| Home page To receive this publication via e-mail, click here. THE NORTH KOREA REPORT: MARCH 15, 2004 Listen to the Chinascope, hosted by D.J. McGuire: Tuesday midnight EST or Wednesday 2PM EST (tape delay), on WXEI 95.3 FM in Crestview, FL, or here. 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: ROH MOO-HYUN IMPEACHED POWERS SUSPENDED UNTIL CONSTITUTIONAL COURT DECIDES HIS FATE The fate of Roh Moo-hyun, South Korea�s dovish President, is now completely up in the air as the two opposition parties in the National Assembly voted to impeach him. The vote was 193-2, with Roh�s supporters � the Uri Party � resorting to physical force to keep the NA Speaker away from his desk (Cybercast News). Roh violated a law that bars an incumbent president from endorsing NA candidates � elections for the NA take place next month. Both the hawkish Grand National Party and Roh�s former party �the dovish Millennium Democrats � backed impeachment. The Constitutional Court must now decide his fate. That could take six months, during which time Prime Minister Goh Kun is in charge. South Korean markets took an early beating on the news (BBC 3/12). The U.S. played it cool, calling the drama �an internal political matter� (Washington Times). Also reporting: Washington Post, Voice of America via Epoch Times, HK As for the elections themselves, the opposition may have some problems: one poll put anti-impeachment sentiment at 70% (CNN). Seoul saw 30,000 anti-impeachment protestors over the weekend. The police of have threatened to use force to stop future protests, which like Roh�s Uri endorsement are �technically illegal� (BBC 3/15). One critical question for the April vote will likely be which party, the Millennium Democrats or the Grand Nationals, bares the brunt of the blame will be. Either way, don�t be surprises to see a surge in Uri Party seats (their number is currently only 42). OTHER SOUTH KOREA NEWS TALKS ON RAIL AND ROAD LINKS CANCELLED DUE TO IMPEACHMENT FLAP The impeachment of Roh led to the cancellation of talks between North and South Korea �on economic projects such as linking the Koreas by rail and roads� (CNN). Also reporting: BBC Stop the North Korean Nuclear Power Plants: Construction on the nuclear power plants from the 1994 agreement has been suspended for one year, but the plants have not been cancelled. 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 U.S. MISSILE DEFENSE�S EFFECTIVENESS AGAINST NK MISSILES UNCLEAR The American missile defense, expected to be deployed in �several months� (Washington Post), may still be unable to take out a North Korean missile, according to Thomas P. Christie, the Pentagon�s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation. KERRY TAKING HITS FOR WINNING KIM JONG-IL�S PRAISE Well, that didn�t take very long. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) indirectly chided Democratic presumptive presidential nominee John Kerry for apparently making Stalinist-in-chief Kim Jong-il think a Kerry Administration �would result in a softer U.S. stance towards its nuclear program� (Cybercast News, see also last NKR). DeLay, and other Republicans, might want to consider pushing President Bush away from his own �softer US stance� and toward liberating the long-suffering people of northern Korea before trying to score political points on this issue. NORTH KOREA MAY BE WAITING FOR KERRY ADMINISTRATION TO TALK ON NUKES According to Newsmax, North Korea has resorted to �stalling negotiations on dismantling their nuclear program, hinting that they hope to get a better deal from the U.S. if a Democrat wins in November.� Sadly, this will probably lead many to believe the President is far tougher on the North than he really is (see above). CHANGING OF THE GUARD AT U.S. EMBASSY IN SOUTH KOREA According to Japan�s Kyodo News Service, Thomas Hubbard will leave his post of Ambassador to South Korea sometime before the end of the year. Christopher Hill, currently ambassador to Poland, will replace him. Report: Washington Times, third item HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNAL NEWS COMING TO NORTH KOREA, THE THREE TENORS? Stalinist-in-chief Kim Jong-il is apparently hoping to bring the �three tenors� (Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo) to Pyongyang for a spring festival. The invitation still has yet to be sent, however. Report: BBC COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS WILLIAM TRIPLETT�S EXCERPTS ROGUE STATE Author William Triplett begins a week-long series of excerpts from Rogue State: How a Nuclear North Korea Threatens America, in National Review Online. Here is Part I. ON KIM JONG-IL�S �ENDORSEMENT� OF JOHN KERRY Joel Mowbray, Jewish World Review, wonders why North Korea is so fond of John Kerry (but manages to avoid the troubling fact that President Bush has been slowly moving in Kerry�s direction for years). ON SOUTH KOREA�S POLITICAL BRUHAHA The BBC summarizes how South Korea�s press is reacting to the impeachment of Roh Mo-hyun. Charles Scanlon, the BBC correspondent in Seoul, examines the political fallout from the impeachment, as do Anthony Faiola and Joohee Cho of the Washington Post. 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. 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