| THE NORTH KOREA REPORT: FEBRUARY 10, 2003 Our statement on why North Korea must be liberated can be found here. TOP STORY: NORTH KOREA MAY RENEW MISSILE TESTS COULD REPEAT 1998 TEST OF MISSILE THAT FLEW OVER JAPAN Howard Baker, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, warned that Stalinist North Korea �may engage in a missile test, perhaps overflying the island of Japan� (CNN). Such a test would be a repeat of the 1998 missile test that flew over Japan, shocking and enraging the Japanese in the process. The Stalinists then announced a �moratorium� on the tests, but recently hinted at restarting the tests (see 11/11/02 North Korea Report) after talks with Japan were stymied by the Stalinists refusal to drop its nuclear weapons program. For more on the nuclear issue and the North�s confrontational stance, see American-Related News, News on Communist China�s Role in North Korea, and Nuclear News. NEWS ON NORTH KOREA AND THE REST OF THE AXIS OF EVIL HUSSEIN�S BODYGUARD SAYS NORTH KOREA SENT MISSILES TO IRAQ Abu Hamdi Mahmoud, once Saddam Hussein�s senior bodyguard, is now under Israeli protection, and he told the Israelis, according to the Herald Sun (Australian), that Iraq has received missiles from Stalinist North Korea. Mahmoud thus confirmed the assertion of Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, who first insisted the Stalinists sent missile parts to Iraq (see 10/21/02 North Korea Report). NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA�S ROLE IN NORTH KOREA SURGE IN ANTI-AMERICANISM IN PRC MEDIA MAY REFLECT CONCERN FOR NORTH KOREA According to Willy Wo-Lap Lam, CNN, �an upsurge of stories and opinion-editorial pieces in the Chinese media slamming America's �unilateralist� approach to the Iraqi crisis� may come from the Communists� fears that the U.S. �could soon turn to North Korea.� Lam notes that the PRC �still thinks Beijing and Pyongyang should maintain a �lips and teeth� relationship, and that any attack on North Korea � even a limited offensive to wipe out its nuclear installations � would be a challenge to Chinese power and even sovereignty.� It is the first mention of Communist reaction to a possible U.S. military action against the Stalinists. COMMUNIST CHINA�S INACTION ON NORTH KOREA UPSETTING U.S. It is finally sinking in for American officials that Communist China is hardly lifting a finger to help defuse or resolve the nuclear standoff with its Stalinist ally. According to the Washington Post (2/4), all the previous talk of U.S.-PRC cooperation is sounding more hollow, thanks in large part to many Communists insisting the top priority should be �bolstering North Korea.� President Bush himself �suggested growing irritation with China� (Washington Post 2/7) in its complete lack of support for his efforts to get the Stalinist regime to behave. One unnamed U.S. official was more blunt, �They're carrying Pyongyang's water instead of ours.� Given that Stalinist North Korea is a fifty-year PRC ally, why does the surprise anyone? AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS RUMSFELD ACTS ON PART OF PACIFIC COMMANDER�S REQUEST FOR MORE FORCES In response to a request from Admiral Thomas Fargo, commander of U.S. military personnel in the Pacific, for a stronger presence in reaction to North Korea (see last North Korea Report), Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld signed a �prepare to deploy� order for some, but not all, of the additional forces requested. The order applied to bombers and surveillance aircraft, but not land-based fighters. According to CNN, the move was a �signal to Pyongyang . . . that Washington is not totally distracted by the military buildup in the Persian Gulf.� The Stalinist regime responded by charging the U.S. with wanting to �crush us to death.� Also reporting: BBC, Cybercast News NORTH KOREA SAYS MORE U.S. TROOPS WOULD LEAD TO �ASHES� Meanwhile, Stalinist North Korea issued another of its incendiary warnings, this time telling the U.S. that any pre-emptive strike �on our peaceful nuclear facilities . . . will spark a full-scale war� (CNN 2/6). One North Korean official Ri Pyong-gap, even went so far as to tell the BBC via an interview that an increase in American troops in the region (see above) could lead the Stalinists to �strike first.� White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer responded for the Bush Administration, saying, �Obviously the United States is prepared for robust plans for any contingencies� (Washington Times). One day later the Stalinists laid it on really thick, saying any troop buildup would mean �the whole land of Korea will be reduced to ashes and the Koreans will not escape horrible nuclear disasters� (CNN 2/7, BBC). NORTH KOREAN SPY ARRESTED IN CALIFORNIA The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested John Joungwoong Yai, an American citizen originally from South Korea, as a North Korean spy. His wife was also arrested for �making and conspiring to make fraudulent and false statements� (CNN 2/6). Yai, who had been under FBI surveillance since 1995, was later denied bail (CNN 2/8). ARMITAGE SAYS U.S. WILLING TO TALK ON NUCLEAR ISSUE WITH NORTH KOREA Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage says the U.S. is ready to talk to North Korea directly about its nuclear ambitions, but is waiting �until South Korean President-elect Roh Moo-hyun takes office� (CNN) in two weeks. Armitage, like everyone else in the Bush Administration, made no mention of even desiring the liberation of the people trapped in the Stalinist North. Also reporting: Washington Times The U.S. has insisted it won�t offer immediate concessions to North Korea in exchange for ending its nuclear weapons program, but numerous officials, including the President himself, have hinted said concessions could come down the line. Armitage made his comments in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. SENATORS CALL FOR TALKS WITH NK; BIDEN HINTS HE�D BACK NON-AGRESSION PACT During Armitage�s testimony, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-Indiana) and ex-chairman Joe Biden (D-Delaware) both called on the Administration to start talks with the North, and Biden even went so far as to hint he would support a non-aggression pact � the Stalinists� number one objective � if �the president of the United States said he wanted it� (Washington Post 2/5). Other Democrats in the Senate, including California�s Barbara Boxer and South Dakota�s Tom Daschle, joined in the call for negotiating with the Stalinist regime (Washington Post 2/6, BBC). NORTH KOREA LOOKING TO EXPLOIT U.S. FOCUS ON IRAQ According to the Washington Post, the Stalinist North is �convinced that the United States is distracted by the prospect of war with Iraq,� and as such, sees this as the best opportunity to wring concessions out of the U.S. The Stalinist regime is moving now on the assumption that �United States will not be able to attack two countries.� Also reporting: BBC NUCLEAR NEWS NORTH KOREA SAYS YONGBYON �ON A NORMAL FOOTING� North Korea announced to the world that it has restarted its Yongbyon nuclear power plant, shut down as part of the 1994 Agreed Framework with the U.S., South Korea, and Japan. The plant is a relatively easy source of weapons-grade plutonium for the Stalinists. Reports: BBC, CNN, Washington Post The 1994 deal included fuel oil shipments and two nuclear power plants for the North. The fuel oil was stopped after the North admitted a uranium-based weapons program, a violation of the deal (see 10/21/02 and 11/18/02 North Korea Reports). SOUTH KOREAN MP SAYS NON-AGRESSION TALKS ARE THE ONLY WAY TO END STANDOFF Chang Young-dal, a legislator from President-elect Roh Moo-hyun's dovish Millennium Democratic Party, North Korea�s desire �to have their regime guaranteed� (Washington Times) was behind their nuclear ambitions. Such a guarantee is the only thing the U.S. has not hinted is coming the North�s way if it promises to do what it promised to do in 1994 � Bush himself has dropped hints food and energy aid. Stop the North Korean Nuclear Power Plants: North Korea announced that it would restart the pre-1994 plutonium power plants. Despite this, talk of negotiations continues, and the two nuclear power plants that were part of the deal have still not been canceled. Use this China e-Lobby fact sheet and tell the President to stand firm against the Stalinist regime, and not to build the power plants. ABDUCTION NEWS JAPANESE VICTIMS� GROUP HOPES FOCUS ON NORTH WILL INCLUDE KIDNAPPINGS The National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped is hoping that the current focus on would-be nuclear North Korea will also bring attention to those Japanese kidnapped by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s. The Stalinists� admission of thirteen abductions stunned Japan last September, and has emboldened those advocating for other likely kidnap victims. Report: Washington Times Stalinist North Korea admitted that it kidnapped thirteen Japanese from 1978 to 1983, but insisted eight of them died � some of supposed heart disease in their twenties � while providing false evidence for their claim. They let five survivors go to Japan, but did not allow their families (all have children) to come with them (see 9/23/02, 9/30/02, 10/21/02, and 11/18/02 North Korea Reports). SOUTH KOREA NEWS PRE-SUMMIT PAYOFF STORY WON�T GO AWAY If outgoing South Korean President Kim Dae-jung thought the halting of a probe into a nearly $200 million payment to North Korea from a South Korean government bank via Hyundai would contain the scandal (see last North Korea Report), he is greatly mistaken. The opposition Grand National Party is �demanding that a special prosecutor be named to investigate� (Washington Post). Meanwhile, Stalinist North Korea added fuel to the fire by threatening �confrontation, collision and war� (Cybercast News) if any effort to get to the truth continues. Hyundai, a firm just recently burned in a major tourist effort in North Korea, says the $200 million went to �inter-Korean projects agreed between Hyundai and Pyongyang,� but wouldn�t elaborate, and as such convinced few of its honesty. The sordid affair is yet another blow to Kim Dae-jung�s �sunshine� (or is that �$un$hine�?) policy toward the Stalinist regime, which had as its major accomplishment the 2000 summit. Kim�s elected successor, fellow Millennium Democrat Roh Moo-hyun, also backs a dovish stance toward North Korea, and the Post reported that this has become a �burden� for him for that reason. The GNP, which controls the South Korean legislature, says other payments to the North may bring �the payments made to North Korea before the summit to nearly $1 billion.� It also referred to the swift halt to the investigation of the matter � made just after and likely in response to the government�s request to end the probe � �something from the medieval times.� Stay tuned; this could get really ugly. ROAD LINK BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA OPENED North and South Korea opened up their first road link across the demilitarized zone last week, part of a process to establish road and rail links, which could, among other things, make the South more dependent upon the Stalinists for its economic well being (land travel is a cheaper way to send and receive goods). The first crossing included officials from the scandal-tainted Hyundai. Report: BBC INTERNAL NEWS DEFECTOR SAYS KIM JONG-IL LOSING MILITARY SUPPORT Kenki Aoyama, who defected from North Korea in 1998, says Stalinist leader Kim Jong-il is losing support among his million-man military. Aoyama says this based on meetings he had in Seoul last fall with other, more recent defectors who told him �even the military personnel are singling out Kim Jong-il and (saying) people have starved to death because of that man� (BBC). Aoyama, whose real name is hidden to protect family in North Korea, was a nuclear engineer before he defected. He claims that North Korea has kidnapped dozens of Japanese citizens (more on that in Abduction News), and that the Stalinists already have nuclear weapons, a claim backed up by South Korean intelligence (see 9/30/02, 11/04/02, 11/18/02, and 12/2/02 North Korea Reports). COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS ON THE $UN$HINE POLICY (SEE ALSO OTHER NEWS) The editors of the Washington Times take note of the 2000 summit payoff scandal, and see the moral underpinning of the sunshine policy, and the anti-Americanism in South Korea it spawned �swept away.� Still, they do say, �If South Korea's sunshine policy has achieved anything, it is to shine a light on the failed policy of buying peace and security from North Korea.� Bryan Walsh, in Time Asia, examines the immediate fallout of the scandal surrounding President Kim Dae-jung�s apparent payoff to North Korea for the 2000 summit with Kim Jong-il and the Nobel Peace Prize later that year. ON WHAT NUCLEAR NORTH KOREA COULD MEAN Mike Chinoy, CNN, examines the signals the U.S. could be sending with its current policy on North Korea, which one analyst summed up as �Go get nuclear weapons in a hurry.� Note: this piece does not mention the option of supporting North Korean liberation, so the analysis is weaker than it could be. WHAT WAR WOULD MEAN The BBC gives their analysis of the price of war with North Korea. A NORTH KOREAN FIRST STRIKE? Lawrence Morahan, Cybercast News, examines the implications of a North Korean �first strike� against the U.S., and finds less than meets the eye. Mike Thomson, BBC, also looks at the first-strike issue in his examination of the Stalinist regime�s �siege mentality.� ANOTHER CALL FOR A SOUTH KOREAN WITHDRAWAL, NON-AGRESSION PACT WITH NORTH James Zirin, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, calls on the U.S. to �move toward a nonaggression pact with North Korea� and �pull out the troops in a staged withdrawal� from South Korea. Zirin feels this will make any future problems with the North�s nuclear ambitions �a regional problem that China and South Korea must solve for themselves.� Zirin does not address the possibility of North Korea putting its nuclear arsenal up for sale. In fact, the Stalinist arms bazaar does not appear in his Washington Times column at al. ON COMMUNIST CHINA�S ROLE Ellen Bork, of the New York Sun, gives an excellent primer on why the interests of its Stalinist ally are more important to the PRC than the interests of the U.S., in the Project for the New American Century. The editors of the Washington Times, hit the nail on the head, calling President Bush�s policy on the Stalinist regime �positively schizophrenic.� However, they also seem to hint that waiting for Communist China to help them would be a good idea. Perhaps Ms. Bork should have a word with them. MORE ON THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION AND NORTH KOREA Mary McGrory, in the Washington Post, rips the Bush Administration policy, advocating instead for a full-blown dovishness instead of the President�s multiple policy disorder. Check out the latest on Communist China and the Terrorist War. Sign the petition for an American boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Miss an Update, Weekly Links, or a North Korea Report? Find it on our web site. 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 that you happen to find to the same address. |