| THE NORTH KOREA REPORT: NOVEMBER 18, 2002 Our statement on what should be done about North Korea (hint: regime change) can be found here. NEWS NORTH KOREA CLAIMS IT�S A NUCLEAR POWER, OR MAYBE IT DOESN�T SOUTH KOREA SAYS STATEMENT WAS IN ERROR; LATER STATEMENT DOESN�T MAKE CLAIM A statement from North Korea appeared to admit that the Stalinist regime has �come to have powerful military countermeasures, including nuclear weapons� (BBC). South Korean officials questioned the statement, noting that �have come to have� and �is entitled to have� are very close in the Korean language, and the speaker may have had a slip of the tongue. The next statement from the North went beck to �is entitled to have,� giving some credence to the South�s assertion that the Stalinist mouthpiece. However, the South also mentioned that the mispronunciation may have been a deliberate attempt to confuse the U.S. and its allies (CNN). Of course, the 11/04/02 NK Report noted intelligence reports claiming that the North already has a few nuclear weapons. FUEL OIL SHIPMENTS STOP; REST OF THE 1994 DEAL MAY BE DEAD SOON The U.S., South Korea, Japan, and the European Union � the four big hitters in the 1994 nuclear power deal with North Korea� agreed to stop all oil shipments to the North until it ends its nuclear weapons program, which violated the deal. This is the first time the U.S. and its allies have changed policy toward the Stalinists in reaction to its admittance of its nuclear weapons development. Reports: CNN, BBC The suspension of oil shipments starts next month, meaning the one currently on route will still get there. The European Union joined the 1994 nuclear deal through its main executive body � the Korean Economic Development Organization (KEDO), which Japan, South Korea, and the U.S. founded when the deal was signed. Also reporting: Cybercast News Even more encouraging news came via the Washington Times, where an unnamed American official said the 1994 nuclear power deal was effectively dead: �ultimate conclusion that the North's benefits under the Agreed Framework are about to disappear is not in dispute anymore.� Apparently, the U.S. is waiting for, among other things, a new government in South Korea � elections are next month � before taking action. Stop the North Korean Nuclear Power Plants: North Korea has now admitted it has nuclear weapons program, but the 1994 agreement to build two nuclear power plants for the Stalinists has yet to die. While the Administration apparently waits for the right time to kill the deal, keep the pressure on them to do the right thing.Use this China e-Lobby fact sheet and tell the President to end the 1994 deal, now. PRESIDENT BUSH DEMANDS NORTH KOREA STOP NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM After KEDO cut off the oil shipments to North Korea, President Bush, in a written statement cited by the BBC, called on the Stalinists to �completely and visibly eliminate its nuclear weapons program.� Bush said it was the �only option� for North Korea if it wanted any kind of future relations with the U.S. NORTH KOREA INSISTS ON U.S. �NON-AGRESSION� BEFORE IT ENDS NUCLEAR PROGRAM Stalinist North Korea insisted that the U.S. �legally guarantee a non-aggression treaty� (CNN) before the regime even considers ending its nuclear weapons program. Stalinist mouthpiece Ri To Sop said any move by the North to end its nuclear program now, and thus honor its numerous previous obligations from treaties and the 1994 nuclear reactor deal with the U.S., would be �surrender.� PAKISTAN HELPED NORTH KOREA�S NUCLEAR PROGRAM AS LATE AS �THREE MONTHS AGO� A lot less changed on 9/11/01 than we thought. The Washington Post reported that Pakistan � our supposedly unstinting ally in the terrorist war � not only had a long history of helping the Stalinist regime advance its nuclear weapons program (see also 10/21/02 NK Report), but that said help continued right through 9/11/01, and was continuing as late as �three months ago.� While Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has denied this, an unnamed official told the paper, �we may find he is only partially truthful.� It should be noted that Pakistan and North Korea are two of Communist China�s oldest and closest allies. ADBUCTEES WANT THEIR CHILDREN TO JOIN THEM IN JAPAN AS FAMILIES OF �DECEASED� REJECT STALINIST TALES REFUTED BY THE NORTH�S OWN FAKERY The BBC 11/18/02 provided a detailed report on the current situation with the thirteen Japanese who were kidnapped by North Korea in from 1978 to 1983. One of the five survivors visiting relatives in Japan said the survivors �want our children to join us here.� The Stalinist had held the children behind as de facto hostages, hoping it could force the survivors to return to North Korea. Japan has refused to allow it. As Japan and the survivors ask for the North to let the children go, the North�s ridiculous attempts to explain the fate of the other eight who they claim died in North Korea are fueling speculation that some or all of them are still alive and continue to be held against their will (see also 9/23/02, 9/30/02, 10/7/02, 10/14/02, 10/21/02, and 10/28/02 NK reports). In their pathetic attempt to back claims that eight Japanese abductees died of �disasters or natural causes,� the Stalinists had given Japan remains of one of the �deceased.� They said it was all they had of the eight who �died,� since their remains had been washed away by a flood. Japanese forensics has now exposed the �remains� as complete fake (BBC 11/12/02). Also reporting: Washington Post NORTH ACCUSES SOUTH OF MILITARY �PROVOCATIONS,� SOUTH DENIES CHARGE Stalinist North Korea charged the democratic South with �sending warships� (CNN) into waters claimed by the North. A South Korean Defense Ministry official denied the charge. Also reporting: BBC NORTH KOREA FACING �NEW FOOD CRISIS� Stalinist North Korea could face �renewed food shortages due to lack of funding from international donors,� (BBC). The report did not mention one of the major reasons the rest of the world stopped donating � the hideous Stalinist policy of stealing the international food aid from its own people to feed party and military supporters (see 03/06/02 China e-Lobby Update). CNN did notice this issue. COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS HOW NORTH KOREA COULD RESPOND Doug Struck, Washington Post, examines what North Korea may do after the U.S. decision to end fuel oil shipments as part of the �nullified� 1994 deal. Most analysts agree that the Stalinists will look to up the ante � with everything from the kicking out of inspectors from the deal to tests for long-range missiles targeting the United States. NORTH KOREA VIS A VIS IRAQ Harlan Ullman, of both the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Center for Naval Analyses Corp., asks once again why the tough policy on Iraq is coupled with such a soft one on the Stalinist North, in the Washington Times. Paul Greenberg, also in the Times, finds the North�s violation of agreements as a predictor of Iraq�s future behavior regarding UN inspections. NORTH KOREA�S �REFORM,� A NEW BEGINNING, OR THE BEGINNING OF THE END? That is the question pondered by Eric Weiner, National Public Radio, in The New Republic. Sign the Boycott Petition: In reaction to the 2008 Olympic Games being awarded to Beijing, the China e-Lobby has begun a petition for an American boycott of those games. Miss an Update, Weekly Links, or a North Korea Report? 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