| Home page To receive this publication via e-mail, click here. THE NORTH KOREA REPORT: OCTOBER 13, 2003 Our statement on why northern Korea must be liberated can be found here. TOP STORY: U.S. READY TO GIVE NORTH KOREA �SECURITY ASSURANCES� ECONOMIC AID ALSO ON THE TABLE; NORTH KOREA STILL DEMANDING PACT Secretary of State Colin Powell announced the Bush Administration �has decided to offer security guarantees to North Korea as part of a deal to end Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program� (CNN). Along with the �security assurances� comes �easing of a trade embargo against North Korea and helping Pyongyang to secure much-needed loans.� The goodies for the North will be formally offered at the next round of talks on the North�s nuclear weapons program, whenever that will be, although the Stalinists �called for a new round of six-party talks in December.� The security deal is �short of a fully-fledged treaty�; North Korea insisted on a pact (Washington Times). Also reporting: Agence France Presse OTHER WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION NEWS NORTH KOREA TELLS JAPAN TO TAKE A HIKE; THEN DROPS DEMAND Prior to the aforementioned call for six-way talks, North Korea demanded that Japan �take no part in further talks to resolve the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program� (CNN). The Stalinist regime insisted that Japan �lost its qualification to be a trustworthy dialogue partner.� Japan�s offense was to insist the North resolve the matter of Japanese abductees from the 1970s and 1980s. North Korea claims that eight abductees died in North Korea, with no evidence to back it up. The regime also continues to hold captive the families of five survivors � all of whom are now back in Japan. Meanwhile, dozens of other families in Japan believe their relatives were also kidnapped (see 9/23/02, 9/30/02, 11/18/02, 9/22, and 9/29 North Korea Reports). JAPAN, PRC, AND SOUTH KOREA MAKE VAGUE JOINT NK STATEMENT Japan, Communist China, and South Korea signed a statement pledging �their commitment to a peaceful solution of the nuclear issue facing the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula� (Kyodo News Agency via Japan Times). However, this addition to the above sentence made the �joint statement� completely meaningless: �while addressing all the concerns of the parties and working together to maintain peace and stability on the Peninsula.� Stop the North Korean Nuclear Power Plants: The U.S. is finally moving to cancel the two nuclear power plants from the 1994 agreement that North Korea�s broke. Keep the pressure on until the plants are cancelled! Use this China e-Lobby fact sheet and tell the President to kill the power plants. OTHER SOUTH KOREA NEWS SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT PUTS HIMSELF UP FOR RECALL South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun recommended a referendum on his tenure, to be set for December 15 of this year, and promised to step down if he loses the vote. The stunning announcement came on the heels of a cabinet-wide resignation offer following revelations of a payoff scandal. Roh refused the resignation offer. Reports: BBC 10/11, BBC 10/13, CNN South Korea�s entire cabinet offered to resign in the wake of near-million dollar post-election payoff from conglomerate SK Group to Choi Do-sool, a top aide to Roh for many years. As for the referendum, weekend polls have Roh winning by �between four and 10 percent� (Cybercast News). Roh�s problems extend to his dovish �sunshine� policy on North Korea and to the split of the Millennium Democratic Party (Washington Post). Roh left the MDP to form a nationwide liberal party (see 9/29 North Korea Report) last month. The MDP now opposes him, as does the hawkish Grand National Party, which controls the legislature. Also reporting: Newsmax INTERNATIONAL NEWS PARENTS OF CHILDREN IN NK-FUNDED JAPANESE SCHOOLS ANGRY AT PROPAGANDA Parents of ethnic Korean children in Japan who attend Stalinist-funded schools have pressured the schools to agree to �the distribution of new textbooks that have less North Korean propaganda and give more facts on South Korea� (Washington Post). The stunning move is driven by �an increasingly skeptical view of the North Korean government� from the part ethnic Korean community in Japan politically loyal to the North. If the Stalinists were to lose the allegiance of this community, it would be a tremendous blow to its already subterranean level of prestige in Japan. KIM JONG-IL RECEIVES ANNIVERSARY BOUQUET FROM YASSIR ARAFAT Yassir Arafat sent a flower bouquet to Kim Jong-il celebrating the latter�s sixth anniversary as �general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea� (Newsmax). Kim had been Stalinist-in-chief for at least three years prior to the �election.� HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNAL NEWS WIFE OF KIM JONG-IL INJURED IN CAR CRASH According to Sankei Shimbun, Kim Yong Hi, Kim Jong-il�s wife, �suffered head injuries in a car accident last month and is in critical condition� (Washington Post). No other details were available. No Commentary/Analysis this week 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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