Almost 60 leaders from around the world attending 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit have called for closer co-operation to tackle the threat of nuclear terrorism.
South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak said nuclear terrorism remained a “grave threat”, while US President Barack Obama said action was key.
Chinese President Hu Jintao urged the group to work together on the issue.
The meeting has so far been dominated by North Korea’s plan to launch a rocket next month.
North Korea says the long-range rocket will carry a satellite. The US says any launch would violate UN resolutions and constitute a missile test.
Iran’s nuclear programme was also on the minds of the summit participants, with Barack Obama pledging to meet the leaders of Russia and China on the sidelines to work towards a resolution.
Almost 60 leaders from around the world attending 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit have called for closer co-operation to tackle the threat of nuclear terrorism
At the summit, world leaders are discussing measures to fight the threat of nuclear terrorism, including the protection of nuclear materials and facilities, as well as the prevention of trafficking of nuclear materials.
There are currently no binding international agreements on how to protect nuclear material stored peacefully inside its home country. An amendment seeking to do that is still unratified after seven years.
Addressing the summit, Barack Obama warned there were still “too many bad actors” who were threatening to stockpile and use ”dangerous” nuclear material.
“It would not take much, just a handful or so of these materials, to kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people and that’s not an exaggeration, that’s the reality that we face,” Barack Obama said.
“The security of the world depends on the actions that we take.”
Hu Jintao called for “an international environment conducive to boosting nuclear security” to be created and Lee Myung-Bak called for concrete action to tackle a threat that posed “a grave challenge” to peace.
The summit, attending by almost 60 leaders from around the world, is due to issue a communiqué later in the day.
Meetings on Monday were overshadowed by North Korea’s planned launch, scheduled to take place between 12 and 16 April.
Pyongyang says it is intended to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of North Korea’s founding leader Kim Il-Sung.
On Tuesday, a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said that the launch will go ahead as planned and criticized Barack Obama’s stance as ”confrontational”.
North Korea ”will never give up the launch of a satellite for peaceful purposes”’, the spokesman said in a statement in the official KCNA news agency.
A report by the KCNA also described the ”weather satellite” Pyongyang planned to launch as useful for ”the study of weather forecast needed for agriculture and other economic fields”.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, speaking at the summit, called on Pyongyang to cancel the rocket launch, saying that it would violate UN Security Council resolutions.
“As such, the international community strongly urges North Korea to exercise restraint and cancel the launch,” Yoshihiko Noda said.
The resolutions were passed after a similar launch in April 2009. Japan is particularly concerned as that rocket was launched over the country three years ago.
The US and Chinese presidents met on Monday on the sidelines of the summit and agreed to co-ordinate their response to any “potential provocation” if Pyongyang went ahead with the launch.
South Korea and the US say North Korea risks further sanctions and isolation if it does not cancel its plans. Seoul has also warned it will shoot down the rocket if it strays over South Korean territory.
Addressing Iran, Barack Obama said on Monday that there was still time to resolve the impasse over its nuclear programme through diplomacy.
“But time is short,” Barack Obama warned.
”Iran must act with the seriousness and sense of urgency that this moment demands.”
Iran insists there is no military element to its programme but Western powers fear it is constructing nuclear weapons.
Nuclear stockpiles in numbers
• Russia: 10,000
• US: 8,500
• France: 300
• China: 240
• UK: 225
• Pakistan: 90-110
• India: 80-100
• Israel: 80
• North Korea: fewer than 10
Source: Federation of American Scientists
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Speaking ahead of Seoul Nuclear Security Summit, which aimed at reducing the risk of nuclear terrorism, US President Barack Obama says he is pushing for “a world without nuclear weapons”, making direct appeals to North Korea and Iran.
Barack Obama also pledged to work with Russia and China.
He emphasized the US’s unique position to seek change but said “serious sustained global effort” was needed.
The meeting is being attended by representatives from some 50 countries.
Speaking to students at Hankuk University, Barack Obama reiterated the commitment of the US as ”the only nation to have ever used nuclear weapons” to reducing its nuclear arms stockpile.
The US president also spoke, he said, as a father who did not want to see his daughters growing up in a world with nuclear threats, a comment which drew applause from his student audience.
Barack Obama said he was looking forward to meeting newly-elected Russian President Vladimir Putin in May to discuss further nuclear arms cuts.
He would seek to follow on from the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) pact he struck in 2010 with outgoing Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev in 2010, he said.
The New START deal agreed between Washington and Moscow was intended to replace its lapsed predecessor, START.
It trims US and Russian nuclear arsenals to 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads – a cut of about 30% from a limit set previously.
The treaty would also allow each side visually to inspect the other’s nuclear capability, with the aim of verifying how many warheads each missile carries.
In addition, there will be legally binding limits on the number of warheads and missiles that can be deployed on land, on submarines, and on bombers, at any one time.
President Barack Obama said he is pushing for "a world without nuclear weapons" ahead of Seoul Nuclear Security Summit
In Asia, Barack Obama said, the US has invited China to work with Washington and ”that offer remains open”.
The US president also addressed North Korea’s nuclear ambitions directly in his speech, saying that the US has ”no hostile intent” towards the country, but ”there will be no rewards for provocation”.
Barack Obama warned Pyongyang that its planned long-range missile launch would only increase its isolation.
Pyongyang says it is preparing to launch a long-range missile which it says will put a satellite in orbit.
”You can continue with the road you are on but we know where that leads,” Barack Obama said, addressing the North Korean leaders directly.
”Today, we say: Pyongyang, have the courage to pursue peace.”
Earlier, Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said North Korea risked further sanctions and isolation if it did not cancel its launch plans.
The launch will contravene an agreement Pyongyang reached last month which would have seen it receive food aid in exchange for a partial freeze on nuclear activities and an end to ballistics tests.
The North also agreed to allow UN inspectors in, the US said.
The invitation comes three months after Kim Jong-Un came to power following the death of his father, Kim Jong-Il.
The North said the launch – between 12 and 16 April – would mark the 100th birthday of former leader Kim Il-Sung.
South Korea has warned it will shoot down the rocket if it strays over its territory.
“We are preparing measures to track the missile’s trajectory and shoot it down if it, by any chance, deviates from the planned route and falls into our territory,” a defense ministry spokesman said.
The launch site is in north-western North Korea, not far from the Chinese border.
Addressing Iran, Barack Obama said there was still time to resolve the impasse over its nuclear programme through diplomacy.
“But time is short,” Barack Obama warned.
”Iran must act with the seriousness and sense of urgency that this moment demands.”
Iran insists there is no military element to its programme but Western powers fear it is constructing nuclear weapons.
“Today, I’ll meet with the leaders of Russia and China as we work to achieve a resolution in which Iran fulfils its obligations,” Barack Obama added.
Despite lofty announcements it may prove difficult to achieve significant progress at the summit.
The summit agenda is to be expanded to include a wide variety of radiological materials which terrorists could use to make a dirty bomb – one that spreads radiological contamination rather than initiating a nuclear explosion
But experts say there is unlikely to be agreement on converting all nuclear power stations to use low-enriched fuel.
Nor will there be agreement on common standards for nuclear security.
Some countries see this whole process as highly intrusive.
And there is still no common appreciation of the level of threat posed by nuclear terrorism.
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