| Home page To receive this publication via e-mail, click here. THE NORTH KOREA REPORT: NOVEMBER 3, 2003 Our statement on why northern Korea must be liberated can be found here. TOP STORY: TOP NK DEFECTOR; WALL STREET FIRM SAYS REGIME IS IN TROUBLE FORMER MENTOR TO KIM JONG-IL CALLS NORTH KOREA �UNSTABLE,� WARNS AGANIST NUCLEAR DEAL; STANDARD AND POOR�S CALLS STALINISTS� COLLAPSE INEVITABLE Hwang Jang Yop, the highest-ranking defector in North Korea�s history, told the House Policy Committee that the Stalinist regime �is in fact profoundly unstable� (CNN 10/31). He later called upon the U.S. �to abolish the Kim Jong-il dictatorship and democratize North Korea� (Washington Times). Also reporting: Fox News, Agence France Presse, Newsmax Hwang, �a confidant of Kim Il Sung, North Korea's late leader, and a mentor to Kim Jong Il� (Washington Post), had this to say about any deal with the North on its nuclear ambitions: �I don't think there is righteousness in that. On top of that, I don't think any promise that is made by Kim Jong Il would be of any significance.� The dovish South Korean government, worried about Hwang�s �harsh view of the North Korean government,� refused to let Hwang visit America for six years. Two leading anti-Stalinists, Douglas Shin and Dr. Norbert Vollertsen, still can�t see him (Cybercast News). The Stalinists tried a more sickening tactic; they �reportedly advised the South Koreans that Hwang's eldest son was recently �injured� in an accident and has been brought to Pyongyang for observation, according to Japan's Sankei newspaper.� Hwang was not alone in his assessment of the Stalinist regime�s lifespan. Standard and Poor�s called the collapse of the regime �inevitable� (CNN 11/3). Its sovereign ratings committee chairman could not say when the North would collapse (BBC). AXIS OF EVIL NEWS NORTH KOREA SENT 400 MISSILES TO MIDDLE EAST, POCKETED $100 MILLION Stalinist North Korea �delivered 400 ballistic missiles to clients in the Middle East� (World Tribune.com) in the last few years, including �Iran, Iraq (prior to liberation), Syria and Yemen,� according to the South Korean Defense Ministry. The Yonhap News Agency reported (same link) that the North pocketed $110 million for the missiles and technology. OTHER WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION NEWS NORTH KOREA WANTS TO TALK AGAIN North Korea is ready �to resume six-party talks� (BBC) on its nuclear ambitions. The news came during, and likely had something to do with, a visit from Wu Bangguo � Communist China�s number two cadre (Washington Post). The U.S. �welcomed� (CNN) the news, apparently not listening to Hwang (see Top Story). Also reporting: Cybercast News Stop the North Korean Nuclear Power Plants: 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 ENGINEER UNDER ARREST FOR SENDING NUKE PLANS TO NK Sitaraman Ravi Mahadevan is under arrest for �shipping blueprints for valves used to regulate pressure inside a nuclear vessel to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Inc. in New York, knowing they might be sent to North Korea� (Washington Times, second item). U.S. BRINGS BACK EIGHT REMAINS FROM KOREAN WAR The remains of eight apparent U.S. soldiers from the Korean War are back in the U.S. after being recovered in North Korea. Report: Washington Times, third item HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNAL NEWS TOP STALINIST DIES Kim Yong-sun, �a close adviser to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il� (Washington Times, third item), died last week due to �injuries suffered in a traffic accident four months ago.� OTHER SOUTH KOREA NEWS ROH STILL TRYING TO HOLD REFERENDUM ON HIS TENURE Embattled South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun is still trying to hold a referendum on his dovish Administration. Roh has seen his popularity fall to 24% in the wake of a major bribery scandal (see 10/13 and 10/20 NKRs). Report: Washington Times MILITARY DEVELOPS PORTABLE ANTI-AIRCRAFT MISSILE The South Korean military �has developed a portable antiaircraft missile and will begin mass production of the Singung in months� (Washington Times, third item). COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS ON THE NORTH KOREAN POLITICAL PRISONS Mike Chinoy, CNN, examines the plight of political prisoners in North Korea, who are forced into back breaking labor �on the verge of starvation� and brutal beatings � one victim �had such severe internal bleeding my excrement turned black with blood� (see also last NKR). Bryan Walsh, Time Asia, give a quick, but painful, description of the �gulag nation� prisons. ON THE (STILL?) AXIS OF EVIL Saul Singer, of the Jerusalem Post, is wondering why President Bush is softening on the axis of evil, including North Korea (reprinted with permission in National Review Online). WHO�S KIM�S SUCCESSOR? Sarah Buckley, BBC, searches for Kim Jong-il�s heir apparent, complicated by the fact �that Kim Jong-il has produced an indeterminate number of children with a string of women.� ON SOUTH KOREA AND THE U.S. Todd Lindberg, Washington Times, wonders if South Korea and the U.S. will be able to agree on how to handle the Stalinists� nuclear ambitions. ON ROH MOO-HYUN Kisuk Cho, a professor at Ewha Woman�s University in Seoul, examines the fate of South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, and how he affects, and has been affected by, political and economic situation in South Korea, in the Washington Times. 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 might be interested in receiving it. Anyone who wishes to join can send his/her name and e-mail address to [email protected]. 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