| THE NORTH KOREA REPORT: DECEMBER 23, 2002 Our statement on why North Korea must be liberated, and how it can happen, can be found here. NEWS STALINISTS MOVING TO RESTART SHUT DOWN NUCLEAR PLANT PULL DOWN MONITORING EQUIPMENT DESPITE WORLDWIDE CONDEMNATION North Korea took down monitoring equipment installed to ensure its nuclear plant shut down in the 1994 Agreed Framework, a clear sign it truly is planning to restart the plant � which can also make weapons grade plutonium (see 12/16/02 NK Report). The North admitted to pursuing uranium-based nuclear weapons for years, in violation of the 1994 deal (see 10/21/02 NK Report). Report: Washington Post South Korea, meanwhile, �called on the international community to pressure North Korea to restore United Nations surveillance equipment at its nuclear facilities� according to the BBC. NORTH COULD HAVE NUCLEAR MATERIALS FOR BOMBS IN �MONTHS� All agreed that restarting the plant would generate the Stalinists weapons-grade nuclear material �in a few months� (CNN). Also reporting: BBC, Interview with CNN Senior International Editor David Clinch NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR AMBITIONS TO COME UP BEFORE SECURITY COUNCIL The United Nation�s Security Council will take up North Korea�s nuclear ambition � including its plans to restart the nuclear plants shut down in the 1994 deal. While sources told Cybercast News that �sanctions or other punitive measures may result,� Communist China � the Stalinists� fifty-plus-year ally � has veto power in the Security Council. Stop the North Korean Nuclear Power Plants: North Korea announced that it would restart the pre-1994 plutonium power plants. Despite this, talk of negotiations continues, and building the two nuclear power plants that were part of the deal has still not been ruled out. 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. OUTGOING FORERIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE CHAIR: NK MORE DANGEROUS THAN IRAQ Senator Joseph Biden (D-Delaware), outgoing Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called North Korea �a greater danger immediately to US interests . . . than Saddam Hussein� (BBC). SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT-ELECT SAYS POLICY TOWARD NORTH WON�T CHANGE Roh Moo-huyn, the dovish president-elect of South Korea, said his policy toward Stalinist North Korea and the U.S. would �not be much different� (BBC) than outgoing President Kim Dae-jung. Both men are Millennium Democrats. He said the alliance between the U.S. and South Korea �must mature and advance in the 21st century� (CNN), whatever that means. Of course, Roh�s attempt to push the �sunshine� policy will have tough sledding in the legislature, controlled by the opposition Grand National Party, which is more hawkish on the North. The effect on American policy towards North Korea � which is slightly more hawkish than Roh, but not as much as is generally believed � is unclear. Also reporting: Cybercast News, Washington Times, Washington Post COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS ROH�S WIN � NOT QUITE AN ENDORSEMENT OF �SUNSHINE� Victor Cha, of Georgetown University, takes note that North Korea �stood a distant fourth in issues that affected individual votes� in the South Korean presidential election. His analysis is in the Washington Post. Doug Struck, also in the Post, says Roh good play the good cop to North Korea; the Post�s editors share that hope, but aren�t so sure if it will work. Also chiming in is CNN. COMMUNIST CHINA MAY BE MIFFED AT NK, BUT NOT ENOUGH TO RISK LOSING REGIME According to Matthew Forney (Time Asia), the PRC is �growing antsy� about the antics of its Stalinist ally. However, anyone hoping that Communist China will help �isolate� North Korea should remember, �the (PRC�s) greatest fear is of a destabilized North Korea,� and that �regime change� is a non-starter with the Communists. Thus, they will be �probably unwilling to make any major policy changes.� A CALL TO EXTEND U.S. MISSILE DEFENSE TO ANTI-COMMUNIST AND ANTI-STALINIST ALLIES Charles R. Smith, Newsmax.com, calls of President Bush to extend America�s missile defense � planned for deployment in 2004 � to Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea for protection against Communist China and Stalinist North Korea. THE NORTH KOREAN THREAT David Rennie, from the London Daily Telegraph, has this excellent analysis of the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and notes that Stalinist Kim Jong-Il has managed to silence almost all talk of liberating his captive victims, in the Canadian National Post. Sign the petition for an American boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympic 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. 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]. Please feel free to send any news on Communist China or North Korea that you happen to find to the same address. |