| Home page To receive this publication via e-mail, click here. THE NORTH KOREA REPORT: APRIL 14, 2003 Our statement on why North Korea must be liberated can be found here. TOP STORY: NORTH KOREAN �OPEN� TO MULTILATERAL TALKS North Korea is apparently willing to �not stick to any particular dialogue format� (BBC 4/12, Washington Post 4/13), i.e., drop its demand for talks with the U.S. and no one else on its nuclear ambitions. Ever since the North admitted to its uranium-based weapons program � a violation of the 1994 Agreed Framework (see 10/21/02 North Korea Report) � the U.S. has pushed for multilateral talks. South Korea�s dovish President was thrilled to hear the news (BBC 4/14). However, this quarter notes that the North is still looking for �a bold switch-over in its Korea policy� (CNN), i.e., more concessions. The Stalinists have never fulfilled any promise to stop its nuclear ambitions, including the 1994 deal that won them two nuclear power plants � still in the works � and hundreds of millions of dollars in fuel oil. Each deal broken has led to harsh words, warnings, and more concessions. Unfortunately, the response to the Stalinists� move from President Bush, who still refuses to even mention the prospect of liberating northern Korea (Washington Post 4/14), shows he may fall into the same pattern of trying to buy good behavior from the North. Caveat emptor. Also reporting: Cybercast News, Newsmax 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 1994 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. HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNAL NEWS ESCAPED PRISONERS TELL OF STARVATION, FORCED CANNABALISM, OTHER TORTURE Do not read this if you have just eaten. Escaped prisoners from Stalinist North Korea told the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) that prisoners in North Korea are subjected to �water torture, sexual assault, severe beatings and psychological abuse� (World Net Daily). Conditions were so bad that �your body became full of insects� according to one former prisoner. One became a prisoner at age nine, in response to an anti-Stalinist statement from his grandfather. He was there ten years. Some testified that conditions were so appalling that prisoners had to resort to cannibalism to survive (mind your stomachs): �A woman who had just given birth was so hungry that she ate her own newborn baby. Brothers ate their own brothers in order to survive.� EUROPEAN UNION, UNITED STATES CO-SPONSOR UN RESOLUTION RIPPING NK ON RIGHTS Meanwhile, the UNCHR will take up a resolution by the United States and the European Union criticizing North Korea�s �torture, public executions, detention camps and the abuse of prisoners� rights� (BBC). The Stalinist regime, naturally, warned that the resolution would �aggravate the situation on the Korean peninsula.� Wait until the Stalinist media weighs in. NUCLEAR AND OTHER WEAPONS NEWS NORTH KOREA TO JAPAN: WE CAN HIT YOU In a statement apparently prompted by Japan's launching of two spy satellites� (BBC), the North bluntly told Japan that �it is also within the striking range� of Stalinist missiles (see 3/31 North Korea Report). AXIS OF EVIL NEWS BOLTON WARNS NORTH KOREA IT COULD BE NEXT Assistant Secretary of State John Bolton called the war against Ba�athist Iraq �the appropriate lesson� (Newsmax) for other regimes in �the pursuit of weapons of mass destruction.� Bolton specifically mentioned, among others, the Stalinist regime of North Korea. NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA�S ROLE PRC BLOCKS UN CONDEMNATION OF NORTH ON NUKES Surprise! The PRC blocked all efforts by the United Nations Security Council to condemn North Korea for its nuclear ambitions, which violate numerous pledges and agreements by the Stalinist regime. The UNSC expressed �concern� (CNN) about the issue. Also reporting: Cybercast News, Washington Post OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS KIM JONG-IL SAYS NK CAN �BEAT BACK� U.S. In what the BBC called a �highly symbolic visit to an air force base,� Stalinist-in-chief Kim Jong-il told the pilots at the base that his regime could �beat back enemies whenever they challenge� North Korea. The Stalinist regime worries it may be next for history�s ash heap courtesy of the U.S. However, no Bush Administration official, from the President on down, has mentioned liberating northern Korea. CLINTON SAYS NORTH KOREA�S NEXT Former President Bill Clinton accused President Bush of �looking for multinational support in a possible North Korean invasion� (Newsmax-1). Bush has previously made clear military action is not part of his plan, and neither Clinton nor Bush has mentioned the possibility of liberating the people of northern Korea, even when military action is discussed. Later that day, Senator John Kyl (R-Arizona), one of the few in Washington who has pushed for liberating North Korea (see 11/4/02 North Korea Report), ripped Clinton for his words, which �Kim Jong-il . . . could actually believe that's true (and) . . . try to do something preemptively� (Newsmax-2). OTHER SOUTH KOREA NEWS OVER 250 NORTH KOREANS DEFECTED TO SOUTH FROM JANUARY TO MARCH 2003 South Korea received 270 defectors from the Stalinist North in the first quarter (January-March) of 2003, according to Yonhap News Agency (via ParaPundit), and over 1,000 in 2002. Link Courtesy Randall Parker, ParaPundit, Member since 2003 U.S. TROOPS MOVED OUT OF SEOUL, BUT NOT OUT OF SOUTH KOREA South Korea and the United States agreed to move some of the 37,000 American military personnel stationed in the South. The current �main base� (BBC) for the U.S. troops, in Seoul, will be moved further south. Both the U.S. and South Korea insisted, �there would be no compromise on the combined deterrence of their forces throughout the process of realignment.� ROH MOO-HYUN CALLS U.S. �MOST IMPORTANT ALLY� President Roh Moo-hyun, who owes his election to an anti-American surge in the final weeks of last year�s campaign, called the U.S. �our closest and most important ally� (Washington Post). Still, Roh showed, again, appalling na�vet� on the Stalinist North, saying it is pursuing nuclear weapons because �Kim Jong Il does not have any other means of convincing his people that they are safe.� Ugh! SOUTH KOREA�S PARLIAMENT SPEAKER VISITS U.S. Park Kwan-yong, Speaker of South Korea�s National Assembly traveled to the United States last week, where he met Vice President Cheney and Senator Hillary Clinton (D-New York). Report: Newsmax COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS Peter Brookes, in the Washington Times, backs the Bush Administrations (apparently successful) push for multilateral talks on the North�s nuclear ambition. Like nearly everyone else, Brookes, a former U.S. deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, does not discuss liberating the people of northern Korea. Meanwhile, Carl Limbacher et al, in Newsmax, ask if North Korea is next after Iraq. Check out the latest stories on the Communist China and the Terrorist War page. 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