| THE NORTH KOREA REPORT: OCTOBER 21, 2002 This was one for the ages: nuclear weapons, the abductees coming home (temporarily), and reports of the North supplying missile parts to Iraq. This was one heck of a week, and it made for our longest North Korea report ever. Meanwhile, our statement on what should be done about North Korea (hint: regime change) can be found here. NEWS NORTH KOREA ADMITS TO NUKE WEAPONS PROGRAM, VIOLATIONS OF �94 AGREEMENT PAKISTAN HELPED PROGRAM ALONG,�STUNNED� U.S. WON�T RULE OUT FINISHING PLANTS North Korea admitted to the U.S. that it has had a secret nuclear weapons program for eight years, in clear, stark, and constant violation of its commitment to halt nuclear weapons development in the 1994 Agreed Framework, in which the U.S. agreed to build two light-water nuclear power plants in the North. The North had the audacity to say they �no longer felt bound� by the accord (BBC 10/17, CNN 10/17). The Stalinists made the admission to Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly only after he confronted them with evidence of the continuing nuclear program during his talks with them two weeks ago. The North�s nuclear program shifted to enriched uranium after the 1994 accord. The admission left the U.S. �stunned� (Washington Post 10/16) and Japan and South Korea in �surprise and anger� (CNN 10/16). According to a later Post (10/19) story, however, Koizumi new about the North�s nuclear program before he held last month�s summit with Kim Jong-Il, now infamous for Kim�s admission that the north kidnapped 13 Japanese citizens from 1978 to 1983 (remember them?). The U.S also informed the South. What surprised all three �was the North Korean confession.� Kelly, who met with officials from Communist China, South Korea, and Japan on the subject, said the U.S. would continue to push for an �immediate and visible dismantling� (BBC 10/19) of the North�s nuclear weapons development. Meanwhile, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the U.S. is �seeking a peaceful solution� (Washington Post 10/18). McClellan said the news of North Korea�s nuclear program was �troubling.� However, the Washington Times reported something equally troubling, that the Administration �put off a decision on whether to continue honoring U.S. obligations under (the) 1994 agreement.� Secretary of State Colin Powell said, �When you have an agreement between two parties and one says it's nullified, then it's hard to see what you do� (Cybercast News). Then he added, �We're looking at all of the things that rest on the agreed framework to see what is in our interest to keep doing, what is in our interest not to keep doing� (BBC 10/20). Isn�t the entire deal now our interest not to keep doing? More encouraging, one senior official told the Post that the 1994 deal was dead: �Can you imagine taking the Agreed Framework back to Capitol Hill for funding?� CNN (10/20) also reported senior officials saying, �The White House considers (the) 1994 agreement . . . effectively dead.� Meanwhile, Bill Gertz (Washington Times) reported that fellow Communist Chinese ally Pakistan helped the North along in its nuclear weapons development. The BBC also reported on Pakistan�s aid to the Stalinist regime, noting �both have had close ties with China - seen by many experts as a key exporter of nuclear and missile know-how� (BBC 10/18 � 1). Pakistan called it all �baseless� (BBC 10/18 � 2). Stop the Nuclear Power Deal: North Korea has just admitted to continuing its nuclear weapons program, in violation of the 1994 agreement that won it a commitment from the United States to build two nuclear power plants there. The Stalinists now say the deal is dead. Use this China e-Lobby fact sheet and tell the President to react accordingly, and halt the building of the nuclear power plants. NORTH �WILLING TO TALK� ABOUT NUKES IT NEVER SHOULD HAVE HAD, BLAMES U.S. After a few days of watching the world react, the North played its cards. Media and government sources in South Korea cited Kim Yong Nam, Kim Jong-Il�s number two, saying the regime was �ready to resolve security concerns through dialogue� (CNN) if �the United States is willing to withdraw its hostile policy� (BBC). Isn�t it nice of them to talk about �resolving� something they never should have had? The Stalinists apparently tried the negotiation card when they were forced to admit to the nuclear weapons development, but were turned down cold by Kelly, who insisted upon the aforementioned �visible dismantling� (Washington Post 10/20). Of course, the North also said the whole thing was our fault (Washington Post 10/21). RUMSFELD SAYS NORTH LIKELY HAS �ONE OR TWO� NUKES ALREADY Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told the press, �It is our assessment that North Korea has reprocessed before 1994 sufficient plutonium for one or two nuclear weapons . . . I believe they have a small number of nuclear weapons.� Rumsfeld couldn�t go past belief, of course, because no one has been allowed to inspect North Korea�s nuclear weapons program. Report: National Post (Canadian) CONGRESSMEN WANT AID FOR NORTH KOREA TO END Meanwhile, several Congressmen, led by Ed Markey (Democrat � Massachusetts), Ben Gilman (Republican � New York), and Christopher Cox (R-California), called for the U.S. to �immediately halt all non-humanitarian subsidies of the North Korean government, including exports of fuel oil� (CNN). The fuel oil is part of the aforementioned �nullified� 1994 nuclear power plant deal. SOUTH KOREA DEMANDS STALINISTS END NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM South Korea demanded that the North �faithfully honor all international agreements it has signed,� i.e., shut down its nuclear program (CNN). Judging from the BBC report of South Korean Unification Minister Jeong Se-Hyun after his meeting with NK delegates on Sunday � �My heart is as gloomy as a cloudy sky� (BBC) � it appears the demand went ignored. SOUTH KOREAN OPPOSITION �SHOCKED,� MAY PUSH FOR �SUNSHINE� SLOWDOWN Meanwhile, the opposition Grand National Party � which controls the Parliament � said it was �shocked at the news� (Cybercast News), and may push for a slowdown, at the very least, to the �sunshine� policy of President Kim Dae-jung. According to the BBC (see 10/18 link), the South Korean media also �responded angrily to the news.� Also reporting: Washington Post JAPAN WILL PUSH AHEAD IN TALKS, IF NORTH KOREA DROPS NUCLEAR PROGRAM Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said talk with the North would continue, but he insisted that they would go nowhere unless �the principles and spirit of the Pyongyang declaration between Japan and North Korea (the 1994 agreement) are sincerely observed� (BBC). COMMUNIST CHINA CALLS FOR �DIALOGUE;� LOOKING TO PLAY NK CARD IN SUMMIT Meanwhile, Communist China had a warning � for the United States. The Stalinists� oldest and most loyal ally insisted that the nuclear issue �be solved peacefully through dialogue and consultation� (CNN). As for the North, one unnamed diplomat said the People�s Republic would likely not put the squeeze on the Stalinists since �China still likes to play the North Korean card.� How nice. What do they want with that card? Why, Taiwan of course. According to Willy Wo-Lap Lam (CNN), as Communist Chinese President Jiang Zemin has his last �official� summit to President George Bush this Friday, Communists China was hinting that its aid in pushing the Stalinists to end their nuclear ambitions � get this � �could depend on the outcome of his discussion with Bush on issues including Taiwan.� Under normal circumstances, nothing would trump the abductee issue (see below) as the top story. North Korea conveniently reminded us all that circumstances regarding it are never normal. More on this story in Commentary/Analysis ISHIHARA SAYS NORTH KOREA SELLING MISSILE PARTS TO IRAQ Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara � easily Japan�s most anti-Communist politician � told Japanese media, �It is absolutely clear that North Korea is supplying parts of Scud missiles to Iraq. It has made those parts in the course of developing its Taepodong missile and is still making them. The Japanese media and Foreign Ministry know it but just don't say so� (Washington Times). Ishihara also ripped plans by the Japanese government to offer economic aid to North Korea (see 9/16/02 NK Report). Ishihara said the aid �would mean stabbing our [U.S.] ally in the back.� He made these comments while briefing Japanese media after his meeting with several U.S. officials. ADBUCTEES VISIT RELATIVES IN JAPAN; CHILDREN STAY BEHIND IN NORTH KOREA Five Japanese kidnapped over twenty years ago returned to meet their families in Japan this week (CNN), roughly one month after Stalinist North Korea admitted to the kidnappings (see 9/23/02 NK Report). The Stalinists did not allow the abductees to take their children or other relatives from the North with them, keeping them behind as what relatives in Japan call � not without merit � �hostages� (BBC 10/16/02-1). Additionally, the five will go back to the Stalinist North next weekend. The Japanese government is insisting that the survivors be allowed to return to Japan permanently � with their entire North Korean families. Relatives of the eight abductees who �died� could not get any information from the survivors; one relative said, �I thought I was listening to a tape recorder� (BBC 10/16/02-2). Efforts by some Japanese members of Parliament to let the survivors stay in Japan longer are running into opposition from Japan�s Foreign Ministry, which is �apparently because they don't want to raise the ire of Pyongyang before the diplomatic normalisation (UK sp) talks� (BBC 10/16/02-3). Those talks are scheduled to begin in Kuala Lumpur next Tuesday. COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS REMEMBER COMMUNIST CHINA? Edward Timperlake and William C. Triplett II do, and they are the first on the subject of North Korea�s nuclear weapons program to tie the Stalinist regime, and what to do about it, to its 50-year-plus ally in the Washington Times. MORE ON NUCLEAR NORTH KOREA The best response (outside of Timperlake and Triplett) on the North came from William Kristol and Gary Schmitt in the Weekly Standard. The write, �(Then) Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Stanley Roth explained the logic behind the administration's policy: �Who knows what actions North Korea might take if it were desperate?� Not surprisingly, Pyongyang decided this was a pretty good scam.� The editors of the Washington Post had this excellent viewpoint on North Korea and its ambitions, even if it took them a while to get there: �The only solution is for Mr. Kim to accept that he must either abandon his weapons programs or lose his foreign lifelines and risk the collapse of his regime. In the coming weeks, it will be crucial that he hear that message consistently, and not just from the United States.� Among those who ripped the now �nullified� 1994 nuclear reactor deal were the Washington Times, the New York Sun, the New York Post, Frank Gaffney, of the Center for Security Policy (National Review Online), Ellen Bork (Project for the New American Century), Mona Charen (Washington Times), Max Boot (Weekly Standard), Clifford May (NRO) and Andrew Coyne (National Post). The dichotomy regarding U.S. policy towards North Korea and Iraq (the former gets nuclear engineers, the latter may get the U.S. military) is being noticed (Glenn Kessler and Peter Slevin, Washington Post). Meanwhile, both Iraq �doves� (Mary McGrory, Washington Post) and �hawks� (The New Republic (10/17 entry)) are wondering why the U.S. is treating the North with such kid gloves. Former Clinton Administration officials William Perry (Secretary of Defense) and Ashton Carter (Assistant Secretary of Defense) also weighed in on the subject, in the Washington Post. ON THE JAPANESE KIDNAP VICTIMS Jay Nordlinger weighs in on the subject in his column in National Review Online (tenth bullet). ON NORTH KOREAN �POLITICS� The New Republic (second 10/18 entry) also took note of the anniversary of the ascension to power of Kim Jong-Il (dubbed �Kim Jr.� by China e-Lobby founder Greg Eatroff), and how the North took the opportunity to praise �military-fist politics� and �the importance of the gun barrel.� How nice. 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? Find it on our web site. Check out the latest on Communist China and the Terrorist War. 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