Merkel to lead European campaign against N. Korea

German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks at an election campaign event of the Christian Democratic Union party in Finsterwalde, Germany, Sep. 6. / EPA-Yonhap

By Ko Dong-hwan

European countries led by Germany are becoming increasingly alarmed at North Korea's weapons of mass destruction after Pyongyang's hydrogen bomb test early this month.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday that the 2015 Vienna talks in which Germany, Iran and five permanent members of the UN Security Council participated and which led to Iran freezing its nuclear development was a "good example" of how North Korean threats could be countered.

Referring to the talks as "a long but important time of diplomacy," Merkel told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, "I could imagine such a format being used to end the North Korea conflict. Europe and especially Germany should be prepared to play a very active part in that."

In the Vienna deal, Iran accepted limits on its nuclear program to reassure the international community that it would never build a nuclear bomb.

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But North Korea has repeatedly said that its nuclear weapons program is not negotiable.

State leader Kim Jong-un hosted a banquet in Pyongyang over the weekend for military leaders, scientists and technicians to celebrate the country's sixth and most powerful nuclear test ― a two-stage thermonuclear device, or hydrogen bomb ― on Sept. 3.

The UN Security Council meeting scheduled for Monday will discuss a U.S. resolution to impose an embargo on oil exports to North Korea and technical imports from the embattled state.

Europe is concerned that the U.S. may abandon the European council as a forum for dealing with the North Korea crisis.

Europe is also worried that American President Donald Trump's repeated statements that his country might attack North Korea could increase the chance of miscalculation and a pre-emptive strike by either North Korea or the U.S.

U.K. Defense Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said the dangers of miscalculation or some accident triggering a response were now "extremely great."

According to the Guardian on Sunday, he said that although the U.S. was entitled to defend itself, London was closer than Los Angeles to North Korea and its missiles.