Korean Nuclear Talks Next Week May Be Short, Fruitful: US Official
http://www.spacewar.com/news/korea-05zzzzzh.html

Washington (AFP) Nov 03, 2005 - The next round of multilateral talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program could be short and fruitful, a senior US official hinted Thursday.

Mechanism Mulled To Implement Nuclear Accord With North Korea: US
http://www.spacewar.com/news/korea-05zzzzzi.html

US Under Pressure To Break Korean Nuclear Stalemate
http://www.spacewar.com/news/korea-05zzzzzj.html

Washington (AFP) Nov 06, 2005 - The United States is under pressure to give some concessions upfront for North Korea to fulfill a pledge to abandon its nuclear weapons program, as multilateral talks enter a crucial phase this week.

N.Korea Accuses Bush Of Putting Six-Party Talks In Jeopardy
http://www.spacewar.com/news/korea-05zzzzzk.html

Seoul (AFP) Nov 08, 2005 - Stalinist North Korea accused US President George W. Bush on Tuesday of putting six-party nuclear disarmament talks in jeopardy by slandering its leader.

North Korea To Be Given New Disarmament Timeline At Talks
http://www.spacewar.com/news/korea-05zzzzzl.html

- Analysis: S.Korea On Full Terror Alert
http://www.spacewar.com/news/terrorwar-05zzzzg.html

US Rejects North Korea's Disarmament Idea
http://www.spacewar.com/news/korea-05zzzzzm.html

Beijing (AFP) Nov 09, 2005 - The United States brushed aside North Korea's fresh proposal to abandon its nuclear arms Wednesday as six-nation disarmament talks resumed here with sharp differences remaining between the two Cold War foes.

- Three-Point Plan Put Forward To Resolve North Korean Nuclear Dispute
http://www.spacewar.com/news/korea-05zzzzzn.html

US to N.Korea: stop reactor now:

North Korea must halt its nuclear weapons program now to show it is taking negotiations on disarmament seriously, the chief U.S. negotiator said on Thursday on the second day of six-party talks in Beijing.
http://tinyurl.com/a5q6q

N.Korea claims US undermining nuke talks:

North Korean delegates accused the United States of undermining a September agreement in which Pyongyang pledged to disarm in exchange for aid and security guarantees, the South's Yonhap news agency reported, citing unidentified officials
http://tinyurl.com/dykzl

US Demands North Korea Honor Agreement To Scrap Nukes: Bush
http://www.spacewar.com/news/korea-05zzzzzr.html

Beijing (AFP) Nov 20, 2005 - The United States demands that North Korea honor its commitment to end its nuclear weapons program, US President George W. Bush said Sunday during a visit to China, the North's closest ally.

Consortium To Pull The Plug On New Reactors For North Korea
http://www.spacewar.com/news/korea-05zzzzzu.html

New York (AFP) Nov 23, 2005 - A US-led international consortium has agreed to completely halt the construction of two nuclear reactors in North Korea, officials said Wednesday.

Pyongyang Demands US Troop Pullout From South Korea
http://www.spacewar.com/news/korea-05zzzzzy.html

Seoul (AFP) Dec 05, 2005 - North Korea on Sunday demanded the United States withdraw its troops from South Korea, in a renewed campaign by the Stalinist state to drive a wedge in the US-South Korean alliance.

KOREAN NUKES

- N Korea Boosts Nuke Making Potential
http://www.spacewar.com/news/korea-05zzzzzzd.html

Pyongyang, North Korea (UPI) Dec 07, 2005 - North Korea is increasing its industrial capabilities to make nuclear weapons. The continued operation of the Yongbyon nuclear reactor without international inspectors' supervision and successful tests of a new solid-fuel rocket engine have enabled the so-called Hermit Kingdom to make further progress toward being able to produce and deliver such weapons, Arms Control Today reported in its December issue.

- US Wants Informal Six Nation NKorea Talks Dec 19
http://www.spacewar.com/news/korea-05zzzzzzc.html

U.S. Rebukes N. Korea's Boycott Threats
(Kelly Olsen, Associated Press)

Tuesday, December 6
The United States delivered a stern public rebuke to North Korea on Wednesday, ruling out any negotiations over financial sanctions imposed on the communist state. The tough talk came one day after North Korea threatened to boycott six-nation talks on eliminating its nuclear weapons programs unless Washington lifts the sanctions imposed in October.

Washington "is not going to negotiate over economic sanctions that have been imposed in accordance with U.S. law.," U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Alexander Vershbow said in a speech. "It's up to North Korea to end the behavior that led to those sanctions. Our enforcement of U.S. law should not be used to hold up the six-party talks."

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said North Korea's complaints about U.S. financial sanctions on the communist country have nothing to do with the broader nuclear talks and should not be used to obstruct them. "The North Korean position is bringing up a problem that is outside the framework of the six-party talks and is not constructive," Abe told reporters.

NKorea Nuke Talks Uncertain
http://www.spacewar.com/news/korea-05zzzzzza.html

Seoul (UPI) Dec 06, 2005 - Crisis talks on ending North Korea's nuclear arms programs have come under a cloud of uncertainty with deepening disputes between Pyongyang and Washington over financial sanctions and human rights.


NKorea Threatens To Boycott Six Way Nuclear Talks Over US Sanctions
http://www.spacewar.com/news/korea-05zzzzzzb.html

--------------------
NORTH KOREA: We must be tough, but Bush's name-calling gets us nowhere.
--------------------

By E. Benjamin Skinner
E. Benjamin Skinner is writing "A Crime So Monstrous: A Living History of Contemporary Slavery," to be published by Simon & Schuster's Free Press in 2007.

December 11 2005

LISTENING TO President Bush's State of the Union speech nearly four years ago, I thought that putting North Korea in the "axis of evil" made as much sense as including Kim Jong Il on Seventeen magazine's "best-dressed list." But it is a dubious hallmark of this administration that the United States' foreign enemies have a way of living down to our expectations.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday...-sunday-opinion

KOREAN NUKES

- Nuclear Talks Suspended Indefinitely: NKorea
http://www.spacewar.com/news/korea-05zzzzzze.html

Seoul (AFP) Dec 11, 2005 - North Korea says six-nation talks on dismantling its nuclear programme have been suspended "for an indefinite period" because of US financial sanctions on the Stalinist state.

KEDO Told to Leave North Korea
(Ser Myo-Ja, JoongAng Ilbo)

Tuesday, December 13
Pyongyang has told the KEDO Office in Kumho, North Korea, to withdraw all its workers at the nuclear power reactor construction site in the North by early January. The office is a branch of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, a group overseeing work on two nuclear reactors there.

South Korean and KEDO officials told the JoongAng Daily that the North had also said KEDO would not be allowed to repatriate equipment and materials at the construction site on North Korea's east coast.

The 1994 Agreed Framework, signed by North Korea and the United States, promised the reactors in compensation for Pyongyang's freeze of its nuclear activities. Construction at the site began in 1997, but was suspended in 2003 after the North resumed clandestine attempts to develop weapons. A caretaker force of about 110 people works at the site.

"Getting Serious" About North Korea
(Daryl G. Kimball, Arms Control Today)

December 2005
Despite the breakthrough agreement in September on a Joint Statement of Principles outlining a series of action-for-action steps to denuclearize North Korea in a verifiable manner, the main antagonists are again at odds over the substance and sequencing of the deal.

Following an unproductive round of six-party talks last month, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on North Korea to “get serious” about dismantling its nuclear program. North Korea, however, insists that the United States must act first before it freezes and then dismantles its nuclear weapons program.

Enough already. To break the cycle and test Pyongyang’s seriousness, President George W. Bush should borrow a page from his father’s playbook: unilateral, reciprocal actions that demonstrate the good faith of both sides and improve the likelihood of success.

KOREAN NUKES

- SKorea To Use Inter-Korean Talks To Resolve Nuclear Stalemate
http://www.spacewar.com/news/korea-05zzzzzzf.html

Jeju, South Korea (AFP) Dec 13, 2005 - A North Korean delegation arrived Tuesday for high-level talks with South Korea as Seoul said it would use the meeting to push Pyongyang to end the stalemate over its nuclear drive.

Talks Stalled, U.S. Envoy Matches Insults of North Korea
(James Brooke, New York Times)

Thursday, December 15
The nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea will continue, the American envoy said with an evenness polished by nearly three decades in the Foreign Service. "We have been there before, we have seen similar brinkmanship tactics from the North Koreans in the past," said Mr. Vershbow, a Russian expert who arrived here two months ago. "We remain ready to resume the talks." But lately, both sides seem to be playing at brinkmanship.

In three appearances over the last week, Ambassador Vershbow has seemingly gone out of his way to talk tough to the North Koreans. In a news conference last Wednesday he referred to North Korea's government seven times as "a criminal regime." Noting that North Korea tries to make money by counterfeiting American currency, he said, "North Korea is the first regime that has done that since Adolf Hitler."

--------------------
NORTH KOREA: We must be tough, but Bush's name-calling gets us nowhere.
--------------------

By E. Benjamin Skinner
E. Benjamin Skinner is writing "A Crime So Monstrous: A Living History of Contemporary Slavery," to be published by Simon & Schuster's Free Press in 2007.

December 11 2005

LISTENING TO President Bush's State of the Union speech nearly four years ago, I thought that putting North Korea in the "axis of evil" made as much sense as including Kim Jong Il on Seventeen magazine's "best-dressed list." But it is a dubious hallmark of this administration that the United States' foreign enemies have a way of living down to our expectations.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday...-sunday-opinion

KOREAN NUKES

- Experts Ask US To Use Ex-Soviet Plan To End Korean Nuclear Crisis
http://www.spacewar.com/news/korea-05zzzzzzh.html

Washington (AFP) Dec 17, 2005 - A group of experts urged the United States Friday to use programs once used to contain the former Soviet Union's weapons threat in current efforts to end the Korean nuclear crisis.

------------
KOREAN NUKES

- North Korea Vows To Bolster Nuclear Deterrent
http://www.spacewar.com/news/korea-05zzzzzzi.html

Seoul (AFP) Dec 19, 2005 - North Korea said Monday it would bolster its nuclear deterrent to counter a US bid to use the human rights issue as part of a drive to topple the communist regime.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/237c6790-70fd-11d...00779e2340.html

US hardliners press case on N Korea
By Guy Dinmore in Washington and Anna Fifield in Seoul
Published: December 20 2005 02:00 | Last updated: December 20 2005 02:00

Hardliners in the Bush administration appear to be winning an internal struggle for control over policy towards North Korea, shifting the focus to containing the communist regime and crippling its illicit source of finances at the expense of diplomatic negotiations over its nuclear programme.

US officials and analysts say Chris Hill, the State Department's chief negotiator in six-nation talks with Pyongyang, risks being marginalised in a policy battle that has characterised divisions within Washington since President George W. Bush took office in 2001.

The outcome remains uncertain as the envoy seeks to push back, analysts said. "It is feeding time for the hardliners," said one official who asked not to be named.

Equally uncertain is whether North Korea will return to the negotiating table in Beijing next month as tentatively scheduled following the last round of inconclusive talks in November.

In its latest riposte, North Korea's foreign ministry yesterday said Pyongyang would increase its nuclear deterrent "to cope with the US escalated policy to isolate and stifle it with the nuclear issue and the 'human rights issue' as pretexts".

"It's hard to find people who are optimistic now," commented Bruce Klingner, Korea analyst at the Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy. "I think the window of optimism closed in September."

In September, the six parties - pushed along by hosts China - broke a prolonged deadlock and agreed in principle to reward North Korea for abandoning its nuclear weapons programme.

Days later the US launched a series of new actions aimed at crippling North Korea's alleged growing dependency on making and trading narcotics, counterfeiting US dollars and cigarettes, trading in sanctioned items such as rhino horns, ivory and conflict diamonds, money laundering and weapons sales.

Sanctions were placed on Macao-based Banco Delta Asia, alleging it helped Pyongyang's illegal acts. The US then targeted the assets of eight North Korean companies that it claimed helped proliferate weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Last week the Treasury's Financial Crimes Division warned banks worldwide to take "reasonable steps" to prevent abuse of their financial services by North Korea.

"This is a criminal regime," explained Alexander Vershbow, the new US ambassador to South Korea, in comments that raised the level of anxiety in Seoul.

David Asher, until recently a State Department official, said North Korea had become a "soprano state" - a reference to the hit television series about a US Mafia boss.

The actions of the ruling Workers party leadership "increasingly resemble those of an organised crime family", he told the Woodrow Wilson policy centre, recalling that the counterfeiting of another nation's currency was an established casus belli or justification for war.

Robert Joseph, US undersecretary for arms control, and the office of Dick Cheney, vice-president, are the driving forces behind this tougher approach that analysts say is based on the belief North Korea's nuclear threat will only be truly eliminated by a change of regime.

Mr Joseph revealed this month he had travelled to central Asia to secure the support of governments to join the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative that seeks to co-ordinate interdiction efforts aimed at the nuclear and WMD programmes allegedly pursued by North Korea and Iran.

Mr Joseph said in a December 9 speech that US efforts to combat WMD proliferation had to embrace all elements of national and international power.

Charles Pritchard, an analyst at the Brookings Institution think-tank and a former US envoy to talks with North Korea, has charted the shifts in policy towards Pyongyang. The move tow-ards engagement began some six months ago and was variously signalled, including Mr Bush's reference to Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader, as "Mr" Kim.

Most important was the decision to give Mr Hill the space to engage in meaningful negotiations, allowing him to concede in September that North Korea would be allowed in principle to develop nuclear energy for electricity.

Mr Pritchard, at a conference on December 1, said the US was clearly pursuing two distinct policy tracks simultaneously. But it was not clear if they were co-ordinated.

"The most chilling aspect of this re-emerged bifurcation of US policy towards North Korea is the potential that Ambassador Hill has lost a skirmish or two within the administration, and in an effort to maintain his goal of best-effort negotiating, he has had to adopt some of the philosophy and language of the second-track advocates [led by Mr Joseph]," Mr Pritchard said.

It remained to be seen, the former envoy concluded, whether Mr Joseph had succeeded in capturing the lead, or whether Mr Hill could bounce back.

Mr Hill was not available for comment.

KOREAN NUKES

- Japan and North Korea to hold new talks despite nuclear impasse
http://www.spacewar.com/2005/051221115155.t7sawgbv.html

North Korea’s Reactor Threat Puts Cloud Over Talks
(Song Jung-A and Guy Dinmore, Financial Times - UK)

Tuesday, December 20
North Korea said on Tuesday it planned to build light water reactors to meet its energy demands. Although the threat is unlikely to be carried out, it could further complicate the stalled six-party talks over Pyong-yang’s nuclear weapons programme.

North Korea is unlikely to have either the money or the technology to build the reactors, the fuel in which is much harder to convert into fissile material than traditional plutonium power plants.

However, the threat underlined the challenges facing the talks, which appear in danger of stalling amid disputes over energy and a US crackdown on alleged North Korean counterfeiting and money laundering.

N.Korea's Priority is Ties with U.S.-S.Korea
(Jon Herskovitz, Reuters)

27 December 2005
North Korea is more interested in establishing diplomatic ties with the United States than it is in receiving economic aid, a top South Korean official said on Tuesday.

North Korea agreed at six-country talks in September to dismantle its nuclear weapons programmes in exchange for economic aid, security assurances and greater diplomatic recognition, including the eventual normalisation of ties with Washington.

"I believe the most valuable thing that North Korea wants to get in return for abandoning its nuclear programmes is the normalisation of relations with the United States," Unification Minister Chung Dong-young told a news conference.

http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?Stor...30-100422-1850r

Analysis: North Korea retrenches
By Jong-Heon Lee
UPI Correspondent
Published December 30, 2005


SEOUL -- Through 2005 North Korea and the United States were engaged in a tug-of-war over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs and U.S. financial sanctions on the communist state, and the North sought to form a united front with South Korea against Washington.

South Korea went all-out to help bridge the gap between North Korea and the United States. Despite controversy at home over spending, it came up with a massive economic proposal for Pyongyang.


At the start of the year, North Korea ratcheted up its rhetoric by declaring it had produced nuclear weapons and was pulling out of the six-nation nuclear talks indefinitely, citing "hostile" U.S. policy. It said its possession of nuclear weapons ensured peace as long as it remains in a state of war and pledged to use nuclear bombs to counter any U.S. nuclear strike.

In March, it announced it had completed unloading 8,000 spent fuel rods from its 5-megawatt nuclear reactor, a move that gives the communist country weapons-grade plutonium to make two more bombs.

The United States, which revealed North Korea's secret uranium enrichment program to develop atomic weapons in late 2002, has urged Pyongyang to abandon its drive, warning of sanctions and blockades.

In January, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice vowed to pursue a hard-line approach against North Korea, labeling it an "outpost of tyranny," which triggered a furious response from the North. But the Bush administration directly assured North Korea through a contact in New York in May that it considered the country to be a sovereign state and had no intention of invading it. This paved the way for the resumption of the stalled nuclear disarmament talks.

North Korea returned to the six-nation talks only after South Korea promised in July to supply it with 2 million kilowatts of electricity free of charge if the communist country abandoned its nuclear ambitions.

Negotiators from the United States, North and South Korea, Russia, Japan and China gathered in Beijing in July to discuss ways to end the impasse, and reached their first joint statement after several twists and turns.

The statement Sept. 19, the first formal document since the six-nation talks began in August 2003, called for North Korea to abandon its existing nuclear weapons and all related programs as well as return to the nonproliferation treaty "at an early date."

In return, the North will get energy aid from South Korea, talks to normalize relations with the United States and Japan, negotiations on the provision of light-water reactors to the North "at an appropriate time" and the establishment of a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula to replace the armistice that ended the three-year Korean War in 1953.

South Korea welcomed the joint statement as an "important progress" to resolve the three-year standoff, praising itself for playing a major role in defusing the nuclear tension.

But Seoul's optimism was short-lived as North Korea threw the deal into doubt on the following day when it said it will not scrap its nuclear program and will not return to the nonproliferation regime before it is given light-water nuclear reactors.

The United States "should not even dream of the issue of the DPRK (North Korea)'s dismantlement of its nuclear deterrent before providing LWRs (light-water reactors), a physical guarantee for confidence-building," the North's Foreign Ministry said. The United States and South Korea rejected the demand.

The six-nation talks faced another stumbling block in November as North Korea tried to link U.S. pressure over Pyongyang's alleged money-laundering, counterfeiting and other criminal activity, to the nuclear issue.

North Korea has vowed not return to the nuclear talks until Washington lifts the sanctions, which were believed to cut off Pyongyang's cash flow. The United States defended the sanctions, saying Pyongyang's counterfeiting and drug trafficking financed the nuclear weapons programs.

Seoul's chief security policymaker, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, traveled to the United States in December to seek ways to break the nuclear impasse after hosting high-level rapprochement talks with North Korea. His efforts failed to pay off.

Upon returning home, Chung, a presidential hopeful in the 2007 election, said he would resign from the post early next year.

Chung is likely to be replaced by Lee Jong-seok, the main architect of President Roh Moo-hyun's reconciliation policy toward North Korea, a sign that indicates Seoul's greater efforts toward peaceful engagement with the North.

Many analysts in Seoul predict the nuclear issue may remain at a stalemate in 2006.

"The United States is expected to increase its pressure on North Korea over its alleged human rights abuses and illicit activities next year part of efforts to curb its nuclear drive," said Kim Sung-han, an analyst at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, a Seoul-based government think tank.

Cheong Seong-Chang, a North Korea specialist at Seoul's private Sejong Institute, expects North Korea to focus its efforts on improving inter-Korean relations to ease its diplomatic isolation and cope with U.S pressure.

End U.S. Sanctions So Nuclear Talks Can Start: N.Korea
(Jack Kim, Reuters)

Tuesday, January 3
North Korea demanded on Tuesday an end to a U.S. crackdown on its finances before six-country talks on dismantling its nuclear weapons can restart, but analysts said the North's muted tone suggested Pyongyang was feeling pressure.

The United States has clamped down on several North Korean companies it suspects of involvement in counterfeiting, money laundering and the drugs trade, saying the illicit businesses had helped fund Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programmes.

In a relatively mild-mannered commentary by North Korean standards, Pyongyang's official Rodong Sinmun daily said the sanctions had prevented the North from returning to the talks. "The U.S. should, first of all, lift its sanctions against the DPRK, the main factor of scuttling the talks, before talking about the resumption of the talks," it said.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?

N. Korea says its return to nuclear talks ’impossible’ unless US lifts sanctions
(AP)

3 January 2006



SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea said on Tuesday it cannot return to international nuclear disarmament talks unless the United States lifts sanctions imposed for its alleged currency counterfeiting and other illegal activities.


“While under US sanctions, it’s impossible to sit face-to-face and discuss abandoning our nuclear deterrent ... with a counterpart who seeks to isolate and stifle us,” said the Rodong Sinmun, the North’s ruling Workers Party newspaper, in a Korean-language commentary carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

“The US sanctions are obviously the fundamental element that disrupts the six-party talks,” the newspaper said.

The commentary was the first North Korean statement on the nuclear issue this year. On New Year’s Day, the communist state issued a joint editorial by major newspapers, but didn’t mention the dispute.

In September, Washington placed sanctions on a Macau-based bank after it allegedly helped the North distribute counterfeit currency and engage in other illicit activities.

The next month, the US sanctioned eight North Korean companies it claimed were fronts for proliferating weapons of mass destruction.

North Korea reacted swiftly and angrily, calling the US allegations a “sheer lie” and threatening to boycott the nuclear talks with the Washington, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia unless the sanctions were lifted.

Washington says it has convincing evidence of the North’s wrongdoing, but stressed that the issue is a law enforcement matter unrelated to the nuclear talks.

North Korea claims the US is seeking to overthrow its regime behind a smoke screen of dialogue. It says the sanctions and emphasis by the US on the North’s human rights abuses are signs of Washington’s “hostility.”

In September, the North pledged at the nuclear talks in Beijing to give up its atomic programs in return for aid and security assurances. But no progress was made on implementing the agreement after North Korea placed new conditions - which the US said were unacceptable - on its disarmament.

On Tuesday, North Korea said the US sanctions run counter to the September accord, making “hostile relations” between the two sides “tenser,” adding the outlook for the nuclear talks was “getting darker.”

The talks recessed in November. Negotiators agreed to meet again, but didn’t set a date.

The dispute flared in October, 2002, following US allegations that the North was running a secret nuclear weapons program in violation of international agreements.

Analysis: Beleaguered S.Korean president faces new challenge
By Jong-Heon Lee
UPI Correspondent
Published January 5, 2006


SEOUL -- South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, who ended the scandal-tainted year with an apology for police brutality, is facing another tough challenge at the dawn of the new year, in the aftermath of a Cabinet reshuffle.

Roh's appointment of his close aid, a maverick ruling lawmaker Rhyu Si-min as the new health and welfare minister has triggered strong criticism even from the ruling Uri Party to say nothing of the opposition and the media.


The Uri Party decided on Thursday to boycott a dinner meeting to be hosted by Roh later in the day in a protest against Roh's nomination of the controversial lawmaker.

"Party leaders held an emergency meeting on the issue of Rhyu and reached the decision to indefinitely put off the meeting with the president," said party spokesman Jun Byung-hun told journalists.

In a rare collective action, a group of 18 Uri lawmakers called for a "thorough review" of the party's relationship with the presidential Blue House. In South Korean politics, the ruling party has traditionally maintained a strong relationship with the presidential office in policy coordination and Cabinet formations.

"The President should have taken account of opinions of the general public and the ruling party since a reshuffle of the Cabinet affects the future of the party," the lawmakers said in a statement.

The unprecedented conflict between the president and his ruling party surfaced after Roh abruptly overrode Uri's objection to give Rhyu a Cabinet post.

Uri officials have proposed Roh to reconsider his plan to install the radical lawmaker in the Cabinet, saying it would significantly diminish their chances of winning in the local elections slated for May due to his negative public image.

In the face of the opposition, Roh withheld his designation of radical Uri member Rhyu Si-min in the partial Cabinet reshuffle on Monday.

Instead, Roh said he would meet Uri leaders in an apparent move to gain their support, but abruptly announced his decision to name Rhyu as the health minister, one day before the scheduled meeting, stunning the party.

In a furious response to Roh's "blitzkrieg," dissenting Uri lawmakers said they had no reason to meet Roh who "discarded" the party. "I am afraid (Roh's appointment) will inevitably leave a big scar on the party," a ruling lawmaker Han Kwang-won said.

The presidential office said Rhyu, a member of parliament's health and welfare committee, was qualified to handle a number of the country's health and welfare issues.

"A reform-minded figure, he has a lot of creative ideas for policies," said Kim Wan-key, senior presidential secretary for personnel affairs.

But the majority of Uri lawmakers argue Rhyu's radical and provocative image would have a negative impact on the ruling party and the government. "Ninety-nine percent of the party lawmakers are opposed to Rep. Rhyu's entry into the Cabinet," said Uri lawmaker, Kim Dong-Cheol.

Rhyu, known for both blunt and barbed criticisms of his political opponents, and an uncompromising attitude toward conservatives, has often triggered controversy. He once said he would not tolerate Chung Dong-young, the leader of the party's largest faction and a presidential hopeful in the 2007 election who has served as unification minister.

Despite wide-spread negative feelings about him, the staunch reformist has been strongly supported by Roh and Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan. Rhyu, 47, started his political career as an aide to Lee in the late 1980s when the prime minister was an opposition lawmaker.

Rhyu also played a key role as a think tank for Roh during the presidential campaign in 2002. Roh seems determined to groom Rhyu for another presidential candidate to compete with Chung.

Chung's followers and other Uri officials are concerned that Rhyu's radical and maverick image would cut their chances of winning the May local elections which are considered as crucial to the fate of the party which suffered crushing defeats in elections in recent years.

Roh may be also seen as a lame duck next year if the Uri Party again suffers a defeat in the May elections. The unpopular leader has already suffered from low popularity under 30 percent throughout last year tainted by scandals involved his aides.

Late December, Roh offered a public apology for a police crackdown that resulted in the deaths of two farmers protesting against the country's opening of rice market.

He has been under fire since the Monday's Cabinet reshuffle in which Roh installed his close aides, such as former presidential chief of staff, presidential advisor, and a campaign manager in the 2002 presidential who was convicted of illegal financing.

The conservative opposition Grand National Party has stepped up attacks on the embattled president. "The nomination of Rhyu clearly shows President Roh's self-righteousness and arrogance. He seems to have totally ignored the public opinion," GNP spokesman Lee Ke-jin said.

"It is regretful for President Roh to name Rep. Rhyu health minister, even ignoring the ruling party," said pro-government daily Hankyoreh Shimnun said in an editorial.

KOREAN NUKES

- NKorean Financial Sanctions Based On Solid Evidence
http://www.spacewar.com/news/NKorean_Finan...d_Evidence.html

Washington (AFP) Jan 09, 2006 - The United States said Monday that sanctions imposed on nuclear-armed North Korea for alleged illicit financial activities were based on carefully scrutinized evidence, rejecting Pyongyang's contention that the charges were groundless.

http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/jan2006-dai...06/world/w1.htm


Important Notice: Jang Group of Newspapers web site can be accessed
only by using http://www.jang.com.pk and http://www.jang-group.com



Nuclear talks with US illogical, says N Korea

SEOUL: North Korea said on Monday it was illogical for it to return to six-country talks because of US sanctions against Pyongyang, adding Washington would probably veto any deal to end the North’s nuclear ambitions anyway. Following is the text of an English-language report from the official KCNA news agency. DPRK is short for North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry today gave the following answer to a question put by KCNA as regards the US claim that its financial sanctions against the DPRK have nothing to do with the six-party talks:

Recently officials of the US administration vied with each other to make remarks intended to mislead public opinion concerning its financial sanctions against the DPRK. They asserted that these sanctions are a separate issue from the six-party talks, that north Korea’s stand toward the issue is a pretext for delaying the talks and that the issue is not a subject of negotiation and it would be all right if the party who conducted illegal acts stop such doing for itself.

The financial sanctions against the DPRK are an issue directly related to the six-party talks. This is quite understandable to anyone, if he has elementary thinking ability. It is only the United States that pretends not to know about this.

As far as the six-party talks are concerned, they are aimed at realising the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. So what is essential here is for the DPRK and the US to move to fulfil their commitments to the denuclearisation of the peninsula.

The nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula surfaced because of the hostile policy pursued by the US towards the DPRK, negating its ideology and system while forcing America’s ideology and system upon it. Therefore, the key to solving the issue is for the US to renounce its hostile policy towards the DPRK and opt for coexistence with the latter.

That is why the joint statement of the six-party talks clarifies the principle that the DPRK and the US should respect each other and coexist in peace with a view to denuclearising the Korean Peninsula.

However, the US is applying financial sanctions against the DPRK in an effort to destroy the system in the DPRK by stopping its blood from running. This act is, therefore, in gross violation of the principle of mutual respect and peaceful coexistence laid down in the joint statement. Worse still, such sanctions were imposed upon the DPRK while the six-party talks were under way.

Bush and high-ranking officials of the US came out one after another to let loose such outcries as "tyranny" and "criminal state". The US only talked about such sanctions before, but after the adoption of the joint statement it put them into practice, pursuing a harsher hostile policy towards the DPRK than ever before.

Is there any need to have talks under the situation where the US is enforcing such policy? Even if any agreement is reached between the parties concerned, it is likely to be overturned by a person in high authority of the US So, how can such a serious issue as the abandonment of the nuclear programme be discussed freely?

Under the present situation it is illogical to discuss with the US, the assailant, the issue of dismantling the nuclear deterrent built up by the DPRK for self-defence. This being a hard reality, can the US still claim that its financial sanctions against the DPRK are a separate issue from the six-party talks?

After all, the US assertion only betrayed its intention to keep pursuing its hostile policy towards the DPRK regardless of the six-party talks and shift the blame for the stalled talks on to the latter.

It is an utterly brigandish logic for the US to claim that the financial sanctions are not a subject of negotiation and it would be all right if the party who conducted illegal acts stops such doing for itself.

We examined the information the US side provided to us, claiming that it was the motive of its application of sanctions. Such things cited by it, however, have never happened in our country. Various countries and media, too, commented that the information cited by the US at a "press briefing" lacked credibility.

Such being hard facts, the US has persistently refused to negotiate with the DPRK while floating baseless fictions which nobody believes. Had the US imposed the above-said sanctions upon the DPRK on the basis of scientific data or facts, there would have been no reason for it to refuse to sit at the negotiating table with the DPRK with a view to probing the truth in a fair and square way.

The US should lift the sanctions, an obstacle to the six-party talks, and come out for the talks, if it is truly interested in the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and hopes for the progress of the talks.

KOREAN NUKES

- The Decline And Fall Of North Korea
http://www.spacewar.com/news/The_Decline_A...orth_Korea.html

Prague, Czech Republic (UPI) Jan 04, 2006 - In my teens, I would watch TV in amazement as Red Adair would coordinate the extinguishing of massive fires in countries the United States government wanted nothing to do with. I remember Armand Hammer's trips to the Soviet Union, when they were strictly forbidden. I can still see George Soros predicting the fall of Communism, and people snickering at his prediction.

KOREAN NUKES

- Kim Jong-Il Visiting Chinese High-Tech Firms: Japanese TV
http://www.spacewar.com/news/Kim_Jong_Il_V...apanese_TV.html

Tokyo (AFP) Jan 15, 2006 - North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il was believed to have visited high-tech firms in the Chinese economic boomtown of Shenzhen on Sunday, a day after he inspected advanced farming, Japanese television said.

------------
KOREAN NUKES

- Kim Jong-Il In China For Nuclear, Economic Briefings
http://www.spacewar.com/news/Kim_Jong_Il_I..._Briefings.html

Beijing (AFP) Jan 16, 2006 - North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has the world guessing on his movements during a highly secretive trip to China, but analysts say the economic and geopolitical goals of his visit are clear.

----------

U.S.-North Korea Ties All But Severed
(Barbara Slavin, USA Today)

Sunday, January 15
While the United States tries to restart talks with North Korea over its nuclear program, the few official ties between the nations are disappearing.

In the past eight months, programs to recover the remains of U.S. war dead, feed hungry North Koreans and build civilian nuclear power plants have been scrapped. "The official U.S. connections have atrophied," said Donald Gregg, U.S. ambassador to South Korea under the first President Bush and now president of the Korea Society

The loss of contacts between North Koreans and Americans involved in these programs might make it harder to resolve the main dispute between the countries. North Korea could have as many as 13 nuclear weapons, according to the Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington think tank.

------------
KOREAN NUKES

- Widening US Sanctions On Nkorea May Trigger 'Major Conflict'
http://www.spacewar.com/news/Widening_US_S...r_Conflict.html

Washington (AFP) Jan 17, 2006 - The United States could be drawn into hostilities with North Korea if it widens its sanctions on the nuclear-armed communist regime, a former South Korean minister warned Tuesday.

KOREAN NUKES

- Japan Fears Missile Data Leak To NKorea
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Japan_Fear..._To_NKorea.html

Tokyo (AFP) Jan 24, 2006 - Japan's defense chief said Tuesday the nation must be more careful about security after information on a missile system under development was leaked to a company with possible links to communist North Korea.

- US Urges SKorea To Join Crackdown On NKorea
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/US_Urges_S..._On_NKorea.html

Roh warns US over N. Korea International Herald Tribune
SEOUL President Roh Moo Hyun of South Korea warned Wednesday that any attempt by Washington to pressure or topple the North Korean regime would cause friction with Seoul. Roh's remarks, delivered in a nationally televised news conference that was at times unusually combative, were the bluntest expression yet of the two principal dimensions of his policy. These are to seek rapprochement with North Korea and to check what analysts and some officials here see as the persistent desire within the Bush administration to undermine and possibly topple the government of Kim Jong Il. The president's news conference coincided with renewed signs of strain in the U.S.-South Korean alliance, as Roh's government appeared to revolt against an escalating U.S. campaign to crack down on what Washington asserts to be North Korea's illicit activities.
China Says Counterfeiting Allegations Holding Up North Korea ... Chosun Ilbo
US warned against seeking collapse of North Korean regime Ireland Online
Malaysia Star - San Diego Union Tribune - TMCnet - United Press International - all 211 related »

KOREAN NUKES

- US Puts China, SKorea On The Spot Over Korean Nuke Crisis
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/US_Puts_Ch...uke_Crisis.html

Washington, United States (AFP) Jan 25, 2006 - The United States has put South Korea and China on the spot by heightening financial sanctions on North Korea and simultaneously pushing for the Stalinist state to return to nuclear talks.

- SKorea Warns Of Friction With US Over NKorea
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/SKorea_War...ver_NKorea.html

Korea in Crisis: Legislating Korea's leftward shift
By THE SEKAI NIPPO
Published January 25, 2006


TOKYO -- This is the second in an extended series of articles by a team of Sekai Nippo reporters on the crises that face North and South Korea and the prospects for a unified Korea. (Editor's note)

When President Roh Moo-hyun took office in February 2003, radical members of his left-leaning Uri Party had four major legislative objectives in mind. One of these was to revise the Private School Law to bring such schools under control of the government and its ally, the Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union (KTU).


A second was to abolish the National Security Law, which has been used for decades not only to hunt down North Korean spies and terrorists operating in South Korea but also to ensure that public expression in South Korea did not favor North Korea. In many cases, it was an effective tool to crack down on anti-government dissent.

A third was to revisit South Korea's history, especially for the purpose of exposing those who -- or whose parents and grandparents -- worked with Japanese colonial rulers in the period prior to August 1945.

A fourth was to change the rules by which newspapers and online news publications do business, in order to weaken the power of the three dominant papers that were known for their conservative editorial stance.

Roh's administration and the Uri Party have succeeded in passing legislation that largely accomplishes all four of these goals.

The "Special Laws on Past History" was the first of the four legislative packages to be passed by the National Assembly. These laws mainly targeted the rival Grand National Party, which traces its roots back to former President Park Chung Hee and is now the largest opposition party.

The government of former President Park included many people who cooperated with the Japanese colonial administration prior to Korea's liberation in August 1945.

Roh has described the objective of the laws as to "correct distortions of history, reveal the truth, and leave a historical lesson for the future."

Observers say the objective of the special laws on history appears to be to change Korea's leadership strata by rooting out those who were pro-Japanese during the colonial period, and their descendents.

One major, and particularly controversial, component of the legislation on history was the "Special Law for Investigating the Truth on Anti-National Acts During the Forcible Occupation by the Japanese" enacted in March 2004.

The law mandated a presidential commission entitled "Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Recent History" to conduct a three-year investigation into "anti-national acts" committed by pro-Japanese elements in Korea society. Particularly targeted were those who held positions in the governing structure during Japan's colonial rule and suppressed efforts to bring Korea's liberation from Japan.

The law did not prescribe any penalties for the acts uncovered by the commission. By being labeled "pro-Japanese," however, those named by the commission and their families would almost certainly find themselves isolated in today's South Korean society.

Another pillar of the legislation on history was the "Basic Law for Truth and Reconciliation" enacted in May 2005. This law expanded the targets of the president's Truth Commission investigations to include allegations of human rights violations and other unlawful acts by the state during the administrations of former presidents Syngman Rhee (1948-1960), Park Chung Hee (1961-1979) and Chun Doo Hwan (1981-1988).

The "Law Regarding the Freedom and Protection of the Role of Newspapers and Other Publications" was enacted in July last year. This law made it illegal for the combined market share of the top three daily newspapers to exceed 60 percent of the total market.

This had the effect of restricting the circulations of Chosun Ilbo, JoonAng Daily, and Donga Daily, which are often critical of the policies of Roh and the ruling Uri Party.

The law made it possible for online news publications to formally register as members of the press, giving them easier access to news sources. Many observers have noted that Roh's 2003 presidential campaign in 2003 received strong support from one of South Korea's largest online news publications, OhmyNews.com.

The law also implemented steps that made it easier for smaller newspapers around the country to compete against the large national dailies, for example by requiring large and small newspapers to cooperate on home delivery. Many of these smaller papers support the government.

Commenting on the law, World Association of Newspapers President Gavin O'Reilly said in May 2004 that the media legislation was "...somewhat incompatible with internationally recognized standards governing the freedom to publish."

The recent passage by the National Assembly of the revised Private School Law left only the National Security Law to be either abolished or revised.

This law designates the North Korean government as an "anti-state organization," and makes it illegal for any Korean to engage in any act or statement that either praises or encourages North Korea. It also outlaws travel and all forms of communication with North Korea without the Seoul government's approval. It requires Korean citizens to report anyone found to be spying for North Korea.

President Roh has said he would like to "put the [National Security] law in a [time] capsule and send it to a museum."

His sentiments reflect his background as a human rights lawyer who was often called on to defend people he felt were victims of abuses of the law under previous governments.

If the law is abolished, the trend in South Korea toward better relations with the North is expected to accelerate. Conservatives fear this will threaten the country's security and economic development and undermine its identity as a democracy with a free market economy.

With laws on the country's history and the media law already in effect, and the recently enacted revision of the Private School Law, the National Security Law can be abolished. All these legislative measures are being used politically to solidify the government's foundation and at the same time encourage South Korea's shift to the left.

Military affairs analyst Chi Man-won likened the Uri Party's four legislative packages to the early stage of the Korean War, when South Korean and U.S.-led United Nations forces were pushed south by North Korean forces to a point where they controlled only a small perimeter around the southern port city of Pusan.

"The revision of the Private School Law is the battle of the Naktong River," Chi said, referring to the river that marked much of the perimeter defended by the U.N. forces.

"The remaining base is the National Security Law, which is analogous to Pusan," he said.

--

See an index with links to all installments in this series published to date: blog.wpherald.com/wphblog/?p=123

This article was translated from Japanese and edited by World Peace Herald. For the original text, please visit www.worldtimes.co.jp .

Important Notice: Jang Group of Newspapers web site can be accessed
only by using http://www.jang.com.pk and http://www.jang-group.com

‘No compromise on N Korea sanctions’

WASHINGTON: The United States will not compromise on financial sanctions imposed on North Korea for alleged counterfeiting and other illicit activities in seeking to resolve the peninsula’s nuclear crisis, President George W. Bush said on Thursday.

"The American people, if we know people are counterfeiting our money, they expect the government to act. And there is no compromise when it comes to, hey, come back to the table so you can counterfeit our money," Bush told a news conference.

North Korea has refused to return to six-party nuclear talks unless the United States lifts financial sanctions in retaliation for North Korea’s alleged counterfeiting and money laundering activities.

The US Treasury in September labelled a Macau-based bank, Banco Delta Asia, a "primary money laundering concern" and then blacklisted eight North Korean companies in connection with the bank that it said were involved in spreading weapons of mass destruction.

North Korea pockets up to one billion dollars a year from counterfeiting US greenbacks, trafficking illicit narcotics, smuggling contraband cigarettes and even peddling knockoff Viagra, according to US government estimates.

Meanwhile, President George W. Bush vowed on Thursday to uphold US law and continue a crackdown on North Korea for counterfeiting American dollar bills. "There is no compromise ... We are going to uphold the law and protect the currency of the American people," he told a White House news conference.

The United States in recent months has cracked down on several firms and a Macau-based bank suspected of involvement in counterfeiting, money laundering and drug trafficking by North Korea.

Pyongyang is believed to earn as much as $1 billion annually from these activities, which US officials say benefit the elite at the expense of an impoverished population.

The communist state has said it would be unthinkable to return to six-country nuclear talks, led by China and stalled since November, when Washington is trying to bring down its rulers with "financial sanctions."

While Bush showed no give on the crackdown on the North’s suspected illicit activities, he reaffirmed that "we want the six party talks to continue ... I think the framework is a framework that can eventually yield to a political settlement of the issue."

Korea in Crisis: Rethinking the Korean War
By SEKAI NIPPO
Published January 26, 2006


TOKYO -- This is the third in an extended series of articles by a team of Sekai Nippo reporters on the crises that face North and South Korea and the prospects for a unified Korea. (Editor's note)

"The 6.25 War [a reference to the Korean War that broke out on June 25, 1950] was a war for unification and, at the same time, a civil war. In other words, it was a war among people who shared the same flesh and blood, and a war for unification initiated by North Korean leadership."


These were the words of Kang Jeong-koo, a professor of sociology at Dongguk University in Seoul in a column published in the online publication "Daily Surprise" on July 27, 2005.

His argument was that the Korean War was a civil war waged for the purpose of unifying the divided peninsula. In this sense, it was similar to another war fought in the 10th century, near the end of the Unified Silla dynasty (668-935). In that war, three warlords based in different parts of the peninsula vied for the right to set up a new dynasty to replace the defunct Silla and become king of a unified Korea.

Kang argued that, even though North Korea may have started the 1950 war, it did so for the noble purpose of unifying the homeland. In Kang's view, therefore, it was inappropriate to charge North Korea with committing an act of aggression against the South.

Further, according to Kang, the United States should not have intervened in the war.

"If the United States had not intervened in this war for unification, a war in a country other than their own among a people who shared a common bond of flesh and blood, it would have ended within a month," he wrote.

"The total death toll for both North and South would have been less than 10,000, at most," he wrote.

The U.S. intervention served only to prolong the war and increase the death toll by an "extra three million nine hundred ninety thousand," he wrote.

Kang's logic was an attempt to justify North Korea's invasion of the South and blame the United States for the immense human suffering that was brought about by that attack.

The controversy over Kang's writing continues to shake the whole of South Korean society today.

South Korea's longstanding taboo against public debate on the merits of the Korean War was broken first in 1998 by Choi Jang-jip, a professor of political science at Korea University and head of that university's Asian Studies Center.

Choi stirred controversy and was widely criticized when he publicly characterized the Korean War as "a war for national liberation."

The government brought charges against him under the National Security Law, which makes it illegal to engage in any act that either praises or offers encouragement to the North Korean government.

In Choi's instance, the debate over his position remained within the academic circles and the courts. Kang succeeded in forcing the debate into a wider social forum.

On August 15, 2001, Kang attended the annual Liberation Day ceremonies in Pyongyang, North Korea, and visited the birthplace of Kim Il-sung, the former North Korean president. Although Kim died in 1994, he continues to occupy a godlike position in North Korean society.

In signing the guestbook at Kim's birthplace, known by its geographic name of Man-gyong-dae, Kang wrote: "Let us inherit the spirit of Man-gyong-dae, and achieve the noble task of unification."

The inscription was widely interpreted to mean that Kang was advocating that South Koreans "inherit the spirit" of Kim Il-sung and bring about unification in accordance with Kim's vision.

Kang was arrested on his return to South Korea and charged for violating the National Security Law. A court convicted him, and the case is currently under appeal.

Kang's rhetoric was far more radical than that of Choi in 1998. Even one member of the ruling Uri Party who was once active in the radical student movement characterized Kang's rhetoric as "outrageous."

In a public opinion poll conducted by the JoongAng Daily newspaper in October 2005, only 15 percent of those polled expressed support for Kang's statements.

The investigation by the police and prosecution revealed that Kang, through various writings and remarks, had played a major role in creating the theoretical framework for organizations such as the Anti-Imperialism National Democratic Front and the Korea Federation of University Student Councils (HanChongYun). According to South Korean law enforcement officials, these organizations, while operating in South Korea, report to the Unified Front Department of North Korea's ruling Korea Workers Party.

It came as a shock to many, then, when Minister of Justice Cheon Jeong-bae exercised his constitutional power to overrule the prosecution and order that Kang not be held in custody during the investigation into the charges against him. This allowed Kang to continue speaking out publicly on matters related to North Korea and unification.

The justice minister justified his decision from a human rights standpoint, saying, "Defendants should only be detained when there is the possibility for destruction of evidence or flight."

Progressive forces are obliged to protect "academic freedom and freedom of conscience," he said.

The justice minister's exercise of command authority shook the Public Prosecutors' Office. The implication of the justice minister's action appeared to be that the National Security Law was no longer to be enforced.

The chief prosecutor tendered his resignation in protest against the justice minister's action. The government accepted the resignation and let stand the justice minister's order against detaining Kang.

President Roh Moo Hyun has expressed his conviction that the National Security Law should be "sent to a museum," and the government and the ruling Uri Party are moving forward with legislation to accomplish this.

In 2003, the government allowed the return of the pro-North Korean academician Song Du-yul from Germany. Song became a member of the North Korea's ruling Korea Workers Party in the 1970s, and had been in exile from South Korea many years. Roh welcomed him back to the South as a "person of merit" in the movement to bring democracy to South Korea.

Song's return, however, turned into an embarrassment for Roh, when law enforcement officials arrested him on charges of violating the National Security Law. For Roh, the incident was further evidence that the law needed to be done away with.

On their face, Kang's actions and statements appear to fall well within the prohibitions of the National Security Law against "praise, encouragement, propaganda, and conformity to activities of anti-state organizations." The North Korean government is defined as such an anti-state organization.

The fact that Kang could engage in such acts and avoid being taken into custody created a precedent, and effectively undermined the National Security Law, according to many conservatives. In the ruling party's view, this was a step in the right direction.

Roh's support in public opinion polls currently hovers around 20 percent. The ruling Uri Party hopes to have another of their members elected to the presidency when the next presidential election is held in December 2007, but this appears difficult without a dramatic change in public opinion.

Some observers speculate that Roh may try to accomplish such a change by holding a summit with North Korean ruler Kim Jong-il. Almost certainly, North Korea will demand that the South abolish its National Security Law before agreeing to such a summit.

---

See an index with links to all installments in this series published to date: blog.wpherald.com/wphblog/?p=123

This article was translated from Japanese and edited by World Peace Herald. For the original text, please visit www.worldtimes.co.jp .

Pentagon plan calls for new WMD task force Times of Malta
The Pentagon's latest strategy review proposes a new military unit that would prevent the transfer of weapons of mass destruction from states such as North Korea and Iran to terrorist groups, The Washington Times reported.
US warns it may cut aid to Palestinians Reuters
Hamas Is Facing a Money Crisis; Aid May Be Cut New York Times
International Herald Tribune - Zaman Online - Seattle Post Intelligencer - Voice of America - all 209 related »

North Korea Warns of Nuclear War
Sat Jan 28, 11:06 AM ET



North Korea warned of nuclear war Saturday and vowed to strengthen its deterrent forces as it demanded that Washington show evidence backing its allegation that the communist regime is counterfeiting U.S. money.

"Dark clouds of a nuclear war are hanging low over the Korean Peninsula," the North's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary carried by state-run Korean Central News Agency.

"The ever-more frantic moves of the U.S. to ignite a new war against (North Korea) would only compel it ... to bolster its deterrent for self-defense in every way."

The North repeatedly has accused the United States of planning to attack. Washington has denied any such intention.

The North's comments Saturday follow a South Korea-U.S. agreement this month giving American troops more flexibility in the South.

The North said the pact was aimed at preparing for war.

Also Saturday, the North dismissed U.S. accusations of counterfeiting and other illicit activities like drug trafficking.

"The nature and mission of (North Korea) do not allow such things as bad treatment of the people, counterfeiting and drug trafficking to happen in it," KCNA said.

A pro-North Korean newspaper in Japan also urged Washington to prove its allegation that North Korea is counterfeiting U.S. currency.

"If there is suspicion and clear evidence as claimed by the United States, (the U.S.) can present it and prove (it)," the Choson Sinbo newspaper said.

The United States "continues to leak plausible information but the reality is that there is nothing to confirm the fact objectively," it said.

The newspaper sometimes acts as an unofficial mouthpiece for the reclusive, communist North.

North Korea has recently stepped up criticism of the United States for imposing sanctions over its alleged illicit activities.

In September, Washington slapped restrictions on a bank in the Chinese territory of Macau, saying it had helped the North distribute counterfeit money and engage in smuggling.

A month later, Washington imposed sanctions on eight North Korean companies it said were fronts for proliferating weapons of mass destruction.

The North has refused to return to international talks on its nuclear weapons program until Washington lifts the sanctions.

The United States has dismissed the threat, saying the sanctions are unrelated to the nuclear issue.

On Friday, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said there were indications that the six-country negotiations over the North's nuclear programs could resume in February.

The last session of the talks — involving the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia — was held in November.



Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.


Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?Stor...31-022514-4121r

Analysis: North Korean reformer returns to power
By Jong-Heon Lee
UPI Correspondent
Published January 31, 2006


SEOUL -- The return of Jang Song Taek to North Korea's ruling hierarchy indicates the reclusive nation will push for further economic cooperation with South Korea, officials and analysts in Seoul say.

Jang, once a symbol of North Korea's reforms, will be given the job of reviving the country's moribund economy, they say.


Jang was long considered the country's most powerful leader after Kim Jong-Il, his brother-in-law. But he was purged in February 2004 on charges of "creating a faction" over internal power struggle, according to intelligence sources in the South.

Jang had been absent from public life since then, and reportedly led a tightly guarded life at a guesthouse in a suburb of Pyongyang. The Pyongyang regime described Jang last September as a "tree" that was cut off, in a strong indication he was officially removed from the power. All of Jang's close aides, including Security Minister Choe Ryong Su, were expelled from the party and the Cabinet.

North Korea-watchers in Seoul considered Jang's dismissal as a bid by Kim to reinforce the country's dynastic rule as he was preparing for another father-to-son power transfer. Jang, husband of Kim Jong Il's younger sister, Kim Gyong Hi, was believed to be one of the stronger candidates for the country's next leader, along with Kim's three sons.

After a two-year absence, however, Jang has returned to the ruling hierarchy, according to the country's media Sunday. He appeared at a dinner party where Kim was host, marking the Lunar New Year on Saturday. The North's Central TV showed Jang standing behind Kim at the banquet in Pyongyang.

According to sources in Seoul, early this month Jang assumed the post of the first deputy chief of the department of the Party Central Committee in charge of organizing public labor work and managing capital construction. His previous post was more powerful: the first deputy chief of the powerful Organization and Guidance Department under the Party Central Committee.

Analysts here say Jang will be given important jobs because he is among a handful of confidants of Kim. Jang's two brothers are top officials in the powerful People's Army. His wife is the chief of the party's light industry department.

Jang's return to the ruling hierarchy seems to be related to Kim's reform plans to revive his country's economy, according to analysts in South Korea. Kim is widely expected to introduce market forces into North Korea's shattered command economy to follow in China's footsteps. Earlier this month, Kim undertook a nine-day trip to China's southern booming commercial cities in an apparent bid to study the thriving economic programs.

Kim strongly indicated he would push for Chinese-style economic reforms as he told President Hu Jintao he was "deeply moved" by China's economic achievement, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

"Kim Jong Il needs Jang, who had played a key role in North Korea's reforms and opening in the past, as the country pursuits the Chinese economic model," said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea specialist at Dongguk University in Seoul.

"Jang toured South Korea and other capitalist countries in 2002 to study market economy," he said. After the visit, Jang made a set of reform packages and policies to promote inter-Korean economic cooperation, he said.

Jang is also expected to play a role in promoting economic cooperation with South Korea, Koh and other experts say.

He had long been involved in inter-Korean relations along with Kim Yong-Sun, the party secretary in charge of relations with the South. Cross-border relations have stalled since Kim died in October 2003, following a traffic accident.

"There were no figures who can replace Kim and Jang to take charge of inter-Korean relations," a government official said. "Inter-Korean relations are likely to improve if Jang takes the lead in the North's reform drive," he said.

KOREAN NUKES

- Bush's Restraint On N.Korea Raises Hope
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Bushs_Rest...aises_Hope.html

Seoul (UPI) Feb 01, 2006 - South Korean officials were relieved Wednesday when U.S. President George W. Bush toned down his criticism of North Korea in his State of the Union address.

Korea in Crisis: North Korea's covert war
By SEKAI NIPPO
Published February 6, 2006


TOKYO -- This is the thirteenth in an extended series of articles by a team of Sekai Nippo reporters on the crises that face North and South Korea and the prospects for a unified Korea. A link to an index of other articles in this series is at the bottom of this page. (Editor's note)

A political refugee from North Korea who at one time was involved in anti-South operations and was in a position to observe North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, recalls an episode that illustrates North Korea's self-confidence in its anti-South operations.


"One day, Kim Jong Il asked an aide, 'How many provinces are there in the North?' The aide answered, 'There are nine.' Kim Jong Il responded, saying, 'that is not correct. We have one more. Our tenth province is called, 'Republic of Korea.'"

Although the official section of anti-South covert operation of North Korea is the Unified Front Department, there are other sections in the party including the External Liaison Department, Operations Department and the External Information Research Department, referred to as "Room 35."

While the Unified Front Department is involved in open propaganda, the other three departments have agents directly infiltrate into South Korea and engage in illegal activities, including reconnaissance and terrorism as their main missions. They are under the direct command of Kim Jong Il and are active in covert operations even today, according to South Korean security sources.

Until the end of the 1990s, South Korea maintained a fiercely hostile policy toward North Korea. As a result, the country was largely closed to North Korea. To infiltrate into the South, North Korean agents often had to go through third countries, such as Japan.

Some of the known methods of anti-South operations via Japan include (1) infiltrating South Korea from Japan using as identification the passports of Japanese citizens abducted to North Korea, (2) using the passports of South Koreans who visited Japan, and (3) getting assistance from Chochungryun, the association of Korean residents in Japan that is loyal to Pyongyang.

After Kim Jong Il assumed leadership of his country, North Korea began to carry out its operation more rationally and broadly. In other words, North Korea nurtured and skillfully took advantage of the ordinary citizens' anti-U.S., pro-North Korea sentiment generated by South Korea's democratization.

For example, efforts to neutralize conservative, security-conscious groups in South Korea are considered to be a part of the North's anti-South covert operations in collaboration with the South's pro-North Korea leftist groups advocating the unification of North and South with slogan of "nationalism" and "independence."

More recently the trend has been toward psychological operations. This is an effort to elevate the North's image or to compromise opposition groups. A typical example of this was seen at the time of the 2002 Asian Games in Pusan, when North Korea sent a team of cheerleaders. Dubbed by the South Korean press as the "North Korean Beauty Corps," the women enthralled the South Korean public with their flawless cheering and singing performances.

Their performance was repeated in 2003 at the Universiade games in Daegu, and in 2005 at the Incheon Asian Athletics Championships.

Last year, it was revealed that a cabinet minister in the current government had been investigated by the Public Prosecutors' Office during the mid-1980s for having provided his Residents Registry Certificate, a document used to prove South Korean citizenship, to a North Korean agent so that the agent could infiltrate South Korea.

This information suggested the possibility that North Korea's anti-South covert operations have reached the upper echelons of the current Seoul government.

As if to verify the fact that North Korea's anti-South operation is steadily progressing, agents who had remained underground have recently begun coming to the surface, according to experts on North Korean affairs.

Former Secretary of the North Korean Workers' Party Hwang Jang Yeob, who defected to South Korea in 1997, has expressed frustration with the situation. He recently severely criticized South Korean youth who are deeply influenced by North Korea's anti-South operations.

"If the Leader [Kim Jong Il] says something is imperialism they unconditionally believe it is imperialism," he said. "How can we say that South Korean youth who have become mental slaves to the Leader are sane?"

Today groups that act according to North Korea's dictates continue their ongoing covert war against the South.

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See an index with links to all installments in this series published to date: blog.wpherald.com/wphblog/?p=123

This article was translated from Japanese and edited by World Peace Herald. For the original text, please visit www.worldtimes.co.jp