| Home page To receive this publication via e-mail, click here. THE NORTH KOREA REPORT: MAY 19, 2003 Our statement on why North Korea must be liberated can be found here. TOP STORY: SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT VISITS U.S., MEETS PRESIDENT BUSH LEADERS PLEDGE TO �NOT TOLERATE� NUCLEAR NORTH KOREA South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun met with President Bush this week to discuss North Korea�s nuclear weapons and other matters. The two leaders issued a joint statement saying they �would not tolerate� (BBC) a nuclear North Korea. Bush himself also said the U.S. would �work to achieve a peaceful solution� (CNN). Also reporting: Cybercast News, MSNBC The statement (excerpted here by the Washington Times) did not go into detail, largely because Roh is more dovish on the subject than Bush is � at least for now. However, Bush insisted that the U.S. was �making good progress toward achieving that peaceful resolution� (Washington Post, Washington Times). Sadly, neither Bush nor Roh brought up the liberation of the people of northern Korea. Roh and Bush got along so well the former took it on the rhetorical chin from some of his own supporters � who expected Roh to be more distant from the United States (UPI via Washington Times). Stop the North Korean Nuclear Power Plants: Despite North Korea�s new boast of nuclear weapons, a brazen violation of the 1994 agreement to freeze its nuclear ambitions, the two nuclear power plants that were part of the 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. OTHER SUMMIT NEWS ROH MOO-HYUN CALLS STALINIST FEAR OF U.S. MILITARY �HELPFUL� ON NUKE ISSUE After his summit with President Bush, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, said North Korea�s fear of an American military action �a helpful (factor) towards peaceful resolution� (CNN) of the Stalinists� nuclear weapons issue. ROH SAYS HE ESTABLISHED �CHEMISTRY� WITH BUSH Despite their difference on North Korea (see above), Roh told Korean reporters that he and President Bush �had chemistry� (Agence France Presse via Washington Times). Aides to both were happy with the summit, and the apparent personal friendship to which it led. RELIGIOUS GROUP CALLS ON BUSH TO HELP LIBERATE NORTH KOREA Liberation was the subject of a massage to President Bush from the Institute on Religion and Democracy. Just before the summit, the group called on Bush to �give voice to desperate cries for freedom from the tormented people of North Korea� (Cybercast News) and reject the views of those who would �maintain the Pyongyang regime in power.� AXIS OF EVIL NEWS NORTH KOREA HELPED IRAN DEVELOP BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS, SAYS NRCI Communist China and Stalinist North Korea �are cooperating with the ministry of defense� (Fox News) in Iran to help the Islamic regime develop biological weapons, some of which Iran now already has. This was the assertion of the National Council for Resistance in Iran (NRCI), which exposed Iran�s Natanz nuclear weapons facility to the world last year (see 12/26/02 Update). While NRCI is usually reliable on information it uncovers about Iran�s ambitions for weapons of mass destruction, the group does have ties to the terrorist, Saddam Hussein-tainted People�s Mujahedin. IRANIANS OFFERED KIM JONG-IL �BILLIONS� FOR NUKE TECHNOLOGY Meanwhile, Michael Ledeen, National Review Online, who has numerous sources within Iran, reports that the Islamic regime �offered Kim Jong-il billions of dollars for nuclear weapons and technology.� It is the first report of the North bringing terrorist states (outside of itself) closer to becoming nuclear powers. Judging from the reaction he reported (�top leaders of the Revolutionary Guards were informed by the National Security Council that Iran would �soon� have nuclear weapons�), the Stalinists likely accepted. NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA�S ROLE CFR SAYS PRC, U.S. MUST HAVE GREATER ROLE IN NORTH KOREA NUCELAR ISSUE A task force for the Council on Foreign Relations told the United States to offer �American security guarantees, diplomatic relations and economic assistance� (CNN), if the Stalinist regime drop its nuclear weapons program. The CFR also called on Communist China to take tough action against North Korea � its ally for over 50 years � if it refuses to cooperate (fat chance there, CFR). OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS NORTH KOREA USED COMMUNIST CHINESE LASER AGAINST U.S. HELICOPTERS Two American helicopters patrolling the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea had an encounter with �a weapon that had the characteristics of a Chinese laser gun� (Bill Gertz, Washington Times). The particular laser, believed to be a ZM-87 from the PRC, is �the world's only laser device designed for use against troops,� and is specifically aimed to damage eyes for a range of three miles. This incidents, which �occurred around the time that four North Korean jets intercepted a U.S. spy plane� (see 3/10 North Korea Report), should serve as a timely reminder to those who see Communist China as a potential friend on issues regarding North Korea�s nuclear weapons. Also reporting: Newsmax U.S. SAYS PRE-EMPTION STILL AN OPTION AGAINST NORTH KOREA The United States, in particular National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack, said the option of pre-emptive military action against the Stalinist regime was still on the table, but it was clear that such was not the preferred plan for the Administration regarding the Stalinists� nuclear weapons. Sadly, liberation was � again � absent from the discussion. Report: Washington Times RUMSFELD CALLS FOR MARKET ECONOMY IN NORTH KOREA, RIPS STALINIST REGIME He was almost there. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told the Hudson Institute that North Korea�s mass starvation is �because of the viciousness of that dictatorship� (Washington Times). He also called for �market systems� in the North, but just couldn�t bring himself to say the word �liberation.� NORTH KOREA UPSET AT TERRORIST LABEL North Korea ripped the U.S. for labeling it a sponsor of terrorism, calling the label a �trite trick� (Newsmax) and an excuse for a military attack � a routine charge leveled against the U.S. by the Stalinist regime. Of course, North Korea has not only been a friend to terrorist states (see above), but a terrorist state itself (see 10/14/02 North Korea Report). OTHER NUCLEAR NEWS EX-NK GENERAL SAYS NORTH KOREA HAZ �DOZENS� OF NUKES, RUSSIAN MIGS An ex-general who defected from North Korea told Gekkan Gendai magazine that the regime �secretly imported nuclear bombs from the former Soviet Union and developed dozens of its own weapons� (AFP via Sydney Morning Herald, link courtesy Ron Vogel, China e-Lobby Member since 2000). The defector, who asked to remain anonymous, also said the North �bought more than 20 sophisticated MiG-31 fighters� from Russia. Outside analysts questioned, and some openly challenged, his assertions, citing the theory that �defectors are often keen to inflate their value or distort information for various purposes.� The general also said he still had, for what it�s worth, �channels with the Kim Jong-Il family.� NORTH KOREA JUNKS 1992 NUCLEAR PACT Stalinist North Korea announced it was backing out of a 1992 agreement with South Korea to keep the peninsula free of nuclear weapons. They then proceeded to say the U.S. made them renege on their decade-old promises. Reports: CNN, BBC, Newsmax SOUTH KOREA NEWS SOUTH KOREAN PM SAYS NK NUKES THREATENING ECONOMIC COOPERATION In some of the toughest language from a South Korean official in quite some time, Prime Minister Goh Kun said North Korea�s nuclear weapons, and ambitions for more, could lead to an end in the plans for economic cooperation between North and South Korea. Report: BBC NORTH AND SOUTH CONSIDERING JOINT OLYMPIC TEAM Stalinist North Korea and democratic South Korea are �exploring the possibilities of sending a joint team to next year's Olympic Games in Athens� (BBC). A member of the International Olympic Committee from both sides met to discuss the options last week. COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS ON NORTH KOREA AND THE UNITED STATES James O�Hanlon, of the Brookings Institute, offers tough and detailed proposed terms for giving North Korea its much-desired non-aggression pact in the Washington Times, but he comes up a little short on the internal repression issues, and liberation is, of course, not mentioned. Meanwhile, Dr. Richard Saccone offers a Pollyanish version of the possibilities of talks with the North in Newsmax. Julie Chao, Cox News Service via Washington Times, examines the Stalinist schizophrenia on the U.S. �blasted in daily propaganda, but �the most important factor to defend their system� through better ties. ON THE ROH-BUSH SUMMIT David Frum, National Review Online (and Member since 2003), praises Bush for preparing to shift American military forces away from the DMZ, but still in South Korea: �close enough to be used as a striking force if need be.� AFP, via the Washington Times, noted Roh�s admiration for Abraham Lincoln. Peter Brookes, of the Heritage Foundation, gives his analysis in the New York Post. ON COMMUNIST CHINA�S ROLE Austin Bay, in the Washington Times, details the �criminal syndicate� of Stalinist North Korea, and throws down the gauntlet to Communist China to �act like a responsible regional power� and rein in its long-time neighbor and ally. Meanwhile, Sushil Seth presents a more realistic perspective of Communist China�s ambitions, and how North Korea fits into them, in the Taipei Times. Check out the latest stories on 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 on our web site. 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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