| THE NORTH KOREA REPORT: JANUARY 28, 2003 Our statement on why North Korea must be liberated, and how it can happen, can be found here. TOP STORY: NORTH KOREAN "REFORMS" BOMB BADLY North Korea's efforts at "reform" last summer (see 7/22/02 and 7/29/02 North Korea Reports) that spawned glowing reviews from many outsiders - this quarter was not one of them - have led to the following: "runaway inflation is emptying millions of pocketbooks and bottlenecks in production are causing widespread shortages" (Washington Post). Oops. The plan was to rapidly raise prices and wages to put them more in line with the black market in the North. However, the Stalinists have backtracked on the wage hikes, while prices are still shooting upward, giving more credence to those who insisted the whole plan was merely aimed at "breaking the back of private entrepreneurs," i.e., the aforementioned black market. NUCLEAR NEWS IAEA SETS, THEN POSTPONES MEETING ON NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM The International Atomic Energy Agency indefinitely postponed a meeting scheduled for February 3 on the matter of North Korea�s nuclear weapons program (CNN). The move was in response to a request from South Korea �for more time to allow diplomatic efforts to work� (BBC). The United States is hoping the IAEA will bring the issue of North Korea�s nuclear weapons program � a violation of the 1994 Agreed Framework with the United States � to the United Nations Security Council, where Communist China, the Stalinists 50-plus-year-ally, has veto power. Also reporting: Cybercast News POWELL SEES "PROGRESS" IN "CONVERSATIONS" WITH STALINISTS Secretary of State Colin Powell said he saw "some progress" (CNN) in "a lot of conversations" the North was having with other nations, Russia in particular. Powell also said Communsit China, the Stalinists' 50-year ally, had "a role to play" in the situation. Powell also said the U.S. has "no intenion" of military action against the North (BBC). Not only did Powell, again, refuse to make any mention of a desire to liberate the people of North Korea, he evn went so far as to promise "a different kind of relationship" with the Stalinist regime if it halt its nuclear program, something it already told the U.S. it would do in 1994. RUSSIAN OFFICIAL CALLS MEETING �INTERESTING� Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov returned from his �interesting� (CNN) meeting with Kim Jong-il over the North�s nuclear ambitions. Losyukov also called his meetings with the Stalinists �very useful and rather constructive� (BBC). EX-DEFENSE SECRETARY SAYS NORTH ALREADY RESTARTED YONGBYON William Perry, former Secretary of Defense under Bill Clinton, asserted that the Stalinist north has begun "reprocessing" (CNN) nuclear matieral at Yongbyon, the plant they were shut down under the 1994 nucelar power deal, slated for a restart once the U.S. cut off fuel oil following the North's admission to violating the deal (see 10/21/02 and 11/18/02 North Korea Reports). PAKISTANI HELP WITH NORTH KOREAN NUKES GOES BACK TO 1997 According to a CIA report cited by, of all people, the New Yorker, Pakistan, ally of Communist China for over five decades, had been helping the North Korean with its nuclear weapons program as far back as 1997, just around the time the Stalinists began their uranium-based weapons program. Pakistan, of course, denied any such thing (Washington Times, fourth paragraph). 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. NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA�S ROLE NORTH KOREAN FIRMS IN PRC BUYING MISSILE PARTS, PRC MAY PROVIDE NUCLEAR AID North Korean firms in Communist China are buying and sending to Pyongyang �raw materials and components for its ballistic-missile programs,� according to a CIA report cited by Bill Gertz, Washington Times. This comes on the heels of the news that Communist China sold its Stalinist ally tributyl phosphate, a chemical that can weaponize uranium and plutonium (see 12/19/02 North Korea Report). According to another report cited by Gertz, from the House Speaker's North Korea Advisory Group, the Communists would also be willing to �be willing to support Pyongyang's needs for nuclear-power-generating reactor fuel if the United States, South Korea and Japan cut off fuel shipments and stop building two new nuclear reactors, as appears likely to happen.� OTHER NEWS HYUNDAI EXECS ORDERED NOT TO LEAVE SOUTH KOREA DUE TO SUMMIT PAYOFF PROBE Prosecutors ordered fifteen executives of the South Korean car firm Hyundai to stay in South Korea due to their possible role in an alleged $400 million payoff to North Korea to smooth the way to a 2000 summit between Kim Jong-il and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung. The firm received the $400 million via a loan from a state-run South Korean bank. Report: BBC According to the hawkish Grand National Party, which controls the South Korean Parliament, Hyundai, which �has played a key role in nurturing better ties between South Korea and the isolated communist North,� may have sent the money to the Stalinists to �to facilitate� the 2000 summit, which won Kim Dae-jung the Nobel Peace Prize. See the 10/14/02 North Korea Report for the first report on this scandal. NORTH WANTS SOUTH'S HELP AGAINST U.S. AFTER MINISTERIAL TALKS LEAD TO DEAD END Stalinist North Korea and democratic South Korea held four day of minister-level talks last week. While there was an agreement for more family reunions, the North�s nuclear ambitions remain a major sticking point. The joint communiqu� said the two side had �agreed to actively cooperate� (CNN 1/24) on the issue, but South Korea almost immediately said the weak statement was just that � too weak. During the meeting, the Stalinists again denied any intention of building nuclear weapons, another retreat from its brazen admission to the U.S. in October (CNN 1/23). After the ministerial meeting, North Korea tried to turn South Korea against the U.S. in the diplomatic minuet over the Stalinists' nuclear weapons program (CNN 1/27). ENVOY FOR SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT SNUBBED IN PYONGYANG The Stalinist regime hosted envoys from outgoing South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and his incoming successor Roh Moo-hyun this week for talks on the North Korea�s nuclear ambitions (BBC). The envoy from Kim was supposed to meet Kim Jong-il, but the lead Stalinist skipped the meeting (CNN). PRESIDENT-ELECT WANTS SUMMIT WITH KIM, THINKS STALINIST WANTS REFORM President-elect Roh, who takes office four week from tomorrow, wants a summit with Kim Jong-il after his inauguration. According to CNN, a major reason for Roh�s dovishness on the North is that �Roh said he believes North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons is being used as a bargaining chip to secure the country's safety and ensure political reforms� (CNN). NORTH GIVES UNNAMED CONCESSION ON ROAD AND RAIL LINKS Stalinist North Korea apparently �made a key concession on cross-border road and rail links with South Korea� (BBC). What that concession actually was did not make the report. SOUTH KOREAN ENVOY CALLS U.S. �BEST FRIEND� Yoo Jay-kun, Roh�s envoy to Washington and a member of the South Korean Parliament from the president-elect�s dovish Millennium Democratic Party, told a conference the following about the U.S. and South Korea: �Whenever Korea has trouble, America was always a best friend that really cared and helped us� (United Press International via Washington Times). COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS ON COMMUNIST CHINA AND THE NORTH KOREA REFUGEES Jon Pomfret, Washington Post, examines Communist China�s massive crackdown and repatriation of refugees from North Korea, simply trying to escape starvation and Kim Jong-il. Of course for Communist China, preserving the Stalinist regime, a PRC ally since the Korean War, is more important than preserving the lives of the refugees, who risk harrowing imprisonment or death if �repatriated.� The editors of the Washington Post rip the North Korean regime for the brutal oppression of its own people. They also blast Communist China for its policy of sending back any North Korean refugee it finds, and lambaste the rest of the world for not paying enough attention to this human rights disaster. The editors also note a possible "hidden agenda" behind the stony silence. �After all,� they say, �a massive exodus from North Korea could destroy its regime, just as a similar refugee exodus once helped destroy East Germany's. And, rhetoric aside, nobody � not South Korea, not China and not the United States � is really prepared for that. Only the North Koreans would benefit.� These comments are quite harsh; one can only wish they were false. Meanwhile, Caroline Gluck, BBC, examines the plight of the refugees themselves, trapped in Communist China with no legal protections, and fully aware that the Communists will send back to the Stalinist North any refugee they find. MORE ON COMMUNIST CHINA AND NORTH KOREA Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, BBC, has these sobering comments for those looking to the PRC to resolve the nuclear weapons standoff: �As North Korea's largest donor of food and fuel, China controls the levers that could force Pyongyang to back down. But China's fear of a North Korean collapse means those levers will never be used.� Meanwhile, Erik Cornell, Sweden�s Ambassador to North Korea in the mid-1970s, has this timely reminder on North Korea and the PRC in the Washington Times: �North Korea lies within Beijing's sphere of influence, and that China retains its control and guarantee over what happens in the area. As the local saying goes on solemn occasions: Beijing and Pyongyang are as close as lips and teeth.� The editors of the National Post (Canadian) call on Communist China to help rein in its Stalinist ally. Unfortunately, the editors� view on Communist China � �looking more like an ally than a rival� � is so naively optimistic it�s practically pollyannaish. More on target is Ellen Bork, Deputy Director of the Project for the New American Century, who says this on the PRC and North Korea: "U.S. officials should remove North Korea from the list of matters on which China supposedly cooperates and take the opportunity to review the record of 'constructive engagement.'" ON THE RISING HAWKISHNESS IN JAPAN Doug Struck and Sachiko Sakamaki, Washington Post, find Japan�s silence on North Korea�s nuclear weapons program is getting increasing criticism for Japanese, most of whom want Japan to take a tougher stance against the Stalinist regime. One member of the Diet (Parliament) even suggested Japan go nuclear in response. SOUTH KOREA WEIGHS IN The BBC surveys South Korea�s media for its reaction to recent events. Meanwhile, South Korean veterans of the Korean War lament the growing complacency of the generations that have follwoed them, and their unwillingness to see the Stalinist regime of North Korea for what it really is, in this piece by Doug Struck, Washington Post. Sangmee Bak, an associate professor of cultural anthropology at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, probes the views of younger South Koreans on the North, and finds a strong desire for reunification withthe North, but a "blind disregard for the tragic reality inflicted by the regime there on its own people." Column: Washington Post ON KIM JONG-IL Nicholas Eberstadt, in Time Asia, finds that Stalinist Number One (our term, not his) is �prone to egregious lapses of judgment, especially in a crunch. That is what makes the present crisis so very scary.� Kay John-Son, also in Time Asia, finds that even someone from Vietnam, one Kim�s �communist soul mates� had to wait 30 years to spirit his bride out of the North. Todd Lindberg, editor of Policy Review, says that the Bush Administration could suffer politically for its �vacillation on North Korea� in the Washington Times. ON NORTH KOREA�S NUCLEAR AMBITIONS Paul Greenberg, in the Washington Times, advises the following on North Korea: �Talking is better than not talking; it's certainly better than giving Dear Leader anything at all (emphasis added).� Mike Chinoy, CNN (1/27), examines the policy of South Korea (negotiate), the Bush Administration (???), and one of our favorites, Henry Sokolski (liberation of the North). Sokolski, executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center and a favorite voice on the North Korea Report, looks at who could join the Stalinists as future nuclear powers without tough U.S. action, in his own piece in the Weekly Standard. Chinoy also hears from analysts who sound a bit too sympathetic to the North, in this CNN (1/28) piece. ON THE AMERICAN TROOPS IN SOUTH KOREA Eric Margolis has gotten many things wrong, in the view of yours truly, including a few things in his Toronto Sun column. He is also a leading critic of the United States. However, he despises Kim Jong-il even more, and as such, is a strong supporter of the U.S. military presence in South Korea. ON NORTH KOREA AND WAR CNN surveys projections of the effects of war with Stalinist North Korea. ON NORTH KOREA�S ROLE IN THE AXIS OF EVIL Michael Ledeen, in National Review Online, advises President Bush to �again focus on the Axis of Evil,� including Stalinist North Korea, in his State of the Union address tomorrow. Check out the latest on Communist China and the Terrorist War. 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. Feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested in receiving it. 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