| Home page To receive this publication via e-mail, click here. THE NORTH KOREA REPORT: AUGUST 2, 2004 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: DEFECTOR CONFIRMS NK CHEMICAL WEAPONS TESTS ON PRISONERS BRITAIN WANTS HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORS IN NORTH KOREA A North Korean defector confirmed reports that the Stalinist regime tested chemical weapons on its political prisoners (see 2/2, 2/9, 2/16, and 4/5 NKRs). The defector, who for obvious reasons is only known as Dr. Kim, told the BBC that he �made notes on how long it took political prisoners to die from the experimental chemical weapons.� According to Dr. Kim, �We wanted to determine how much gas was necessary to annihilate the whole city of Seoul.� The first report of this came from a North Korean refugee arrested by Communist China. He was last seen back in North Korea recanting his claims (despite having documents to prove them). Dr. Kim is the first to confirm the claims. The report spawned a British foreign ministry official, Bill Rammell, to call for human rights monitors in North Korea. WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION NEWS U.S. AND JAPAN TALKING INSPECTORS Japan and the United States �have begun talks on the possibility of sending inspectors, including Japanese experts, to North Korea in the event the communist state decides to accept nuclear inspections� (Washington Times, third item). The inspectors �are likely to be sent as part of any International Atomic Energy Agency inspection team.� Oh, joy. Stop the North Korean Nuclear Power Plants: Are the plants dead or aren�t they? You can make sure they don�t come back! 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 JENKINS ASKS FOR AN AMERICAN LAWYER; US TRANSFERS HIM TO JAPAN Sergeant Charles Robert Jenkins �plans to meet a US military lawyer to discuss the charges against him� (BBC). Jenkins, still in a hospital in Japan after nearly four decades in North Korea, is accused of deserting his demilitarized zone post in 1965 and defecting to the North. His American relatives insist he was kidnapped (see 12/19/02, 7/19, and last NKRs). Japan is hoping the U.S. will be lenient, but oddly banned Jenkins� American family from seeing him. They fear Japan is pushing a plea bargain be correct, which if their assertions are correct, would mean Jenkins would have to confess to a crime he didn�t commit. Jenkins is married to Hitomi Soga � one of the five Japanese kidnap victims who returned to Japan two years ago (see 9/23/02, 9/30/02, 10/7/02, 10/14/02, 10/21/02, 10/28/02, 11/18/02 NKRs). Until this last month, Jenkins and their two children stayed in the North. Meanwhile, the U.S. Army officially transferred Jenkins from South Korea to Japan, greatly increasing the possibility that his court-martial could take place �at a U.S. military installation in Japan� (Japan Times). Meanwhile, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Jenkins could meet his U.S. military lawyer �soon� (CNN). OTHER NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA�S ROLE SECOND FLIGHT OF NK REFUGEES LANDS IN SOUTH KOREA As expected (see last NKR) the second of North Korean refugees from an unnamed Southeast Asian country � widely believed to Vietnam � touched down in Seoul last week. Over 400 North Korean refugees in all were sent to South Korea, after Vietnam threatened to send them back to Communist China � from where they escaped (CNN). The influx of refugees �raised fears that (South Korea) could be flooded with refugees if conditions in North Korea deteriorate further� (Financial Times, UK). Of course, liberating those still trapped in northern Korea was not mentioned as a possible solution. It should be noted that the PRC sends back any NK refugee it finds, forcing them to live as nonpersons. Naturally, North Korea was livid, calling the flights �an organized (UK sp) and planned kidnapping as well as a terror crime� (BBC). The Stalinists insisted South Korea would �pay a big price� for ensuring the refugees will never have to return to the regime. FAMINE NEWS TORRENTIAL RAINS KILLING MORE CROPS Heavy rainfall in North Korea has wiped out almost 250,000 acres in farmland, exacerbating the already egregious famine there, caused in part by weather like this and in part by Stalinist incompetence. The famine has killed two to three million. Report: BBC OTHER SOUTH KOREA NEWS SOUTH KOREAN DEFENSE MINISTER QUITS OVER HOTLINE FLAP South Korean Defense Minister Cho Yung-kil tendered his resignation over the controversy surrounding a North Korean naval incursion last month (see 7/19 NKR). A Stalinist vessel crossed the sea border, known as the Northern Limit Line, and forced the SK navy to fire warning shots. Report: Washington Times The navy used an inter-Korean �hotline,� created to avoid incidents like this, and claimed the Stalinists did not respond. In fact, the North did respond, but in the wrong code. The navy �decided not to report the initial communication to higher-ups, for fear the officers would be ordered not to fire warning shots at the North Korean intruder.� The �hotline� itself is controversial, with some believing �the North's use of the naval hot line is a political tool to nullify the Northern Limit Line,� a border the North never recognized � they drew their own sea border in 1999. Two years ago a trespassing Stalinist vessel had a brief gun battle with the SK navy, killing at least four (see 7/1/02 and 7/8/02 NKRs). COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS James T. Hackett, Washington Times, praises President Bush�s partial deployment of a missile defense, noting it will �protect against North Korean missiles or an accidental launch.� Donald MacIntyre, Time Asia, talks to some of those who escaped North Korea for South Korea, and details their travails and hopes. John Derbyshire, National Review Online (and Member since 2002), takes a hard line on Sergeant Charles Robert Jenkins (see third item). ON COMMUNIST CHINA�S ROLE Sarah Buckley, BBC, highlights the anguish and terror refugees from North Korea go through to escape Communist China � where they face the threat of constant repatriation � and reach freedom. Check out the Communist China and the Terrorist War page. Sign the petition for an American boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. 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