| Home page To receive this publication via e-mail, click here. THE NORTH KOREA REPORT: NOVEMBER 24, 2003 Dragon in the Dark: How and Why Communist China Helps Our Enemies in the War on Terror is now available! My book detailing Communist China�s history of aiding terrorist states, Saddam Hussein, the Taliban, and al Qaeda can be ordered here. � D.J. McGuire Our statement on why northern Korea must be liberated can be found here. TOP STORY: 1994 NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS SUSPENDED FOR ONE YEAR The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO), created under the 1994 Agreed Framework with North Korea, has suspended all construction on two light-water nuclear reactors from the 1994 deal. Reports: CNN, BBC The Stalinists, who were supposed to freeze their nuclear weapons program in the deal, admitted to violating the agreement last fall when the U.S. cornered them with evidence of its uranium-based nuclear weapons program (see 10/21/02 NKR). OTHER WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION NEWS GENERAL LAPORTE WORRIED ABOUT NK PUTTING NUCLEAR WEAPONS ON THE MARKET General Leon LaPorte, commander of the American forces in Korea, told reporters his belief that �nothing would prevent them from selling weapons-grade nuclear material to other countries, rogue nations or terrorist organizations� (Bill Gertz, Washington Times). North Korea already sells missile technology to any terrorist state willing to pay. 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 RUMSFELD BACKS REUNIFICATION, CALLS NK �EVIL,� BUT STILL WON�T PUSH LIBERATION Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, speaking to American troops at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between Stalinist North and democratic South Korea, called the North an �evil regime� (BBC) and provided his toughest and most eloquent rhetoric against the Stalinists, who responded called the Secretary�s remarks �slander� (Newsmax). Later, talking to American troops at Osan Air Base, Rumsfeld called the regime�s horror show �a crime� (Bill Gertz, Washington Times), and said he hoped Korean reunification �is in my lifetime.� Yet even here, he refused to explicitly call for the regime�s downfall. RUMSFELD SAYS TROOP SHIFT WOULD IMPROVE AMERICAN POSITION IN SOUTH KOREA While in South Korea, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told his hosts that the planned shift of American troops away from the DMZ (see last NKR) �would enable the U.S. Army to respond more quickly to an attack by the North� (CNN). He also repeated the American pledge to defend South Korea form any Stalinist attack (Bill Gertz, Washington Times). Meanwhile, details of the troop shift began to emerge: some troops will go to Iraq and Afghanistan, while the rest will be �out of the capital beginning within a year� (Washington Times). Just how many are moving out of South Korea altogether is not yet known. NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA�S ROLE SOUTH KOREAN PRISONER OF WAR CAPTURED BY PRC AFTER ESCAPING NK Jeon Yong-il, a South Korean veteran held as a prisoner by the Stalinists for half a century, is now in detention in Communist China after escaping the North. South Korea is demanding the release of the 72-year-old Jeon, who is being held with his wife. The Stalinists are still holding prisoner about 300 South Korean veterans. Report: BBC COMMUNIST PM ON WHETHER NORTH KOREA HAS NUKES: �I TRULY DON�T KNOW� Communist Premier Wen Jiabao gave an interview to the Washington Post, during which he actually had this answer to the question of whether or not North Korea is a nuclear power, �I truly don't know.� Come again? Does anyone still think this regime can be �helpful� on North Korea when it won�t even admit to the extent of the problem? OTHER SOUTH KOREA NEWS PATRIOT MISSILES COME TO SOUTH KOREA South Korea is deploying Patriot missiles that are �capable of shooting down incoming North Korean Scud or its medium-range No-Dong missiles� (Bill Gertz, Washington Times). HYUNDAI DOES NOT OWN GREENHOUSE IT IS FINANCING IN NORTH KOREA Buried in a would-be puff piece by the Washington Post on Hyundai�s investments in North Korea, in this case the city of Kosong, is this stunning fact: despite financing and operating a greenhouse in the city, the Stalinist regime still maintained ownership of the place. Hyundai does own a tourist resort north of Kosong, but many believe the $410 million the North won to let the resort go forward �was so inflated that it, too, amounted to a bribe � one they say might have been diverted to North Korea's nuclear weapons program.� INTERNATIONAL NEWS UN WANTS MORE AID FOR NORTH KOREA The United Nations World Food Program �is launching an appeal for more than $200m in aid� (BBC) for North Korea. The aid would supposedly go not just to food but also �to encourage tentative economic reforms.� Not mentioned were the Stalinists� repeated theft of food aid and the utter failure of the �reforms� (see 1/28 NKR and 3/6/02 Update). JAPAN MOVING CLOSER TO U.S. DUE TO NORTH KOREA Japan �strengthened its alliance with the United States in the face of threats from North Korea,� according to former Ambassador Michael H. Armacost (cited by the Washington Times, last item). COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS Parapundit founder Randall Parker (Member since 2003) examines the effects of the 1994 Agreed Framework: a stronger North Korea and a more anti-American South Korea. He then returns to his signature (and very just) cause, calling for an end to �the North Korean regime's information monopoly over the people in the North� as a liberation precursor. One of the sources Parker cites, an Asia Times piece by Kyung Hee University lecturer David Scofield, focuses specifically on what has happened in South Korea, which includes a stunning silence, partly government imposed, on the North�s human rights atrocities. He also casts well-deserved doubt on any future agreement with the Stalinist North. Parker also had this view on Rumsfeld�s trip to Japan and statements he made therein. 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. 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. |