SEOUL: US President Barack Obama urgedNorth Korea's leaders Monday to "have the courage to pursue peace" and saidIranwas running out of time to end its own nuclear standoff with the world.
Obama, in an unusually direct appeal toPyongyang's new leaders, saidWashingtonhad "no hostile intent" and was ready to take steps to improve relations.
"But by now it should be clear, your provocations and pursuit of nuclear weapons have not achieved the security you seek, they have undermined it," he said in a major speech atHankukUniversityinSeoul.
"Instead of the dignity you desire, you are more isolated. Instead of earning the respect of the world, you have been met with strong sanctions."
If the North's leaders continue down the same road, it will lead to "more broken dreams, more isolation and ever more distance between the people ofNorth Koreaand the dignity and opportunity they deserve", he said.
Obama, who is visitingSouth Koreafor a 53-nation nuclear security summit starting later Monday, has sharply criticisedNorth Korea's plan for a rocket launch next month.
The North says it will launch a peaceful satellite. TheUnited Statesand other nations say a disguised missile test would breach UN resolutions and a US-North Korea deal reached last month.
That deal -- offering major food aid in return for a partial nuclear freeze and a missile test moratorium -- is now in jeopardy.
There will be "no more rewards for provocations. Those days are over," Obama told the North's leaders, urging them to "have the courage to pursue peace and give a better life to the North Korean people".
The untested Kim Jong-Un was proclaimed "great successor" after his father Kim Jong-Il died in December. But Obama said Sunday it was unclear who was "calling the shots" under the new young leader.
Obama stressedIran-- suspected of pursuing atomic weapons -- has the right to peaceful nuclear energy but time and again it had taken "the path of denial, deceit and deception".
"There is time to solve this diplomatically, but time is short," said Obama, who will discuss the issue with the leaders ofRussiaandChinalate Monday.
"Iran must act with the seriousness and sense of urgency that this moment demands.Iranmust meet its obligations."
Obama in 2009 outlined his vision of a world without nuclear weapons and chaired the first nuclear security summit in 2010, dedicated to keeping plutonium and highly enriched uranium (HEU) out of the hands of terrorists.
Since then, theUSleader said, nations likeKazakhstanhad moved nuclear material to more secure locations.MexicoandUkrainehad removed all HEU from their territory.
"All told, thousands of pounds of nuclear material have been removed from sites around the world -- deadly material that is now secure and can never be used against a city likeSeoul," he said.
Global authorities were also breaking up black markets, with countries such asGeorgiaandMoldovaseizing HEU from smugglers.
Obama, who ordered the raid that killed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden last year, said that with his death and other blows to the group "a terrorist organisation that has actively sought nuclear weapons is now on the path to defeat".
But there was still much to be done. Just the smallest amount of plutonium could kill hundreds of thousands and spark a global crisis.
"The danger of nuclear terrorism remains one of the greatest threats to global security," Obama said.
Obama said he expects dozens of nations to announce they had fulfilled the promises made two years ago, during the two-daySeoulfollow-up summit.
He highlighted theUnited Statesmoving forward withRussiato eliminate enough plutonium for about 17,000 nuclear weapons.
The two countries were reducing atomic arsenals under the New START Treaty.
Obama saidWashingtonwould also seek talks withRussiaon a new step -- reducing not only strategic nuclear warheads, but also tactical weapons and warheads in reserve.
Obama said he would discuss the issue withRussia's incoming President Vladimir Putin when they meet in May.
"I'm confident that, working together, we can continue to make progress and reduce our nuclear stockpiles," he said.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2012
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