| Home page To receive this publication via e-mail, click here. THE NORTHERN KOREA REPORT: OCTOBER 25, 2004 Dragon in the Dark: How and Why Communist China Helps Our Enemies in the War on Terror is now available: here, at Amazon, or at 1-888-280-7715. Our statement on why northern Korea must be liberated can be found here. TOP STORY: BUSH SIGNS NORTH KOREA HUMAN RIGHTS ACT INTO LAW NEW LAW ALLOWS REFUGEES TO APPLY FOR ASYLUM IN U.S., GIVES MONEY TO ANTI-STALINIST EFFORTS, AND EXPANDS RADIO BROADCASTS; ROK NOT HAPPY President Bush signed into law the North Korea Human Rights Act (see 7/27 and 10/4 NKRs). The bill authorizes �at least $24 million a year� (Agence France Press via Washington Times) for �nonprofit groups to support programs promoting human rights, democracy, rule of law, and the development of a market economy in North Korea.� The law also �establishes a special envoy whose job it will be to monitor human rights in North Korea� (BBC) and �makes North Koreans eligible for asylum in the US�; previously refugees would only be eligible for asylum in South Korea. This led groups working with refugees from Stalinist-controlled northern Korea to voice strong support for the law. Authorization for �American radio broadcasts into the North to promote democracy and human rights in the communist nation� (United Press International via Washington Times) is also part of the law. In effect, the Act is the first step towards a policy of liberation for northern Korea � although the President has not stated a willingness to take further steps. The dovish government of the Republic of Korea (democratic �South� Korea) was less than happy with the bill, but the people of the ROK may disagree: �According to a recent survey by the Seoul-based polling agency Research & Research, 83 percent of respondents said human rights abuses in North are serious.� Japan �immediately praised the new U.S. law.� The opposition in the ROK � the more hawkish, pro-American Grand National Party � not only supports the law, but �intends to submit its own parliamentary resolution in line with the U.S. legislation� (Cybercast News). WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION NEWS POWELL ASKS PRC TO NUDGE SCNK TOWARD TALKS; PRC SAYS SCNK WANTS THEM Secretary of State Colin Powell �urged China to place more pressure on Pyongyang to revive negotiations on North Korea's nuclear weapons plans� (BBC). Powell, in Beijing for talks with Communist leader Hu Jintao, cited the PRC�s role as �a major provider of assistance to North Korea� (Voice of America via Epoch Times 10/25). Of course, Communist China had earlier already claimed that its longtime ally had �agreed that the six-party talks is (sic) a good way and a good approach to promote resolution of the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue� (VOA via Epoch Times 10/19), during a visit to Beijing by Kim Yong-nam, the number two Stalinist (see last NKR). Kim himself said nothing. There have been three such rounds of talks on SCNK�s nuclear ambitions, which also include democratic �South� Korea, Japan, the U.S., Russia, and the aforementioned PRC. The Stalinist regime has refused to take part in a fourth round. Also reporting: Cybercast News The only tangible results of the talks have been substantial American concessions, and roughly two more years for the Stalinists to continue developing nuclear weapons (see 10/21/02, 12/8/03, 12/22/03, 6/7, 6/28, 9/20, and 9/28 NKRs). POWELL ALSO VISITS JAPAN AND ROK Prior to visiting Beijing, Powell met with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi �to discuss the impasse with North Korea� (VOA via Epoch Times). Koizumi cited the Stalinists� quest for nuclear weapons as �one reason Japan decided to pursue a ballistic missile defense system.� Powell is presently in Seoul, Republic of Korea, at this hour. Stop the SCNK Nuclear Power Plants: Are the plants dead or aren�t they? You can make sure they don�t come back! Use this China e-Lobby fact sheet and tell the President to kill the power plants from the 1994 agreement that SCNK broke. OTHER NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA�S ROLE MUCH-BALLYHOOED INDUSTRIAL PARK DEPENDENT ON RESOLUTION OF NUKE ISSUE Remember the industrial park in SCNK that was supposed to be the harbinger of �reform� by the Stalinists (see 3/8 NKR). Well, as it turns out, the industrial park, pushed heavily by ROK firms looking �to benefit from cheap labor in the North . . . is threatened by the lingering nuclear crisis on the peninsula� (Washington Times, second item). REFUGEE NEWS TWENTY-NINE MORE REFUGEES FROM SCNK ENTER ROK SCHOOL IN BEIJING Twenty-nine refugees from Stalinist-controlled northern Korea �have sought asylum in a South Korean school in the Chinese capital� (BBC). Their fate is unclear, since �the building . . . does not seem to have diplomatic status.� Also reporting: VOA via Epoch Times Communist China sends SCNK back any refugee it finds � thus forcing hundreds of thousands of refugees to live as nonpersons in the PRC (see 5/13/02, 5/20/02, 5/28/02, 6/18/02, 7/29/02, 9/9/02, 9/16/02, 1/20/03, 7/12, 7/27, 8/2, 9/6, 10/4, and last NKRs). FAMINE NEWS �REFORMS� LEAVING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS IN CITIES WITHOUT FOOD The World Food Program �expressed concern about a new class of urban poor in North Korea� (BBC). Who are these new Koreans headed for possible starvation? The folks who have seen food prices hit the roof due to the Stalinist regime�s much-maligned (and deservedly so) �reforms� (see 7/22/02, 7/29/02, and 1/28/03 NKRs). OTHER REPUBLIC OF KOREA (�SOUTH� KOREA) NEWS COURT SAYS PLAN TO MOVE CAPITAL MUST BE APPROVED BY REFERENDUM The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Korea (a.k.a. �South� Korea), called President Roh Moo-hyun�s plan to move the capital out of Seoul �unlawful because it first needed to be subject to a referendum� (BBC). The plan for a new capital has �has been criticized (UK sp) as ill-conceived and too expensive� (see 8/16 NKR). COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS Robert Samuelson, Washington Post, laments SCNK�s status as a nuclear power, but then claims �that the victor's practical choices are bleak.� Naturally, Samuelson doesn�t even entertain the possibility of liberation. Richard Halloran, formerly of the New York Times does the same, and a little worse, in his Washington Times column. David B. Rivkin Jr. and Darin R. Bartram, of Baker & Hostetler LLP, rightly criticize Senator John Kerry�s position on SCNK, wrongly praise President Bush�s policy on same, and ignore the liberation option entirely, in the Washington Times. 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 Northern Korea Report? Find it via our home page. Feel free to forward this to anyone you think would be interested in receiving it. Anyone who wishes to join (or unsubscribe or change their address) can send his/her name to [email protected]. Please feel free to send any news on Communist China or Stalinist-controlled northern Korea that you find to the same address. |