| Home page To receive this publication via e-mail, click here. THE NORTH KOREA REPORT: MARCH 31, 2003 Our statement on why North Korea must be liberated can be found here. TOP STORY: WHERE�S KIM JONG-IL? STALINIST-IN-CHIEF NOT SEEN FOR WEEKS According to South Korean monitors cited by the BBC, Stalinist-in-chief Kim Jong-il �not appeared in public for 43 days.� More ominously, his top military leaders have also been out of sight, and a high-ranking defector, Jo Myong-chol, said the North �to be on a war footing.� Also reporting: Sianews NUCLEAR AND OTHER WEAPONS NEWS �SURGICAL STRIKE� AGAINST NORTH KOREA STILL ON THE TABLE, NOT LIBERATION Is Kim onto something? The U.S. is looking closer at a �surgical strike� against North Korea, according to Newsmax, due to the failure of �multilateral� diplomacy � no real surprise given its dependency on Stalinist ally Communist China. Maddeningly, liberation is still off the list of options, so the worst Kim would suffer apparently is a delay in his nuclear ambitions, but more importantly, he would still survive. 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 the two nuclear power plants that were part of the 1994 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. NORTH KOREA SAYS NO TO NUCLEAR INSPECTIONS The Stalinist regime, citing Ba�athist Iraq as evidence, insisted it would never accede to �the demand... for �nuclear inspection� and disarmament� (CNN). Iraq�s 12 years delaying and undercutting the inspections did not seem to be very important to the Stalinists. Also reporting: BBC, Washington Post U.S. IMPOSES SANCTIONS ON PAKISTANI INSTITUTE THAT BOUGHT MISSILES FROM NK The United States imposed economic sanctions against Kahn Research Laboratories, for buying Nodong missiles � �fully assembled and ready to fly� (Washington Times) � from North Korea. The U.S. chose not to sanction the government of Pakistan, which like the North is a half-century-plus ally of the PRC. KRL, a.k.a. the AQ Khan Nuclear Research Institute, is �in charge of the nation's nuclear weapons program,� and the U.S. is certain that the Pakistani regime was aware of the move. The U.S. also hit the North with sanctions, but their effects are �principally symbolic, officials said, because neither the Khan laboratories nor North Korea do business in the United States� (Washington Post). STALINISTS TO INCREASE MILITARY SPENDING The Stalinists announced plans to increase military spending, again, this year. Report: BBC JAPAN LAUNCHES SPY SATELLITES, GETS RIPPED FOR IT BY NORTH KOREA Japan launched two satellites last Friday, one with optical photography equipment and one with radar, in order to keep tabs on Communist China and its fifty-year ally, North Korea. The decision was driven by �Japan worrying more and more about North Korea's attempts to acquire nuclear weapons and the growing power of China� (Washington Post). North Korea called the launch a �hostile act� (BBC). NEWS ON COMMUNIST CHINA�S ROLE PRC BLOCKING UN SECURITY COUNCIL STATEMENT ON NORTH KOREA . . . Communist China is holding up a Security Council statement �calling on Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions� (Washington Times) until its Stalinist ally responds to the U.S. offer for multilateral talks on the subject. Also reporting: Newsmax . . . BUT MAY BE TURNING A SCREW ON STALINISTS That said, the Baltimore Sun reported that Communist China might be leaning on its ally to stop its antics and rhetoric, although the story is based on hearsay and an oil pipeline shutdown publicly deemed a technical problem. Any optimism on this front should be cautious, at best. OTHER AMERICAN-RELATED NEWS SOUTH KOREA CALLS FOR �BOLD INITIATIVE� IN U.S.-NK RELATIONS South Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan called for an American �bold initiative� (Washington Times) with North Korea. Yoon, citing Richard Nixon�s 1972 visit to Communist China as an example made his pitch for the �bold initiative� in his meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell last week. For his part, Powell said it could only be done if �we deal with the issue of nuclear proliferation, proliferation of weapons and some of the other activities ... with respect to their military expenditures.� ASSISTANT SECRETARY KELLY SAYS NK �SOFTENING� ITS LINE ON NUCLEAR TALKS Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly � the fellow who confronted the Stalinists on their uranium weapons program (see 10/21/02 North Korea Report) � told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the North was �softening� (CNN) on the issue of U.S.-demanded multilateral talks, but did not elaborate. The Stalinists have repeated asked for bilateral talks, as well as a non-aggression pact. NK BREAKS OFF MILITARY CONTACT WITH U.S., THREATENS TO END 1953 ARMISITICE Meanwhile, The North stopped its regular, but unofficial, military contact with the U.S., and threatened to end the 1953 armistice that halted the Korean War, to protest the ongoing U.S.-South Korean military exercises (CNN 3/26, BBC). Both South Korea and the United Nations Command � in place since the War � expressed �concern� (CNN 3/27) at the move. OTHER SOUTH KOREA NEWS ROH APPOINTS NEW AMBASSADOR TO WASHINGTON South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun appointed Han Sung-joo as ambassador to the United States over the weekend. Han was South Korea�s foreign minister during the creation of the Agreed Framework, the 1994 nuclear deal North Korea admitted violating with its uranium-based weapons program last October (see 10/21/02 North Korea Report). Report: Washington Times COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS Kari Huus, MSNBC, gives an incomplete picture of the famine in North Korea. She discusses the plight of the people and the views of donor nations, but not the act that the North steals international food aid from its own people to feed the party and the military (see 2/13/02 and 3/6/02 Updates). Sarah Buckley, BBC, examines Japan�s launch of two �spy� satellites (see Other Nuclear and Other Weapons News). 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