| Home page To receive this publication via e-mail, click here. THE NORTH KOREA REPORT: MAY 3, 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: U.S. NOW SAYS NORTH KOREA HAS EIGHT NUCLEAR BOMBS NEW INTELLIGENCE INCREASES SUSPECTED NUMBER OF WEAPONS, COULD HAVE URANIU-BASED WEAPONS SYSTEM UP AND RUNNING BY 2007 New intelligence information has increased the number of nuclear weapons estimated to be in North Korea to �at least eight� (Washington Post). The plutonium-based weapons would be enough �to attack neighbors, instead of merely deterring a possible attack.� The Stalinist regime is also working on developing uranium-based weapons � in fact it admitted to the program in late 2002, which ended the 1994 Agreed Framework in which the North promised to �freeze� its nuclear weapons program. The regime could make �as many as six additional weapons a year� via the uranium track by 2007. Under the 1994 deal, North Korea received millions in fuel oil, and two partially-built nuclear power plants built by the U.S. Two rounds of talks on North Korea�s nuclear weapons have led to nothing but American concessions (see 10/21/02, 4/28/03, and 3/1/04 NKRs). LOWER-LEVEL ROUND THREE OF SIX-WAY TALKS TO BEGIN NEXT WEEK Speaking of the six-way talks, a lower-level round has been scheduled to take place on May 12. Communist China, the Stalinists� half-century-plus ally, will be the host. The U.S., Russia, Japan, South Korea, and, of course, North Korea will also be there (BBC). The North also insisted �that it must receive a �reward� for taking even the preliminary step of a nuclear freeze� (Washington Post). State Department spokesman Richard Boucher responded for the U.S. as follows: �We're not going to pay to get them not to do things they shouldn't have been doing in the first place� (Voice of America via Epoch Times). FOLLOW-UP: STALINISTS PUTTING REGIME AHEAD OF AIDING ITS WOUNDED RYONGCHON EXPLOSION GENERATES AID OFFERS, BUT NK WON�T TAKE SOME OF IT The explosion at Ryongchon (see last NKR) has won North Korea a rare dose of world sympathy. The Stalinists have quickly set out to leave their would-be helpers baffled and frustrated. Already, the North �rejected a South Korean proposal to send a team of engineers and medical staff� (United Press Intl. via Washington Times) to help the wounded. The North did ask for �school equipment and other reconstruction materials such as cement, bulldozers and fuels� a stunning reminder of how little people actually matter to the regime, which also turned down a South Korean offer of �a floating hospital to help treat the wounded� (Washington Post). Meanwhile, the U.S. offered $100,000 in aid (CNN). The Stalinist media �only officially acknowledged the scale of the tragedy at Ryongchon late on Monday� (BBC). Except for the PRC-controlled Xinhua news agency, all foreign press have been barred from the city (Cybercast News). Also reporting: VOA via Epoch Times KIM JONG-IL PORTRAITS MORE VALUABLE THAN PEOPLE�S LIVES One of the more disturbing things coming from the Stalinist media was its definition of �heroic� actions: risking their own lives for pictures of Stalinist-in-chief Kim Jong-il and his late father Kim Il-sung. �Many people of the county evacuated portraits before searching after their family members or saving their household goods� (BBC). Shudder. 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 AMERICAN ANTI-NK MISSILE DEFENSE TO BE READY BY END OF YEAR The Bush Administration is panning to deploy a missile defense that would leave the U.S. �totally protected from a North Korean missile attack by the end of 2004� (Irish Examiner). The land-based defense would be composed of one site each in California and Alaska; two mid-year tests will determine if a September deployment can go forward. NORTH KOREA FREEDOM DAY CELEBRATED IN WASHINGTON About 1,000 marched rallied in Washington last week to celebrate North Korea Freedom Day and �bring the human rights violations inside North Korea into the spotlight� (Epoch Times). It was the largest pro-liberation rally in the nation�s capital. HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNAL NEWS KIM JONG-IL POPS UP AGAIN Stalinist-in-chief Kim Jong-il made his first another since the Ryongchon train explosion (see last NKR). He �inspected military unit 4302 and watched soldiers training� (BBC). COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS A DEFECTOR�S TALE Daniel Choi, who defected from North Korea with his mother, Lee Soon Ok (see 5/5/02 and 7/22/02 NKRs), tells his story of luxury (when he was politically favored), followed by prison (the family fell out of favor), and his long journey to freedom in South Korea and activism against the Stalinist regime, in the Washington Times. MEDICINE IN NORTH KOREA The Stalinist economy is a disaster, and that has made the situation in North Korea�s hospitals almost unbearable. According to Sarah Buckley, BBC, the situation is so bad that �Most doctors have lots of scars on their legs because they give grafts from their own skin.� GUYS, THE WORD IS �LIBERATED� The editors of the Washington Times have a nice piece on the North Korea, including covering its danger to the outside world and its treatment of its own people, but end with a huge disappointment, �North Korea will have to be disarmed.� Can no one say the L-word? 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