| Home page To receive this publication via e-mail, click here. THE NORTH KOREA REPORT: JUNE 14, 2004 Dragon in the Dark: How and Why Communist China Helps Our Enemies in the War on Terror is now available: here, at Amazon, or at 1-888-280-7715. Our statement on why northern Korea must be liberated can be found here. TOP STORY: KIM JONG-IL PLAYING THE WORLD FOR FOOLS DOVISH SOUTH KOREA; SOFT KOIZUMI FALLING FOR STALINIST-IN-CHIEF�S GAME AS COMMUNIST CHINA CHALLENGES U.S. REPORTS OF NORTH KOREAN URANIUM PROGRAM Stalinist-in-chief Kim Jong-il has become �master of the moment� (Time Asia-1) by confounding both the United States and his neighbors. How has he done it? In part by luck � the rise of a dovish majority coalition in South Korea that �desired what Kim wants most desperately: his own survival� � and in part by his combination of brazenness and charm. The latter has left even Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in a swoon: �I personally felt that North Korea was interested in moving forward in a positive way� (Time Asia-2). Thankfully, the major political parties in Japan, including Koizumi�s own Liberal Democrats, do not share his newfound naivet� (United Press International via Washington Times). South Korea, sadly, has only the weakened opposition Grand National Party to speak for rationality. Dovish President Roh Moo-hyun and his Uri Party call the tune, which included an agreement �to end propaganda broadcasts from midnight on Monday, and remove all signboards and other propaganda material along the land border� (BBC). One man not fooled by all of this is Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute; he blasts the �self-delusion� (his word in Time Asia, but very appropriate all the same) of those who continue, despite all evidence to the contrary, to think the best of Kim Jong-il. Meanwhile, Communist China repeated its claim that the U.S. has �not presented convincing evidence� (VOA via Epoch Times) that North Korea has developed uranium based nuclear weapons, despite the North�s own admission of its uranium program and the finding of North Korean partially weaponized uranium in Libya (see 10/21/02, 5/24, and 6/1 NKRs). Given the continuing willingness of the Communists to ignore the facts in protecting their fifty-plus-year ally, one has to wonder why the Bush Administration continues to view Beijing as helpful regarding the Stalinist North. WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION NEWS MORE TALKS COULD BE COMING According to the BBC, another round of talks among the U.S., North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Communist China, and Russia on the North�s nuclear weapons �looks set to resume in Beijing before the end of June.� Two rounds of previous six-party talks have led to nothing more than American concessions (7/14/03 and 12/22/03 NKRs). NORTH KOREA TO G-8 ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS: BUZZ OFF Upon hearing that the nations leading industrialized nations � otherwise known as the G-8 � �backed Washington's demand that Pyongyang dismantle its nuclear programme in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner� (BBC) � the Stalinist North accused the group of �trying to spark another Iraq crisis by imposing nuclear inspections.� Stop the North Korean 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 North Korea broke. OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS TROOPS IN SOUTH KOREA AREN�T GOING ANYTIME SOON The reports of over 12,000 American troops leaving South Korea (see 6/1 and last NKRs) have spooked South Korea, which is insisting on �time to prepare �countermeasures�� (BBC) in order �to beef up its own forces to counter any North Korean threat� (CNN). The U.S. wants to move the troops in 2006. Also reporting: Washington Times SOUTH KOREAN MILITARY ASKS FOR MORE MONEY In response to the American plans, South Korea�s military �requested $18.4 billion for next year's budget� (United Press International via Washington Times) to make up for the troop reduction. At present, South Korea spends less than the analytical consensus level for �a self-reliant defense force.� This increase would close much of that gap. COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS ON THE SOUTH KOREAN TROOP REDUCTION Charles Scanlon, BBC, examines the �shock� in South Korea to the American request for a major troop reduction. WHAT WOULD REAGAN DO? Parapundit founder Randall Parker (Member since 2003), finds in Reagan�s policies against the Soviet Union a precedent for �trying much harder to reach the North Korean people with information about the outside world,� which is a critical first step towards liberation for the people of northern Korea. 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