EU Expresses Readiness to Help Solve Crisis on Korean Peninsula

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, March 22, 2003

EU Expresses Readiness to Help Solve Crisis on Korean Peninsula

European Union (EU) leaders on Friday expressed their readiness to help find a solution to the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula through diplomatic means.

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European Union (EU) leaders on Friday expressed their readiness to help find a solution to the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula through diplomatic means.

In a draft statement on the last day of their two-day summit here, leaders from the 15-nation bloc expressed their "willingnessto contribute to a diplomatic solution to the crisis."

The EU "stands ready to look into the possibility of enhancing cooperation" with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)if the present crisis can be resolved "in a satisfactory manner," they said.

The crisis on the Korean Peninsula began last October when US officials said the DPRK had admitted having a nuclear weapons program in violation of a 1994 agreement.

The EU, alongside the United States, suspended fuel shipments guaranteed under the pact. Pyongyang in turn expelled UN inspectors, began reactivating its nuclear facilities and withdrewfrom the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The EU leaders in the statement also urged the DPRK to take steps to ease the tension on the Korean Peninsula, warning that its nuclear weapons policy was "detrimental to its own interests."

They called on the DPRK "to abstain from any action which couldaggravate the situation further" on the peninsula.

They said the DPRK's "non-compliance with its international obligations in the field of nuclear weapons was a serious concern for the whole international community."

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