CPA - The Guardian

“The North Korean nuclear test is a result of existing tensions on the Korean peninsula, and the fact that the DPRK feels itself to be under threat,” Communist Party of Australia General Secretary Dr Hannnah Middleton said.

“The danger from Monday’s nuclear test is that it may lead those who were never really committed to nuclear disarmament to use it as an excuse not to proceed down a path that is essential for the physical survival of civilisation and human beings. This must not be allowed to happen.

“The test increases tensions in the region and could derail the current moves towards nuclear disarmament, possibly initiating further nuclear weapons proliferation.”

The war in Korea has never officially ended; the US has refused to sign a peace treaty with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), more than 50 years after military conflict ceased.

The US still maintains military bases in South Korea and has not abandoned its hostile and aggressive stand towards the DPRK. Each year, the US and South Korea practice war games which to the DPRK look like plans for invasion – one such invasion war game was held earlier this year. There is also the very threatening US military build-up in Asia.

The DPRK has repeatedly called for the normalisation of relations and lifting of sanctions. The US has failed to meet past commitments, coming from the six-party and other talks for the delivery of food and development of non-nuclear energy.

“The dynamics of this must be fundamentally changed,” said Dr Middleton. “The US must take measures such as the signing of a peace agreement and cast iron assurances that it will not attack or interfere with North Korea.

“The North Korean nuclear tests are not the way forward. Nuclear weapons are not the way forward. They provide no defence but create appalling danger for the survival of human civilisation and the planet.”

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