Korea or Iran attended Iran envoy to the UN nuclear watchdog Ali Asghar Soltanieh accused Washington of being the real threat to global peace given its large nuclear arsenal The outcome of the Washington conference is already known Any decision taken at the meeting is not binding on those countries who are not represented at the conference Soltanieh told ISNA news agency Another notable absentee from Washington was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who dropped plans to attend reportedly because of concern that Islamic states planned to press for Israel to open its own nuclear facilities to international inspection Obama told reporters that his consultations so far with world leaders had been impressive I think it an indication of how deeply concerned everybody should be with the possibilities of nuclear traffic I think at the end of this we e going to see some very specific concrete actions that each nation is taking that will make the world a little bit safer The conference is also a precursor to the United Nations Non Proliferation Treaty review conference next month seen as another important moment in heading off a future nuclear arms race However on Monday night South Korean President Lee Myung bak emphasized the direct nuclear threats from communist neighbor North Korea in the first day session During the 90 minute dinner hosted by U S President Barack Obama for worldwide leaders Lee said South Korea is more concerned about nuclear weapons threats than any other nation as it is directly exposed to North Korea nuclear threats according to Lee office Cheong Wa Dae officials said The official described the dinner as the first of the four parts in the two day summit which has attracted the heads of state from more than 40 countries and the representatives from the U N IAEA and the EU Another major concern of many attendees at the conference is that Iran will build or obtain a nuclear weapon Iran was a major topic of a lengthy meeting between Obama and Hu said White House national security aide Jeff Bader They e prepared to work with us Bader said of the Chinese position on Iran a stance he called a sign of international unity Obama stressed to Hu the need to act urgently against Iran nuclear program and Hu agreed that Beijing would help craft a U N resolution a U S official said afterward Their 90 minute encounter came at the start of an unprecedented two day summit of nearly 50 countries that Obama has called to highlight the global threat of nuclear terrorism and to agree an action plan to prevent weapons grade atomic material from falling into the hands of terrorists Iran nuclear program which the West fears is a cover to build an atomic bomb is not on the agenda of the summit but the presence of so many world leaders in one place gave Obama an opportunity to again make his case for fresh sanctions to be imposed on Tehran over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment China has close economic ties with Iran and has so far been reluctant to agree to tougher sanctions U S and Chinese officials who briefed reporters after the Hu Obama talks described a positive constructive atmosphere on Iran Hu told Obama that China and the United States shared the same overall goal on reining in Iran nuclear program Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said Ma comments confirmed China recent decision to join discussions with world powers on Iran but they did not indicate a new willingness to embrace harsher sanctions such as ones that would target the Islamic Republic energy sector Ma also repeated China standard call for dialogue and negotiations with Iran Hu agreement to attend the summit was perceived as a positive sign in Washington after U S Chinese relations were strained by Obama meeting with the Dalai Lama China Internet censorship and U S pressure over China currency U S Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House economic adviser Larry Summers attended the meeting with Hu in which Obama also raised U S concerns about China currency the yuan and urged the country to move to a more market oriented exchange rate a U S official said Hu told Obama economic and trade frictions between the two countries should be resolved through consultations on an equal footing Ma said Washington has been pressing Beijing to lift the value of the yuan and many U S lawmakers say that by deliberately holding down its currency China is giving its firms an unfair export subsidy that costs jobs in many countries The United States recently delayed a decision on whether to declare China a currency manipulator a move that would have potentially jeopardized Hu attendance at the summit U S officials have denied any link between Hu visit and the decision Iran dismissed the U S summit and said it would not be swayed by any decisions made there World summits being organized these days are intended to humiliate human beings Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in Tehran Obama spent Monday holding a series of meetings with foreign leaders before the serious business of the summit gets under way on Tuesday when delegations representing 47 nations will gather to discuss how to combat nuclear terrorism The summit in Washington downtown convention center which was surrounded by a heavy security cordon of troops and police and high fences is the culmination of a hectic period of nuclear diplomacy for Obama Last week he signed a new treaty to cut U S and Russian nuclear arsenals and unilaterally announced the United States would limit its use of nuclear weapons a plan that came under heavy fire from his conservative critics The summit the biggest U S hosted assembly of world leaders in six decades will be a test of Obama ability to rally global action on his nuclear agenda It had its first tangible outcome when Ukraine announced it would give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium by 2012 most of it this year Kiev has enough nuclear material for several weapons It will convert its civil nuclear program to operate on low enriched uranium Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged to return a significant quantity of Canada spent nuclear fuel to the United States the original supplier by 2018 A draft final communique shows leaders will pledge to work toward safeguarding all vulnerable nuclear material within four years and take steps to crack down on nuclear smuggling The list of leaders in attendance ranged from heads of state of traditional nuclear powers like Russia and France to nuclear armed foes like India and neighboring Pakistan nvcess ajnews co kr 아주경제 ajnews co kr 무단전재 배포금지

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