| THE NORTH KOREA REPORT: SEPTEMBER 3, 2002 NEWS FIFTEEN NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES ENTER GERMAN SCHOOL IN BEIJING TWO OTHER GROUPS OF REFUGEES ARRESTED, FOUR REFUGEES ESCAPE Fifteen refugees from North Korea made it into a school run by the German Embassy in Beijing (BBC 9/3, CNN 9/3). Communist police immediately surrounded them, but have not moved against them � yet. Meanwhile, Communist police arrested a dozen refugees attempted to reach the Ecuadorian embassy in Beijing (CNN 9/2) and a group of refugees in the northeastern city of Changchun (BBC 9/2). Four refugees were able to escape custody; their whereabouts are unknown (Washington Post). Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans, fleeing a regime that steals international food aid from its own people, are believed to be hiding in Communist China, which usually sends back any refugee it finds to the North � despite many accounts of torture and murder of repatriated refugees. In its attempt to stop those trying to escape the famine-wrecked repressive regime, the PRC is now looking at South Korean journalists: Communist police searched the homes and offices of Beijing reporters for the South Korean Chosun Ilbo (Cybercast News) and took files on refugees from them. Police also beat up a German reporter covering the Beijing arrests and confiscated his footage of it. JAPANESE PM TO VISIT NORTH KOREA IN TWO WEEKS Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced he would go to North Korea two weeks from today for a summit with Stalinist leader Kim Jong-Il. One of the issues likely to be discussed is the fate of eleven Japanese kidnapped by the North during the 1970s and 1980s, and the possibility of formal diplomatic ties. The U.S. blessed Koziumi's trip. Reports: CNN, BBC, Washington Post UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE BOLTON WHACKS NORTH KOREA�S SELLING OF MISSILES Undersecretary of State John Bolton was able to make his speech in Seoul after all (see last NK Report), and he didn�t pull may punches. Bolton tore into the �evil regime� (Cybercast News) for its sales of �ballistic missile-related equipment, components, materials, and technical expertise� to �notable rogue state clients such as Syria, Libya and Iran� (CNN). Also reporting: BBC Bolton told North Korea that time was running out before it could change its ways, and mentioned the odious 1994 nuclear power deal. Unfortunately, he only said it could be �delayed� not junked. Stop the Nuclear Power Deal: The United States is still building two nuclear power plants in North Korea. Meanwhile, the Stalinist regime refuses to let us inspect their nuclear weapons program to verify that it has been stopped, as the agreement demands. Use this China e-Lobby fact sheet and tell the President to cancel the deal. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE KELLY MAY GO TO NORTH KOREA Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said North Korea might receive a visit from U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Kelly "at an appropriate time" (CNN). Kelly had planned to visit the Stalinist regime in July, but that trip was dropped after the North sank a South Korean naval vessel in June (see July 1 NK Report). NORTH AGREES TO RAIL AND ROAD LINKS IN EXCHANGE FOR FOOD AID North Korea agreed �to resume construction of cross-border road and rail links� for completion later this year and next spring, respectively (CNN). The democratic South promised �hundreds of thousands of tons of food and fertilizer aid� in exchange. Also reporting: BBC NORTH KOREAN CENTRAL BANK LOOKS TO COMMUNIST CHINA AS MODEL FOR �REFORM� According to the BBC, North Korea�s central bank is looking to its half-century ally Communist China for guidance in its economic �reform.� Whether the guidance includes mass corruption or trumped up economic figures was not in the story, but the issue of the PRC�s heavy load of bad debt was. COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS PAUL KERR CRITICIZES HARD-LINERS ON NORTH KOREA Paul Kerr, an analyst for the Arms Control Association, goes after hard-liners in the Bush Administration for their views on North Korea, particularly the 1994 nuclear power deal in the Washington Times. That North Korea is violating the deal (see April 3 China e-Lobby Update) and is still building nuclear weapons (see February 7 Update) were clearly facts he did not know. ASIAN MEDIA HAVE THEIR SAY ON KOIZUMI'S TRIP BBC's Media Monitoring takes a look at the Asian reaction to Koizumi's planned trip to the Stalinist regime (see News). On the whole, South Korean media were thrilled; opinion was more divided in Japan. Sign the Boycott Petition: In reaction to the 2008 Olympic Games being awarded to Beijing, the China e-Lobby has begun a petition for an American boycott of those games. Miss an Update, Weekly Links, or a North Korea Report? Find it on our web site. Check out the latest on Communist China and the Terrorist War. There�s still time to contact the President and tell him not to appoint pro-PRC Doug Paal as de facto ambassador to Taiwan. See Follow-Up for more on Paal. 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]. Please feel free to send any news on Communist China or North Korea you happen to find to the same address. |