| Home page To receive this publication via e-mail, click here. THE NORTH KOREA REPORT: MARCH 1, 2004 Listen to the Chinascope, hosted by D.J. McGuire: Tuesday midnight EST or Wednesday 2PM EST (tape delay), on WXEI 95.3 FM in Crestview, FL, or here. Dragon in the Dark: How and Why Communist China Helps Our Enemies in the War on Terror is now available: here, at Amazon, or at 1-888-280-7715. Our statement on why northern Korea must be liberated can be found here. TOP STORY: TALKS END WITHOUT A DEAL, BUT LOWER-LEVEL TALKS TO GO ON ANOTHER ROUND SCHEDULED FOR BEFORE JULY; U.S. CALLS TALKS �SUCCESSFUL� The six-way talks on North Korea�s nuclear weapons ended with no deal Saturday. Talks will continue at lower staff levels, and another round of high-level talks is slated for �the second quarter of this year� (CNN), i.e. before July 1. This was enough for an unnamed U.S. official to say the talks were �very successful� (Voice of America via Epoch Times, HK). Given that North Korea flatly denied they had a uranium-based nuclear weapons program, again trying to erase the admission made in October 2002 (see 10/21/02 NKR), and that they can now continue to develop nuclear weapons with impunity while freezing the U.S. into talks, one can understand why the aforementioned official chose to remain anonymous. The North had made an offer to completely denuclearize, but then �backed away . . . and declared instead it intends to maintain a civilian nuclear energy industry� (Washington Post). When pressed for details and justification for their �civilian� nuclear plans, the North was �evasive.� I wonder why. Also reporting: Cybercast News, BBC, Washington Times ABUDCTIONS WERE ALSO AT ISSUE IN TALKS According to Voice of America (via Epoch Times), the U.S. did bring the issue of North Korea�s horrendous human rights record to the table, and Japan was able to put forth its demands on the return of all abductees and their loved ones. No progress was reported. At least thirteen Japanese were abducted by the Stalinists, who claim eight of them died � with no proof � and have let five others return, but continue to hold their children hostage (see 9/23/02, 9/30/02, 10/7/02, 10/14/02, 10/21/02, 10/28/02, and 11/18/02 NKRs). Stop the North Korean Nuclear Power Plants: Construction on the nuclear power plants from the 1994 agreement has been suspended for one year, but the plants have not been cancelled. Use this China e-Lobby fact sheet and tell the President to kill the power plants from the 1994 agreement that North Korea broke. OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT CALL FOR NORTH KOREA DEAL Senators John Kerry and John Edwards, the two major Democratic candidates for President, called for the U.S. to make a deal with North Korea, and blasted the Bush Administration for not being more conciliatory than it already is. Neither Democrat discussed liberation; then again, neither has the President. Report: Washington Post REFUGEE NEWS EIGHT REFUGEES TO REACH SOUTH KOREA VIA GERMAN DIPLOMATIC COMPOUND IN PRC Eight refugees from North Korea who entered the German diplomatic compound to escape Communist Chinese capture will soon be in South Korea (Donga Ilbo). The PRC sends back any refugee it finds from the North, which has relegated the refugees to nonperson status. The refugees have responded by using democratic embassies in Beijing to escape. INTERNATIONAL NEWS WORLD FOOD PROGRAM MAKES ANOTHER PLEA FOR AID, SAYS NOTHING OF MONITORING The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) made another plea for donations of food for North Korea (CNN). However, the WFP, once again, refused to address donors� concerns for keeping track of the aid and the numerous reports of Stalinists stealing the food from their own people to feed themselves and their army (see 1/20 and 1/26 NKRs). OTHER SOUTH KOREA NEWS SOUTH KOREA BUYING SURVEILLANCE AIRCRAFT South Korea will �buy four airborne surveillance aircraft to beef up its defenses against North Korea� (CNN). The planes will be in South Korea�s air force by 2011; the democratic South has yet to decide which aircraft model they prefer for the planes. COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS ON NORTH KOREA�S NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND THE RECENT TALKS Charles Scanlon, BBC, examines the state of the talks after the end of Round 2. The BBC also excerpted what the delegates said of the talks. David Piper, Fox News, also weighs in with an exceeding na�ve �analysis� of Communist China and North Korea. ON NORTH KOREAN �ART� Mike Chinoy, CNN, sits through a day of North Korean television, and finds it all Kim Jong-il, all the time. Meanwhile, John Derbyshire of National Review Online (Member since 2002), ruefully notes the extent of North Korea�s cultural banality � they ripped off �Clementine� and made it a �North Korean folk song� (second item). ON SOUTH KOREA AND THE UNITED STATES Charles Scanlon, BBC, is the latest to document the recent spasm of anti-Americanism in South Korea, but also takes note of the reaction of �stunned� Americans, plus a possible pro-American backlash from conservative South Koreans. Check out the Communist China and the Terrorist War page. Sign the petition for an American boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Miss an Update, Week's Links, or a North Korea Report? Find it via our home page. Feel free to forward this to anyone you think would be interested in receiving it. Anyone who wishes to join (or unsubscribe or change their address) can send his/her name to [email protected]. Please feel free to send any news on Communist China or North Korea that you find to the same address. |