| Home page To receive this publication via e-mail, click here. THE NORTH KOREA REPORT: APRIL 28, 2003 Our statement on why North Korea must be liberated can be found here. TOP STORY: AS TALKS CONCLUDE, NORTH CLAIMS IT HAS NUCLEAR WEAPONS Talks among the U.S., North Korea, and Communist China on the Stalinists� nuclear ambitions came to an abrupt end on Thursday, a day ahead of schedule, after the North told the U.S. that it already had nuclear weapons, and would test them soon. The statement was a �blatant and bold� (CNN 4/24) boast, and a clear violation of the 1994 agreement in which the North pledged to freeze its nuclear program. The Stalinist regime even went so far as to threaten to export their nuclear weapons (Washington Post) � a threat that led President Bush to say the regime was �back to the blackmail game� (Washington Times). Communist China, however, had the audacity to call the talks �a good start� (BBC). The North also claimed that it had nearly completed processing the plutonium rods in Yongbyon. The 1994 agreement won the North hundreds of millions in fuel oil and partial construction of two nuclear power plants, which have been suspended but not permanently cancelled. This time, North Korea wants a written guarantee that the U.S. will not attack them. The notion that we would give them anything in writing should be sent to the proper file � the circular one. 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 AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS STATE DEPT. HEARD ABOUT PLUTONIUM REPROCESSING IN MARC; PENTAGON NOT TOLD Meanwhile, the State Department acknowledged that the North told it that it was reprocessing the Yongbyon rods last month. The Pentagon, which claims it heard nothing about this � and is generally home to more hawkish officials on North Korea � was enraged by the news on the plutonium rods, whose reprocessing had been doubted for months (see 3/24 and last North Korea Reports). U.S. STILL HOPING PRC WILL PRESSURE NORTH KOREA TO BEHAVE Did that headline make you squirm, too? I only wish it were wrong. The U.S. is still hoping �that their long struggle to draw the Chinese into a campaign against North Korea might suddenly bear fruit� (Washington Post 4/26). While the PRC might be a little miffed at the North�s brazenness, the Post also noted that it would never �press so hard that the North Korean government collapses.� U.S. HAS STRIKE PLANS; RUMSFELD PUSHING REGIME CHANGE, WITH PRC COOPERATION Meanwhile, Agence France Presse, citing the Australian, reported that the U.S. �has produced detailed plans to bomb North Korea's nuclear plant at Yongbyon if the Stalinist state goes ahead with reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel rods.� The strike would also hit �North Korean heavy artillery in the hills above the border with South Korea.� The move would only be a surgical strike, not a precursor to liberation. The AFP also reported a plan put forth by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for �the collapse of Kim Jong-il's regime.� However, the plan seems to include recruiting Communist China�s help. Why the PRC would help destroy its long-time ally after last week�s �good start� (see Top Story) is anyone�s guess. Furthermore, a non-nuclear North Korea � and that�s based on the dubious assumption it will stay that way � could still sell arms to terrorists, starve its own people, and test long-range missiles. In other words, a post-Kim, post-nuke Stalinist regime would still be very dangerous. NORTH KOREA DEMANDING U.S. DROP �HOSTILE POLICY� TOWARD IT Before the talks collapsed, the Stalinist regime, through its Korean Central News Agency mouthpiece, demanded that the U.S. �show its political will to make a bold switchover in its hostile policy toward (North Korea) and prove it in practice� (BBC). Also reporting: CNN, Cybercast News OTHER NUCLEAR NEWS SOUTH KOREA TELLS NORTH TO GIVE UP NUKES; NK TELLS SOUTH TO BUTT OUT South Korea pleaded with the North to give up their nuclear weapons over the weekend, both in public (CNN 4/25) and in ministerial-level talks with the Stalinist regime (BBC). The Stalinists told the South �that the nuclear issue is a matter between the North and the United States� (CNN 4/28), in effect telling the democratically elected government of South Korea to butt out. GERMAN SHIPMENT OF ALUMINUM TUBES FOR NK STOPPED A German shipment of aluminum tubes to North Korea went no farther than Egypt, where French authorities �ordered the ship's captain to unload the containers�(Washington Times, second paragraph). The tubes are a key component in the process of enriching uranium. A German firm had previously sent a sarin gas component to NK (See 2/24 North Korea Report). OTHER NEWS AUSTRALIA TO PUT CREW OF DRUG-RUNNING STALINIST SHIP ON TRIAL Australia is bringing charges against nearly thirty crewmen from a North Korean ship caught distributing heroine outside the Australian shore (see last North Korea Report). Report: BBC COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS ON NUCLEAR NORTH KOREA Steve Schifferes, BBC, examines the effects of the North�s nuclear announcement on the argument between the Pentagon and the State Department on the Stalinist regime. The BBC also tracked the South Korean media response to the North�s nuclear boast. Meanwhile, Peter Hayes, executive director of the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainable Development, calls for U.S. concessions on MSNBC. ON COMMUNIST CHINA�S ROLE The editors of the National Post call on Communist China to help end the North Korean regime, which they called �a modern-day Mordor.� They, like many others, remain hopeful that the PRC will, in time, divest itself of its half-century ally. OTHER COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS Marcus Noland, of the Institute for International Economics, takes the Roh-like, idealistic perspective on the North Korean economy and its supposed relation to its nuclear ambitions in the BBC. Joe Havely, CNN, visits the Korean demilitarized zone. 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