Bill Rammell: The choice that faces North Korea

From a speech by the Foreign Office minister to the International Institute for Strategic Studies

North Korea has nothing to fear. No country threatens to invade or attack North Korea, which is clearly recognised as a sovereign state. No country wants to impede the development of the North Korean economy. On the contrary, there is a widely held willingness to help to develop that economy, and significant capacity to do so.

But the international community will not accept or acquiesce in policies or programmes that undermine efforts to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The development of nuclear weapons programmes by North Korea poses a threat to international and regional stability. As such, the continuation of these programmes can only increase North Korea's isolation. The security and prosperity of North Korea can only be assured by integration within the international community.

This is the co-operative approach. I hope we will walk down this path. But there is another way. The non-cooperative approach. We don't want to take this route. But we will do so if we have to. If the co-operative approach won't work, the international community will be obliged to look for ways of countering the threat to the global non-proliferation regime.

The nuclear issue is certainly the most pressing issue on our agenda, but it is not the only one. We remain deeply troubled by well-documented reports of serious human rights violations in North Korea.

North Korea now has a historic opportunity: to address the concerns it has about the future security and economic development of the country by engaging constructively with the world around it. Britain is ready to help North Korea down the path of successful development. It is up to North Korea to choose the right path.