Bush v. Kim of N. Korea


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	BlueHummingbird, News Bush v. NKorea From ConsortiumNews.com: January 3, 2001 Rev. Moon, the Bushes & Donald Rumsfeld By Robert Parry George W. Bush’s choice of Donald Rumsfeld to be U.S. defense secretary could put an unintended spotlight on the role of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon – a Bush family benefactor – in funneling millions of dollars to communist North Korea in the 1990s as it was developing a missile and nuclear weapons program. ... From AP: Wednesday March 28, 2001 9:15 PM ET http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010328/wl/nkorea_japan_us_1.html U.S. Warned in Anti-Missile Defense TOKYO (AP) - North Korea's state-run media on Wednesday accused the United States and Japan of boosting joint development of Washington's proposed anti-missile defense system, saying that could push the North to respond with force. ``If they continue to provoke military confrontation with North Korea - following this path to war - we will have no option but to respond with firm resolve,'' said the commentary on the North's official Korean Central News Agency. It was monitored in Tokyo by the Radiopress News Agency. The threat followed an accusation on Tuesday that the United States has been trying to derail rapprochement between South and North Korea as a prelude to war between the divided neighbors. .... From AP: Updated 2:51 PM ET April 24, 2001 http://news.excite.com/news/ap/010424/14/int-nkorea-us NKorea Angered by U.S. Stance SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea's military warned Tuesday that Washington's tougher policy on the reclusive communist state could escalate tensions on the divided Korean peninsula. ... The United States' "reckless provocations and aggressive moves" threaten to bring "confrontation and tension" back to the peninsula, Kim Yong Chun, chief of the KPA General Staff, said in a report at the meeting. "If the imperialists force a war upon us despite our serious warnings, our army and people will deal an annihilating blow of retaliation," he said in remarks carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, monitored in Seoul. ... About 37,000 U.S. troops are still stationed in South Korea under a defense treaty. From AP: Friday May 4 3:57 PM ET http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010504/pl/us_nkorea_1.html Bush Tells N Korea No Missile Tests http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010504/wl/skorea_eu_3.html By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press "The (EU) mission led by Persson left South Korea on Friday after arriving Thursday from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, where Kim Jong Il pledged to extend a moratorium on missile tests until 2003." From AP: Saturday May 12 6:02 AM ET http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010512/wl/koreas_missile_defense_1.html NKorea Warns Seoul on Missiles By SOO-JEONG LEE, Associated Press Writer SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea's state-run newspaper warned Saturday that South Korea will be doomed to ``ruin and death'' if it participates in Washington's proposed missile defense system. ... From AP: MAY 13, 22:42 EST http://wire.ap.org/APnews/ N.Korea Warns U.S. on Missile Plan SEOUL, South Korea (AP) North Korea warned Sunday that it would take a ``strong'' countermeasure if the United States tries to build an anti-missile shield. ... ``We will take a strong countermeasure if the U.S. deploys missile defense under the pretext of a 'threat' from (North Korea),'' said a commentary in the North's official communist party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun. ``Our countermeasure will not be bound to anything and we will not care about an arms race.'' ... From Asia Intellegence: Monday, 4 June 2001 http://www.asiaint.com/#aib1 "...Officials from North Korea have told a US scholar that the maintenance of a promised two-year moratorium on missile testing is dependent on the United States signalling the possibility of normalizing relations...." 7/21/2001 from The New York Times Op/Ed: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/21/opinion/21LEWI.html Bush the Radical By ANTHONY LEWIS ABROAD AT HOME July 21, 2001 ... "The dislike of treaties reflects an attitude that the United States must be free to do what it wants in the world. Call it unilateralism or whatever, it is a sharp break from our postwar premise that if wisely negotiated, treaties enhance our security." ... 7/20/2001 from Reuters: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010720/pl/korea_north_missile_dc_1.html N.Korea Vows Countermeasures in Reply to U.S. Test Friday July 20 8:36 AM ET SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea vowed on Friday to take countermeasures in response to last week's test by the Defense Department aimed at intercepting long-range missiles launched against the United States. ``The DPRK is compelled to take a counter-action for self-defense by the U.S. deliberate provocation,'' a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by Pyongyang's official Korea Central News Agency. ``A new global arms race has, therefore, become unavoidable. The DPRK will have nothing to lose even if all the points agreed upon between the DPRK and the U.S. are scrapped,'' the spokesman said. ... 7/22/2001 from AFP: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010721/1/19ja2.html North Korea assails US missile defense test and warns of arms race SEOUL, July 21 (AFP) - North Korea has accused the United States of fabricating threats from the communist state to justify its anti-missile defence system and warned Washington it had sparked a global arms race. In an angry reaction to the US's July 14 missile defence test over the Pacific Ocean, Pyongyang warned it could take retaliatory self-defense measures, but did not specify what actions it might take. "The test... proves that the controversial missile defence system has, in fact, entered the phase of full-dress establishment," a spokesman for the North Korean foreign ministry said. "A new global arms race has, therefore, become unavoidable," the unidentified foreign ministry spokesman was quoted as saying Friday by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Pyongyang usually speaks through an unidentified foreign ministry spokesman answering to questions posed by KCNA to state its positions in key issues. For more important issues, the ministry itself puts out statements. The spokesman said the US was citing the "non-existent missile threat from the DPRK (North Korea) in order to cover up its true colours." "The DPRK is compelled to take a counter-action for self-defence by the US deliberate provocation made to it in a bid to attain its sinister aim." ... North Korea's increasing anger follows a stiffening of North Korean-US ties since George W. Bush became president. ... From AP: Tuesday August 14, 2001 12:25 PM ET http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010814/wl/koreas_anniversary_3.html Koreas Mark 1945 Victory Separately By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A year ago, Aug. 15 was a truly Korean national holiday: the leaders of the two Koreas talked peace and reconciliation and groups of old Koreans in Seoul and Pyongyang crossed the border for tearful family reunions after decades apart. The mood is hardly celebratory in Seoul this year. No show of solidarity is planned for Wednesday, the anniversary of Korea's 1945 liberation from Japanese colonial rule. Instead, students filled downtown Seoul streets Tuesday with anti-U.S. slogans, blaming the renewed chill on the divided Korean peninsula on the Bush administration and its plan for a missile defense system. ... From AP: Thursday November 15 6:27 PM ET: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20011115/us/us_korea_1.html Rumsfeld Worried About NKorea Missiles By GEORGE GEDDA, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday that North Korea poses a ``very real'' threat to the United States through its missile development, export policies and attempts to produce weapons of mass destruction. Rumsfeld spoke of the Bush administration's worries about the reclusive communist state during a joint news conference with Kim Dong-shin, defense minister of South Korea. ... 11/26/2001 from AP: http://news.excite.com/news/ap/011126/16/news-attacks-bush Bush Warns Iraq, North Korea By RON FOURNIER, AP White House Correspondent Updated: Mon, Nov 26 4:43 PM EST WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush said Monday the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan is "just the beginning" of the fight against terrorism, and he warned Iraq and North Korea there would be consequences for producing weapons of mass destruction. ... 2/2/2002 from ABCNews: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/abc/20020202/wl_abc/axis020131 U.S. Watches 'Axis' States ABCNEWS.com Fri Feb 1,11:36 PM ET ABCNEWS' Terry Moran contributed to this report With the eyes of the nation - and the world - on him, President Bush this week declared that a new "axis of evil" - Iraq, Iran, and North Korea - pose a deadly and unacceptable threat to the United States. The statement was a significant expansion of the scope of the war on terror. But his administration apparently has developed no clear plan to achieve this goal. ... "We're threatening in a sense to go to war with each of these three countries," says former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger. "That's a pretty big battlefield." ... North Korea responded to Bush's "axis of evil" remark for the first time today, in a statement carried by its official news agency KCNA. North Korea said it, "will never tolerate the U.S. reckless attempt to stifle the [North] by force of arms but mercilessly wipe out the aggressors." ... 2/2/2002 from AP: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020202/ap_on_re_as/nkorea_ki m_jong_il_2 N. Korea Hints at Military Boost By SANG-HUN CHOE, Associated Press Writer Sat Feb 2, 6:36 AM ET SEOUL, South Korea - Three days after President Bush said North Korea was part of an "axis of evil," leader Kim Jong Il said his regime may increase the capabilities of the world's fifth-largest army to prevent an invasion. ... U.S. officials say North Korea is armed with long-range missiles and up to 5,000 tons of biochemical weapons - and possibly a few crude nuclear devices. ... North Korea "is fully capable of fighting a war with the U.S. It should clearly know that the option to 'strike' is not its monopoly," KCNA said. ... From AP: Tue Feb 5, 2002 4:34 PM ET http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020205/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/powell_34 Powell Dismisses Iraq Talks Offer By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - An Iraqi offer conveyed through the Arab League for a dialogue with the United Nations drew a curt and negative response Tuesday from Secretary of State Colin Powell. "It should be a very short discussion," Powell told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "The inspectors have to go back on our terms." ... Questioned about Bush's designation of Iran, Iraq and North Korea as an "axis of evil," Powell said, "There are others in this category." He did not identify them. Meanwhile, he said the designation "does not mean we are not ready to engage in dialogue" with Iran, Iraq and North Korea. For instance, Powell said, "We are ready to talk to North Korea any time they are ready to come back to the table," and without preconditions. ... From the BBC: Saturday, 9 March, 2002, US 'has nuclear hit list' "The Bush administration has reportedly ordered the Pentagon to prepare contingency plans for attacking seven countries with nuclear weapons. Quoting a secret Pentagon report, the Los Angeles Times newspaper names China, Russia, Iraq, North Korea, Iran, Libya and Syria as potential targets." From the BBC: Wednesday, 3 April, 2002, 12:06 GMT 13:06 UK US grants N Korea nuclear funds The US Government has announced that it will release $95m to North Korea as part of an agreement to replace the Stalinist country's own nuclear programme, which the US suspected was being misused. Under the 1994 Agreed Framework an international consortium is building two proliferation-proof nuclear reactors and providing fuel oil for North Korea while the reactors are being built. In releasing the funding, President George W Bush waived the Framework's requirement that North Korea allow inspectors to ensure it has not hidden away any weapons-grade plutonium from the original reactors. President Bush argued that the decision was "vital to the national security interests of the United States". Deal under threat - North Korea has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the agreement in recent weeks. ... From The NYT: Fri Sep 20, 4:39 PM ET http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nyt/20020920/ts_nyt/bush_outlines_doctrine_of_striking_foes_first Bush Outlines Doctrine of Striking Foes First By DAVID E. SANGER " ... It sketches out a far more muscular and sometimes aggressive approach to national security than any since the Reagan era. It includes the discounting of most nonproliferation treaties in favor of a doctrine of "counterproliferation," a reference to everything from missile defense to forcibly dismantling weapons or their components. It declares that the strategies of containment and deterrence staples of American policy since the 1940's are all but dead. ... " From The Washington Post: Sunday, October 6, 2002; Page A29 U.S. Plays Down Talks With N. Korean Officials By Doug Struck TOKYO, Oct. 5 -- As Japan and South Korea take highly visible steps toward resolving contentious issues with North Korea, the Bush administration's first official talks with North Korean officials this weekend took on the appearance of a stealth mission. Reflecting the administration's discomfort with being pushed by its allies into dealing with a country President Bush has branded part of an "axis of evil," Assistant Secretary of State James A. Kelly sought to minimize publicity about his three-day visit to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. Kelly refused to take reporters along on the trip, declined to answer questions after returning to Seoul today, and canceled a session with reporters planned for Sunday in Tokyo. Kelly issued a statement in Seoul saying he had expressed to the North Korean officials "our serious concerns and raised the implications of North Korean conduct" on regional peace and relations with the United States. He noted there were "no decisions on additional meetings at this time nor did either side expect any" soon. Bush abruptly halted communication with North Korea after taking office, aborting negotiations pursued by the Clinton administration. As his term ended, President Bill Clinton said those negotiations had set the stage for an agreement with North Korea to curtail missile sales and extend a freeze on its nuclear program. But Bush balked at the strategy. ... Kelly's statement in Seoul said the United States would "review the results of my meetings and take consideration of what our next steps should be." Kelly is the first high-level U.S. official to visit Pyongyang since then-Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright went there in October 2000. ... From AP: Wed Oct 16,10:45 PM ET http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=514&ncid=514&e=1&u=/ap/20021017/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_north_korea U.S.: North Korea Says Has Nukes By GEORGE GEDDA, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - In a startling revelation, North Korea has told the United States it has a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of an 1994 agreement with the United States, the White House said Wednesday night. Spokesman Sean McCormack called the North Korean disclosure a serious infringement of the agreement, under which Pyongyang promised not to develop nuclear weapons. U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said North Korea told U.S. officials that it was no longer bound by the anti-nuclear agreement. ... From the NYT: October 18, 2002 U.S. Says Pakistan Gave Technology to North Korea By DAVID E. SANGER and JAMES DAO WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 — American intelligence officials have concluded that Pakistan, a vital ally since last year's terrorist attacks, was a major supplier of critical equipment for North Korea's newly revealed clandestine nuclear weapons program, current and former senior American officials said today. The equipment, which may include gas centrifuges used to create weapons-grade uranium, appears to have been part of a barter deal beginning in the late 1990's in which North Korea supplied Pakistan with missiles it could use to counter India's nuclear arsenal, the officials said. "What you have here," said one official familiar with the intelligence, "is a perfect meeting of interests — the North had what the Pakistanis needed, and the Pakistanis had a way for Kim Jong Il to restart a nuclear program we had stopped." China and Russia were less prominent suppliers, officials said. ... From The Washington Post: Saturday, October 19, 2002; Page A19 Hints on N. Korea Surfaced in 2000 U.S. Informed East Asia Nations Of Nuclear Effort By Doug Struck and Glenn Kessler SEOUL, Oct. 18 -- The United States received evidence of uranium enrichment efforts in North Korea as early as two years ago, but only recently decided to confront the government there about it, sources in the United States and Asia said today. ... From The Washington Post: Monday, October 21, 2002; Page A18 For North Korea, U.S. Is Violator of Accords Mind-Set Helps Explain Pyongyang's Actions By Doug Struck SEOUL -- This is the view from the other side: North Korea believes the United States has repeatedly broken agreements, harbors ideas of attacking it and inexplicably refuses to even talk to a government that desperately wants better ties. ... North Korea has long seen the United States as the chief violator of the pact. The heart of the agreement -- from North Korea's perspective -- was a promise by the United States to end hostile relations and normalize diplomatic and economic ties. ... Additionally, the KEDO consortium had agreed under the pact to construct two light-water reactor power plants, from which weapons-grade fuel is difficult to extract, in return for North Korea's promise to suspend production of plutonium at its aging Soviet-built plants. The first plant was supposed to be delivered in 2003, but is still at least six years from completion ... From Reuters: Tue, Oct 22, 2002 N.Korea Warns a Skeptical U.S. on Nuclear Talks By Paul Eckert SEOUL (Reuters) - A defiant North Korea, facing pressure to scrap a secret nuclear weapons program, warned the United States on Tuesday it would take unspecified "tougher counter-action" if Washington did not accept talks on the issue. ... North Korea said Washington must "opt for reconciliation and peace." "If the U.S. persists in its moves to pressurize and stifle the DPRK (North Korea) by force, the latter will have no option but to take a tougher counter-action," the ruling party daily Rodong Sinmun said in a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. ... The U.S. ambassador in Seoul, speaking on Tuesday, said that Washington sought to pre-empt a crisis through diplomacy, but that North Korea had exhausted its credibility with the secret nuclear program that broke a previous negotiated settlement. "We have very little basis for trust in North Korea, very little basis for confidence that further dialogue will lead to a solution," said envoy Thomas Hubbard. ... In Washington, Bush told reporters he aimed to persuade North Korea to end its nuclear arms program. "I view this as an opportunity to work with our friends in the region and work with other countries in the region to ally against the proliferation of serious weapons and to convince (North Korean leader) Kim Jong-il that he must disarm," he said. ... From Reuters: Thu, Oct 24, 2002 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=578&e=3&cid=578&u=/nm/20021025/ts_nm/korea_north_usa_dc N.Korea Urges Non-Aggression Pact with U.S. ... "(North Korea) considers that it is a reasonable and realistic solution to the nuclear issue to conclude a non-aggression treaty between (North Korea) and the U.S. if the grave situation of the Korean peninsula is to be bridged over," said the ministry in a statement carried on the state-run Korea Central News Agency (KCNA). "The settlement of all problems with (North Korea), a small country, should be based on removing any threat to its sovereignty and right to existence," it said. ... From Reuters: Fri, Oct 25, 2002 12:12 pm ET U.S. Dismisses North Korea Demands for Talks CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - The United States on Friday dismissed North Korea's conditions for talks on its nuclear weapons program. "We've been very clear on the need for North Korea to disarm itself of weapons of mass destruction and we are working very closely with friends and allies to address this issue," said Sean McCormack, spokesman for the White House National Security Council. North Korea, in a lengthy statement from its Foreign Ministry, set three conditions for talks to address concerns raised by its admission that it had revived a banned nuclear arms program by preparing to enrich uranium. The Foreign Ministry demanded that the United States recognize North Korea's sovereignty, that Washington assure Pyongyang of non-aggression and that it agree not to hinder the economic development of North Korea. "The time of rewarding bad behavior is over," said a White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity. President Bush and Chinese President Jiang Zemin, in a meeting at Bush's Texas ranch, were to discuss diplomatic, political and possibly financial pressures that can be brought to bear to force North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program, which U.S. officials have said has led to one or two nuclear bombs. The United States has ruled out negotiations with the North Koreans until they dismantle the uranium enrichment program. But Washington said it sought a peaceful solution and was maintaining contacts with the North through its U.N. mission. From AP: Oct 27, 9:36 AM (ET) N.Korea: Arms Needed to Fight U.S. SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A day after U.S., Japanese and South Korean leaders demanded that North Korea abandon its nuclear weapons program, the communist state said Sunday it needs military arms to fight against "U.S. imperialists." ... On Sunday, the Rondong Sinmun said, "U.S. imperialism looks down upon those countries weak in military power, forces them to accept its brigandish demands and makes them a target of its military intervention and aggression." ... "If the U.S. gives legal assurances of nonaggression, including the no use of nukes against the DPRK through the nonaggression treaty, the DPRK will be ready to clear the U.S. of its security concerns," Minju Josun newspaper said. ... Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Washington has no plans to open negotiations with North Korea. From The NYT: Tue Oct 29, 3:00 PM ET North Korea Rejects Demands to Abandon Nuclear Program By HOWARD W. FRENCH KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Oct. 29 - North Korea flatly rejected international demands that it abandon its nuclear weapons program in the opening session of normalization talks with Japanese that began here today. ... From The NYT: North Korea Says Nuclear Program Can Be Negotiated By PHILIP SHENON WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 — North Korea says it wants to negotiate with the United States over the North's newly disclosed nuclear weapons program, and is open to meeting the Bush administration's demand that it shut down its previously secret uranium-enrichment facilities. In a series of statements issued over the last week by its mission to the United Nations, North Korea said "everything will be negotiable," including the dismantling of the enrichment program. ... The State Department said it had no official response ... But administration officials said they doubted that the United States would waver in its refusal to resume negotiations with North Korea until it first dismantled the enrichment laboratories. The United States is pressing its allies to isolate North Korea, using the North's desperate economic needs to force it to comply with the American demands. On Friday, Under Secretary of State John R. Bolton ruled out talks with North Korea until it "completely and verifiably" ended the nuclear weapons program. He said it was "hard to see how we can have conversations with a government that has blatantly violated its agreements." In their statements over the last week, the North Koreans said they were equally firm that they would not consider dismantling the uranium facilities until after the United States had reopened talks. If the United States refused to negotiate, they said, they would welcome the intervention of an intermediary, like former President Jimmy Carter or other prominent American political figures. "Everything will be negotiable," the North Korean government said in one of the statements issued through Ambassador Han Song Ryol of the mission at the United Nations, the country's sole diplomatic post in the United States. "Our government will resolve all U.S. security concerns through the talks, if your government has a will to end its hostile policy." Mr. Han said his government had been "stunned" by the refusal of the United States to continue talks on the nuclear issue. In North Korea, "the interpretation is that the U.S. is preparing for a war," he said. adding: "There must be a continuing dialogue. If both sides sit together, the matter can be resolved peacefully and quickly." Asked in a later e-mail exchange if North Korea was willing to consider shutting down the uranium-enrichment program, he replied, "Yes, I believe our government will resolve all U.S. security concerns." Asked if the North Korean government would consider allowing international inspections of the uranium facilities, he replied simply, "Yes." ... North Korea was startled, he said, by the Bush administration's hostility toward it from the start, when the administration shut down wide-ranging bilateral talks begun during the Clinton administration. Mr. Han said his government had been particularly alarmed by President Bush's description of North Korea as part of an "axis of evil," along with Iraq and Iran, and by Mr. Bush's repeated statements beginning last summer that the United States would pre-emptively attack nations that threatened it with weapons of mass destruction. "The U.S. has put the D.P.R.K. on a list of pre-emptive strikes," he said, using the initials for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name. "So we would like to ask the American people: What is the alterative? What is the choice for the D.P.R.K.?" ... From AP: Tue Nov 5, 6:19 AM ET North Korea, frustrated by lack of progress at talks, threatens end to missile moratorium From AP: Nov 15, 2:20 PM (ET) North Korea Silent on Oil Embargo By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea will sink deeper into diplomatic isolation and economic deterioration unless it abandons its nuclear weapons program, a South Korean official said Friday after an international group suspended future oil deliveries to the North. South Korea, Japan, the European Union and the United States agreed Thursday to halt the fuel shipments to punish the communist country for its uranium enrichment program. ... There was no response Friday from North Korea, which has said it is willing to resolve U.S. security concerns in exchange for a nonaggression pact. The United States has said talks are out of the question as long as North Korea has a nuclear program. ... While the oil suspension will deal a severe blow to the North Korean economy, the U.S.-led strategy carries risks. It will impose further hardship on the North Korean population, which is already dependent on outside food aid. Also, rather than relent, North Korea could respond with a strategy of brinkmanship by threatening to revive its plutonium-based nuclear program, which experts believe could yield nuclear bombs relatively quickly. ... From Reuters: Mon Nov 18,12:34 AM ET N.Korea Issues New Missile-Test Threat to Japan TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea kept up its recent threats to resume missile tests Monday, saying it may end its test moratorium if Tokyo goes ahead with developing a missile defense shield with the United States. ... From Reuters: Nov 26, 5:45 pm ET U.S. Not Responding to Urgent N. Korea Food Appeal By Carol Giacomo, Diplomatic Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States, a major food donor to North Korea, will not send additional food aid to the Stalinist state any time soon despite an urgent new appeal from the World Food Program, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. ... From AP: Fri Nov 29,10:53 AM ET U.N. Urges N. Korea to Admit Inspectors By DANICA KIRKA, A VIENNA, Austria (AP) - North Korea must abandon its nuclear weapons program and admit inspectors to prove it no longer poses a threat, the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency said Friday. The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors adopted a resolution urging North Korea to immediately open "all relevant facilities to IAEA inspection and safeguards." The board also urged the reclusive country "to give up any nuclear weapons programs expeditiously and in a verifiable manner." ... The IAEA said it would give North Korea until March to respond. From there, the agency said, it would determine the next step, which could include taking the matter to the U.N. Security Council. ... From Reuters: Dec 4, 11:33 am ET N.Korea Rejects U.N. Nuclear Watchdog's Call SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said Wednesday it had rejected a call by the International Atomic Energy Agency to open its nuclear weapons program to inspections, saying the U.N. nuclear watchdog was abetting U.S. policy toward the North. ... From AP: Dec 12, 6:16 AM (ET) N.Korea Says It Will Revive Nuke Plant By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Raising fears of a nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea said Thursday it will immediately reactivate a nuclear power plant that U.S. officials suspect was being used to develop weapons. A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said his country would revive the old, Soviet-designed nuclear reactor and resume construction of other nuclear facilities to supply desperately needed power. ... The official said North Korea was obliged to revive the program because of the U.S.-led decision last month to suspend annual oil shipments of 500,000 tons to the North. ... "Our country faced an immediate problem in electricity generation because the United States has virtually abandoned its obligations," the spokesman said. "Our principled stand is that the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula should be resolved peacefully," the spokesman said. "It's totally up to the United States whether we will freeze our nuclear facilities again." ... From Reuters: Dec 15, 5:12 pm ET Clinton Says His Govt Threatened to Attack N.Korea ROTTERDAM (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said on Sunday his administration threatened North Korea with the destruction of its nuclear facilities when the Asian state was developing weapons-grade plutonium in the early 1990s. "We were in a very intense situation with North Korea. They were planning to produce six to eight nuclear weapons per year with plutonium extracted from power plants," Clinton said in a speech to a security forum in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam. "We actually drew up plans to attack North Korea and to destroy their reactors and we told them we would attack unless they ended their nuclear program." ... From CNN: Monday, December 16, 2002 Posted: 11:19 AM EST (1619 GMT) N. Korea: Only treaty will prevent war U.S. accused of blocking aid SEOUL, South Korea -- Repeating an old demand, North Korea on Monday said the only way to prevent a war on the Korean Peninsula was by signing a non-aggression treaty with the United States. .... From MSNBC: U.S. may hit rough patch in Koreas South’s new president not a natural ally of Bush ANALYSIS, By Kari Huus, MSNBC Dec. 20 — The Bush White House and South Korea’s president-elect, Roh Mu Hyun, quickly moved to put the most positive spin on relations after Roh’s victory. But analysts suggest that South Korea’s new leader and President Bush have little in common — particularly in their view of communist North Korea. And some argue that the relationship, if not handled carefully, could mark a serious setback to U.S. interests in the region. ... From Reuters at MSNBC: U.S., allies mull N. Korea nuke move Move to end surveillance raises alarm in Washington Dec. 23 — South Korea’s president and president-elect discussed North Korea’s nuclear brinkmanship on Monday as the United States said it would neither bargain nor negotiate under duress with the communist state. Over the weekend, North Korea said it had begun removing U.N. monitoring equipment at a nuclear reactor capable of yielding weapons-grade plutonium. .... U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell telephoned China, South Korea, Russia, Japan and other allies over the weekend. U.S. State Department spokesman Lou Fintor said Washington, which accuses Iraq of possessing secret weapons of mass destruction and has threatened it with war if it does not come clean, expected North Korea to respect international commitments it had made. “We will not bargain or offer inducements for North Korea to live up to the treaties and agreements it has signed,” Fintor said. “Let me underscore the United States will not enter into dialogue in response to threats or broken commitments.” ... From AP: Tue Dec 24, 7:47 PM ET N. Korea: U.S. Is Risking Nuclear War By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea ratcheted up its standoff with Washington on Tuesday, starting repairs at a long-frozen nuclear reactor and warning that U.S. policy is leading to an "uncontrollable catastrophe" and the "brink of nuclear war." ... From The Korea Times: 12-30-2002 19:14 Kim, Roh Urge Bush to Show Restraint on NK President Kim Dae-jung and President-elect Roh Moo-hyun yesterday joined forces to urge the United States to refrain from tougher measures on North Korea, said to be months away from building additional nuclear bombs through its reactivated nuclear facilities. Their unified call is Seoul's strongest show of disapproval of Washington's high pressure tactic on the North. It comes amid speculation that the Bush administration has a new policy of ``tailored containment,'' aimed at strangling the impoverished North through an economic blockade involving South Korea, Japan, China and Russia. ... From The NYT: December 30, 2002 U.S. Eases Threat on Nuclear Arms for North Korea By DAVID E. SANGER CRAWFORD, Tex., Dec. 29 — The Bush administration backed away today from a longstanding declaration by the United States that it would not tolerate a North Korean nuclear arsenal, as Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and other officials insisted that it would be counterproductive to set deadlines for North Korea to meet American demands or make threats to take military action. ... Several of Mr. Bush's national security aides said in interviews that Mr. Powell was simply giving voice to the military reality that the United States has no effective way of protecting South Korea or Japan from a North Korean counterattack if the nuclear facilities at Yongbyon were bombed. "I'm not saying we don't have military options," one of Mr. Bush's most senior advisers said in an interview. "I'm just saying we don't have good ones." Still, the diplomatic, nonconfrontational approach the administration has taken has clearly put Mr. Bush's aides in the odd position of explaining why they are massing troops around Iraq, as it lets inspectors roam the country and releases lists of weapons scientists, while insisting on patient diplomacy with a country that has expelled those inspectors and announced that it will restart plutonium production immediately. ... From The Korea Times: 12-31-2002 18:35 Roh Skeptical on US Policy Toward NK By Kim Kwang-tae Staff Reporter President-elect Roh Moo-hyun yesterday said he remains skeptical about the ``containment’’ policy the United States has adopted toward North Korea as a way to make the reclusive nation renounce its nuclear weapons program. ``I am skeptical about whether the U.S. `tailored containment’ policy is an effective means in either containing the North or bringing it to the negotiating table,’’ ... Roh, who wants South Korea to play a leading role in resolving North Korea’s nuclear issue, warned the U.S. against adopting a get-tough unilateral policy without holding prior consultations with South Korea. ``For the U.S. to announce the policy and expect South Korea follow it is not Korea-U.S. cooperation and it is not the way to resolve the issue,’’ Roh said. The president-elect has called for equal bilateral relations and vowed not to kowtow to the U.S. ... From Reuters at The NYT: December 31, 2002 North Korean Says Nation Unable to Comply With Key Arms Pact By REUTERS MOSCOW (Reuters) - A senior North Korean envoy said Tuesday that Pyongyang was unable to meet its obligations under a key non-proliferation pact because of nuclear threats by Washington, Interfax news agency said. Pak Ui Chun, Pyongyang's ambassador to Moscow, was quoted as saying the United States had followed moves to cut off fuel oil supplies by ``threatening us with a preventative nuclear strike.'' ``In these circumstances, we also cannot fulfill the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the basic clause of which is the obligation of nuclear states not to use the nuclear weapon against states which do not possess it,'' he said. ... Repeating Pyongyang's calls for direct negotiations with the United States, he said the Korean nuclear question was not an international issue and could be solved only by Pyongyang and Washington. ... MORE BACK to Index of News Archive

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