| Home page To receive this publication via e-mail, click here. THE NORTHERN KOREA REPORT: DECEMBER 13, 2004 Dragon in the Dark: How and Why Communist China Helps Our Enemies in the War on Terror is now available here (or call1-888-280-7715). Our statement on why northern Korea must be liberated can be found here. TOP STORY: SCNK REMAINS GIVEN TO JAPAN NOT THOSE OF MEGUMI YOKOTA FOOD AID TO REGIME FROZEN BY TOKYO AMID NATIONAL OUTRAGE For the second time in two years, remains that Stalinist-controlled northern Korea claimed were from a Japanese abduction victim have been exposed as fakes. This time, the alleged dead victim was Megumi Yokota, kidnapped at 13 in 1978. SCNK claims she killed herself a decade ago. The remains actually �belonged to a number of other people� (BBC 12/8). An enraged Sakie Yokota (Megumi�s mother) called SCNK �cruel, cold-blooded and inhumane.� Tsutomu Takebe, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, called the regime �a rogue state� (Channel News Asia). Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said any future aid to SCNK, including food, �would be difficult under such circumstances.� Japanese media was not so subtle. Yomiuri Shimbun called the Stalinists� action �absolutely despicable� (BBC 12/9); Asahi Shimbun called for all aid to SCNK to be �put on hold.� The rest of Japan�s papers angrily followed suit. Days later, Japan�s government heeded the people�s fury and froze all aid to the Stalinist regime (BBC 12/13). Megumi Yokota is among thirteen Japanese citizens abducted by SCNK between 1978 and 1983. Five of the victims, including Hitomi Soga, are back in Japan with their families (see Other American-Related News). The other two were married couples; the Stalinists held their children as de facto hostages for eighteen months). The regime insists that the other eight are dead, but after two fake remains outrages, many believe at least some, and possibly all, of them are still alive (see 9/23/02, 9/30/02, 10/7/02, 10/14/02, 10/21/02, 10/28/02, 11/18/02, 12/19/02, 5/24, 7/19, 7/27, 8/10, 10/11, 11/29, and last NKRs). WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION NEWS IAEA ACKNOWLEDGES SCNK HAS ENOUGH NUCLEAR FUEL FOR HALF A DOZEN BOMBS Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the New York Times that Stalinist-controlled northern Korea has enough weaponized nuclear material �for use in four to six nuclear bombs� (Voice of America via Epoch Times). Of course, the Stalinist have already claimed eight bombs have been made (see 9/28 NKR). Still, being one month behind the news is a marked improvement for the IAEA � they missed the Stalinists� uranium weapons program for at least four years (see 10/21/02 NKR). REGIME SAYS IT WANTS TALKS, BUT WON�T SAY WHEN SCNK has now �agreed in principle to a new round of six-party negotiations� (Washington Times) on its nuclear weapons program. However, the regime �did not indicate a schedule.� An unnamed American official noted that the Stalinists are in line for �a very rich basket of economic and other incentives that would facilitate their economic development.� Such charming offers have been part of a series of American concessions and pledges that have characterized the history of the talks, which have see three rounds go by the boards already (see 10/21/02, 12/8/03, 12/22/03, 6/7, 6/28, 9/20, and 9/28 NKRs). Also reporting: NBC via MSNBC Stop the SCNK Nuclear Power Plants: Are the plants dead or aren�t they? You can make sure they don�t come back! Use this China e-Lobby fact sheet and tell the President to kill the power plants from the 1994 agreement that SCNK broke. OTHER NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA�S ROLE JAPAN MOVES TOWARD STRONGER MILITARY DUE TO SCNK AND PRC Japan�s military is �adopting new policy guidelines which include a more active role in international conflicts� (CNN). The new policy, which will �ease some of the restrictions on Japan's military, allowing it to collaborate with the US in areas of missile defence (UK sp)� (BBC), comes due to �China's military build-up� and �North Korea's possession of missiles.� OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS JENKINS FEARED STALINISTS WOULD FORCE HIS DAUGHTERS INTO ESPIONAGE Charles Robert Jenkins was formally discharged from the U.S. Army, nearly forty years after deserting the U.S. Army and defecting to Stalinist-controlled northern Korea in 1965 (BBC). Jenkins, who quickly grew to despise his Stalinists hosts/jailers, will now live in Japan with his wife, Japanese abduction victim Hitomi Soga, and their two daughters. REGIME HEAPS MORE INVECTIVE AT U.S. FOR �DISINFORMATION� SCNK �lambasted the US for what it said was a campaign of disinformation to portray its regime as unstable� (BBC). The regime was referring to �reports that portraits of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il had gone missing, and high-ranking generals had defected.� URI PARTY LEGISLATORS WORRY ABOUT U.S. �PLAN B� AS GNP HINTS SUPPORT FOR IT Chung Eu-yong, a Uri Party legislator from the Republic of Korea (�South Korea�) visiting the U.S., publicly expressed opposition to �a mysterious �Plan B� that would replace peaceful negotiations with the recalcitrant regime in North Korea� (Washington Times). This should surprise no one, given that ROK President Roh Moo-hyun, de facto leader of the Uri Party. However, Grand National Party legislator Lee Hae-hoon made clear the opposition does not share that view: �North Korea doesn't listen to us. We should adopt a more forceful way.� FORMER JAPANESE AMBASSADOR BLASTS ROK �APPEASEMENT� Meanwhile, Shunji Yanai, former Japanese ambassador to the United States, blasted the ROK for its �appeasement policy� (Washington Times, last item) on the Stalinist regime. Yanai also noted that SCNK�s nuclear weapons are �a direct threat to Japan.� DRUGS NEWS TURKEY CATCHES STALINIST DIPLOMATS DEALING AMPHETAMINES Ryang Thae Won and Kim Son Jin, Stalinists serving at SCNK�s Bulgaria Embassy, �were caught in a police raid in Istanbul on Sunday� (BBC) selling �large quantities of Captagon - a synthetic amphetamine-type stimulant.� This was just the latest in a long line of Stalinist diplomats caught dealing drugs. HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNAL NEWS KIM JONG-IL�S �SON� GOES SILENT Japanese reporters who were in communication with a man thought to be Kim Jong-nam have lost contact with him. Kim Jong-nam is the eldest son of Stalinist-in-chief Kim Jong-il, but �reportedly fell out of favor with his father� (Agence France Presse via Washington Times) after trying to sneak into Japan in 2001, supposedly �to visit Tokyo Disneyland.� OTHER REPUBLIC OF KOREA (�SOUTH� KOREA) NEWS PRESIDENT ROH VISITS TROOPS IN IRAQ ROK President Roh Moo-hyun �paid a surprise visit to South Korean troops in Iraq� (BBC). The visit comes after Roh �asked South Korea's parliament to extend the unit's mission by a year until the end of 2005.� A parliamentary committee has approved the request, the legislature as a whole has yet to vote on it. COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS Bill Powell (Time Asia, with a little help from Donald McIntyre) gauges the world�s reaction to the delayed exposure of SCNK�s prison camps � �the Gulag of the 21st century� � and the dovish Republic of Korea (South Korea)�s unbelievably craven response, which thankfully �has been harder to maintain as more information about the camps has been made public.� Parapundit founder Randall Parker (member since 2003) finds the U.S. effort to spread the truth into SCNK �a meager effort.� The Japan Times comments on the final resolution of the case of Charles Robert Jenkins (via Washington Times). Anthony Faiola, Washington Post, finds that SCNK�s badly mangled �reforms� have only succeeded in increasing defections. 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 Northern Korea Report? Find it via our home page. 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