Foreign Minister Westerwelle criticizes the bellicose rhetoric being used in the conflict on the Korean Peninsula.Published in the Bild newspaper on 2 April 2013 (excerpt).

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Minister, now South Korea too is threatening its Communist neighbour very aggressively with war.How genuine is this threat?

The spiral of war rhetoric must be stopped. We stand by South Korea in solidarity; the country is under threat from the North. However, what’s needed now is level-headedness on all sides. The war of words must not become a real war.

We are relying on China to continue working constructively towards calming the situation. North Korea’s nuclear programme must be stopped, if necessary through further sanctions.

This interview was conducted by N. Blome and J. W. Schäfer and reproduced by kind permission of the Bild newspaper.