| Home page To receive this publication via e-mail, click here. THE NORTH KOREA REPORT: SEPTEMBER 2, 2003 Our statement on why North Korea must be liberated can be found here. TOP STORY: TALKS END WITH NO DEAL; NK THREATENS NUCLEAR TEST STALINISTS HAVE NO INTEREST IN MORE TALKS; NO MOVEMENT ON ABDUCTIONS The six-party talks on North Korea�s nuclear weapons ended without an agreement, largely due to North Korea�s insistence that the U.S. give it what it wants � a non-aggression pact and economic aid � before it dismantles its nuclear weapons program. The U.S. is insisting the Stalinists �make the first move� (BBC 8/29) before it gives away the store. The Stalinist regime announced they would not be interested in having any more talks, choosing instead �to strengthen (its) nuclear deterrent force� (BBC 8/30). They also threatened to conduct a nuclear weapons test (Cybercast News, UPI via Newsmax). The North then said they would still prefer �dialogue� (BBC 9/2). Despite all of this, dovish South Korea still pined for more talks (BBC 9/1). They weren�t alone either. The Bush Administration is still more than willing to keep the candy store open until North Korea walks in, according to UPI (via Washington Times). This despite public insistence that the U.S. �would not give in to blackmail� (Washington Times). Meanwhile, Japan, taking no chances, �announced plans to seek $1.2 billion for U.S.-designed systems to defend against ballistic missiles, an expression of concern about the nuclear threat from North Korea� (Washington Post). For Japan, the meeting was doubly painful, as the Stalinist regime threw up a wall to any efforts to get more information on Japanese citizens kidnapped by the North (CNN). Five abductees were allowed to return to Japan, but their children are still held hostage in North Korea. The number of others possibly abducted could be �as many as 100.� North Korea will only admit to thirteen � and insists that only the five in Japan survived. Their evidence to back up the deaths of the other eight were proven false last year (see 9/23/02, 9/30/02, 10/21/02, 11/18/02, 2/10, 3/17, and last North Korea Reports). OTHER WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION NEWS NUCLEAR REACTORS FROM 1994 DEAL TO BE HALTED The United States is preparing to �suspend . . . indefinitely� all work on the two nuclear power plants in North Korea stemming from the 1994 Agreed Framework. The now infamous 1994 deal was based upon North Korea�s broken pledge to freeze its nuclear weapons program (see 10/21/02 North Korea Report). Report: Washington Times Stop the North Korean Nuclear Power Plants: The U.S. is finally moving to cancel the two nuclear power plants from the 1994 agreement that North Korea�s broke. Keep the pressure on until the plants are cancelled! Use this China e-Lobby fact sheet and tell the President to kill the power plants. OTHER SOUTH KOREA NEWS SOUTH KOREA FIRES WARNING SHOTS AT YET ANOTHER NK TRESPASSING VESSEL For the third time this year, a North Korean vessel crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) into South Korean waters, and stayed there until after the South was forced to fire warning shots (CNN). Last summer, a trespassing Stalinist vessel had a brief gun battle at sea with the South Korean navy, killing at least four (see 7/1/02 and 7/8/02 North Korea Report). SOUTH KOREA TO BOOST DEFENSE BUDGET, BUT NOT AS MUCH AS ARMED FORCES WANT South Korea is preparing to raise its defense spending by 8% in next year�s budget, �almost four times the general increase in spending� (BBC). There�s less to that than meets the eye, however: �The Defence (UK sp) Ministry said earlier this year they wanted defence spending to swell by as much as a quarter.� ANOTHER ECONOMIC DEAL SIGNED BY NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA Despite the border incident, the dovishness of the South Korean government was revealed once again, this time in a cross-border trade deal with the Stalinist regime. Report: BBC MORE NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA�S ROLE COMMUNIST BLAME U.S. FOR TALKS FAILURE According to Communist China, the problem with North Korea�s nuclear weapons is not the Stalinists� string of broken promises, but �America's policy toward the DPRK� (Cybercast News). Of course, one would expect this coming from the North�s half-century ally. COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS ON THE NUCLEAR TALKS Before the talks began, Nicholas Eberstadt, Washington Post, expressed well-deserved skepticism for their success. Stanley Kurtz, National Review Online, agreed with him, as did Randall Parker (Parapundit founder and Member since 2003). Kurtz maintained his skepticism after the talks ended. Scott Snyder, of the Asia Foundation, tells the BBC, �those familiar with the first North Korean nuclear crisis of 1993-94 cannot help but feel a strong sense of d�j� vu.� The editors of the Washington Times and the Washington Post also weigh in. Marianne Bray, CNN, lists the �four ways of dealing with the nuclear deadlock.� A fifth option, liberation for the northern Korean people, did not make her list. Kari Huus, MSNBC, examines the reaction to the Stalinists� nuclear test threat. Charles Scanlon, BBC, gives a post-mortem on the session. After the talks ended, and North Korea announced it had no interest in any more of them, Japan�s Asahi Shimbun began wondering about the wisdom of the whole thing (Washington Times, second item). Meanwhile, David Bamford, BBC, examined how the �doves� and �hawks� within the Bush Administration viewed the talks. Michael O�Hanlon, of the Brookings Institution, says the U.S. should �offer much more to North Korea, but demand far more in return� (Washington Times), and specifically puts down both peaceful and military liberation for the people of northern Korea. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar talked to Fox News. The Indiana Republican continued to move towards a more hawkish position, saying that the U.S. �probably will have to move in the sanction area.� However, he was still unwilling to support liberating the northern Korean people. ON THE REFUGEES, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND THE TALKS Patrick Goodenough, Cybercast News, examines the plight of North Korean refugees, and hears from those who were hoping the fate of the refugees becomes an issue at the six-party talks. Check out the Communist China and the Terrorist War page. 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