North Korea Admits to Possessing Nuclear Weapons

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=B82E8F:2F72C9D

North Korea says it plans to keep its nuclear weapons as a deterrent
under any circumstances North Korea says it will not return to
multilateral talks on ending its nuclear ambitions and has repeated
its earlier assertions that it has already manufactured nuclear
weapons. South Korean, Japanese and U.S. officials are pushing
Pyongyang to resume talks.

A North Korean television announcer reads a Foreign Ministry statement
Thursday, saying that Pyongyang is suspending participation in
multilateral nuclear talks for "an indefinite period."

He then says North Korea has manufactured nuclear weapons, repeating
earlier claims.

The statement also says that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice's recent description of the North is an "outpost of tyranny"
shows that Washington has a hostile attitude toward North Korea.
Pyongyang says that means it has no justification to continue the
talks.

Speaking in Luxembourg, Ms. Rice said the decision would only "deepen
North Korea's isolation." She says the international community has
been clear there is no need for nuclear weapons on the Korean
peninsula, and that the United States has no intention of attacking
the North.

For months, North Korea has stalled efforts to have a fourth round of
talks with China, South Korea, Japan, Russia and the United States.
Many experts on North Korea thought Pyongyang delayed in part because
it hoped that President Bush would be defeated in last year's
election. After Mr. Bush was re-elected, Pyongyang indicated it would
decide on resuming talks after the president selected his new foreign
policy team.

Mr. Bush last week gave only a low-key mention to North Korea in his
annual State of the Union address, giving some experts hope that
Pyongyang would return to the table. And in recent weeks, U.S. and
South Korean officials had expressed optimism about the talks.

Chun Youk, a spokeswoman for the conservative Grand National Party in
South Korea, says her party is disappointed in North Korea's decision.

Ms. Chun says North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has made a choice to
protect his regime, rather than negotiate in the interest of his
people.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said he will continue to
urge North Korea to return to the six-party talks, despite the latest
announcement.

North Korean has said publicly in the past it possesses nuclear
weapons, and U.S. experts have said it may have built one or two crude
devices, and has the fuel to build about eight more. However, North
Korea has not yet conducted a nuclear test.

Rice Urges North Korea to Reassess Nuclear Decision

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=B82E8E:2F72C9D

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says North Korea is only
deepening its international isolation by suspending its role in the
six-party talks on its nuclear program Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice says North Korea is only deepening its international isolation by
suspending its role in six-party talks on its nuclear program. Ms.
Rice, in Luxembourg for talks with European Union officials, called
the move "unfortunate," and said Pyongyang should reconsider. 

Ms. Rice responded to the North Korean statement in Luxembourg, as she
finished her first overseas trip as secretary of state, calling the
announcement from Pyongyang "unfortunate," especially for the people
of North Korea, who she said will only become more isolated.

The secretary of state said the United States had assumed since the
mid-1990's that North Korea possessed a few nuclear weapons, and that
she is confident that the United States and its allies, including
South Korea, can deter any military threat on the Korean peninsula.

But she said that by suspending its role in the Chinese-sponsored
six-party talks, North Korea is walking away from an opportunity to
get security guarantees from the United States and other participants,
and to have a more reasonable relationship with the rest of the world.

"We are trying to give the North Koreans a different path. The
Chinese, the Russians, the South Koreans, the Japanese are trying to
give the North Koreans a different path," she said.  "And, I know
that we have support from the rest of the international community in
saying to the North Koreans that they ought to take what is before
them, a path to a more reasonable relationship, a path to security
assurances from their neighbors, including from the United States, and
very clear statements from the President of the United States that
there is no intention to invade or attack North Korea."

Ms. Rice declined to say what she thought was behind the North Korean
statement, but said the United States will consult on it with its
partners in the six-party talks, and that she hoped, in the meantime,
Pyongyang will reconsider its decision.

The last round of talks was held last June in Beijing. Despite an
agreement in principle by all the participants to hold another round
in September, North Korea did not return, amid speculation that it was
awaiting results of the U.S. presidential election.

In a proposal presented at the negotiations last year, the United
States offered to be part of multi-lateral guarantees for North
Korea's security, if it agreed to the complete, verifiable and
irreversible dismantling of its nuclear program.

The Bush administration has said it would not consider political and
economic benefits for North Korea, until disarmament is complete, but
it says other parties to the talks could extend aid to the
economically-strapped communist state as the process unfolds.

--------------------
North Korea Announces It Has Nuclear Arms
--------------------

From Associated Press

February 10 2005, 7:51 AM PST

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea announced for the first time today it has nuclear weapons, and it rejected moves to restart disarmament talks anytime soon, saying the bombs are protection against an increasingly hostile United States.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...-home-headlines

--------------------
N. Korea's Nuclear Weapons Development
--------------------

By The Associated Press

February 10 2005, 2:07 AM PST

A timeline of North Korea's nuclear weapons development:

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...-home-headlines

--------------------
Rice Aims to Defuse N. Korea Nuclear Issue
--------------------

By ANNE GEARAN
AP Diplomatic Writer

February 10 2005, 7:41 AM PST

LUXEMBOURG -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that North Korea should return to disarmament talks and avoid a path toward further international isolation. "The world has given them a way out and we hope they will take that way out," she said.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...-home-headlines

as a protection from Bush.

Gee - I feel so much safer! Thank you to all that voted for him.

North Koreans Say They Hold Nuclear Arms
By JAMES BROOKE and DAVID E. SANGER
The announcement sent China, the U.S. and its allies to
debate whether diplomatic efforts could be resuscitated.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/11/internat...11korea.html?th

TODAY'S EDITORIALS
The North Korean Challenge
More enlightened, flexible and sophisticated American
diplomacy must provide a way back to the negotiating table
with North Korea.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/11/opinion/11fri1.html?th

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/...1/nkorea.talks/

US Rejects N. Korea direct talks

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor.../nkorea_nuclear

Report: N. Korea Demands Talks with US

--------------------
North Korea Escalates Its Nuclear Threat
--------------------

Pyongyang bolsters weapons claims and says it won't resume talks. U.S. and foreign officials publicly downplay private worries.

By Sonni Efron and Bruce Wallace
Times Staff Writers

February 11 2005

WASHINGTON — North Korea on Thursday made its boldest claim that it has atomic weapons and said it would not return to six-nation talks to negotiate an end to its nuclear program.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...0,7914097.story

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...ack=1&cset=true

World Urges N. Korea Back to Nuclear Talks

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/GB12Dg01.html

Pyongyang Watch
North Korea's long, subtle game
Aidan Foster-Carter

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/GB12Dg05.html

Pyongyang ups the ante-again
Bruce Klingner

China may now be forced to trump N. Korea's playing the nuclear card.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0211/dailyUpdate.html

Talks with North Korea Must be Within 6-Party Framework, White House
Says

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President Bush believes six-party talks is best chance for binding
agreement ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program

George W. BushThe White House says there will be no direct talks
with North Korea over ending its nuclear weapons program, unless such
talks occur within the framework of broader regional negotiations. A
North Korean diplomat at the United Nations says direct talks with the
United States would show that Washington is changing what he called
its "hostile policy" toward North Korea.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan says there will be no direct
talks outside a six-nation diplomatic initiative because the issue of
North Korea's nuclear weapons is a regional issue, not an issue
between Pyongyang and Washington.

Within those six-party talks, Mr. McClellan says, there is plenty of
opportunity to speak directly, as there has been in the past. The
Bush administration is trying to keep the focus on those six-party
talks involving the United States, North Korea, South Korea, China,
Japan, and Russia because President Bush believes that is the best
chance for a binding agreement ending North Korea's nuclear weapons
program.

Mr. McClellan says there were direct talks in the past, resulting in a
1994 agreement between the United States and North Korea that North
Korea violated by continuing to pursue nuclear weapons.

North Korea announced Thursday that is has nuclear weapons and is
suspending its participation in the six-party talks.

Japan Urges North Korea to Rejoin Disarmament Talks
By JAMES BROOKE and DAVID E. SANGER
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan urged North Korea
to re-engage in disarmament talks, a day after North Korea
said it had nuclear arms.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/12/internat...12korea.html?th

Washington Not Interested in Bilateral Talks With North Korea

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Spokesman says de-nuclearized Korean peninsula is of utmost importance
to North Korea's neighbors

The Bush administration says it is not interested in bilateral
talks with North Korea about its nuclear program. This comes just one
day after the Communist state claimed that it does possess nuclear
weapons, and plans to keep producing them.

The White House said Friday that North Korea must resolve the issue in
the context of six-party talks, which the North withdrew from in 2004.

The White House called on Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table
as soon as possible. Spokesman Scott McClellan said a de-nuclearized
Korean peninsula is of utmost importance to North Korea's neighbors

White House Spokesman Scott McClellan "That's why we're working with
all parties in the region to say to North Korea: 'You need to come
back to the six-party talks. You need to permanently dismantle your
nuclear weapons program.  That's the way to realize better
relations with the international community and end your isolation,"
said the White House spokesman.

Since 2003, the U.S., the two Koreas, Japan, Russia, and China have
held three rounds of talks, aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon
its nuclear program.  A fourth round of talks, scheduled for last
September, was canceled when the North withdrew, citing what it called
a "hostile" policy by the United States.

International observers have long suspected that Pyongyang has at
least one or two nuclear bombs, and enough fuel to produce more.
Thursday, North Korea declared that it did have such weapons, but said
they were necessary to defend against what it claimed was an
"undisguised policy" by the Bush administration to "isolate and
stifle" Pyongyang from the international community. 

The White House has said repeatedly it has no desire to attack the
Korean peninsula.

Friday, North Korea's envoy to the United Nations was quoted in a
South Korean newspaper, as demanding bilateral talks with Washington.

U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher U.S. State Department
spokesman Richard Boucher said bilateral talks had been tried before,
and did not work. "When the U.S. and North Korea had direct
negotiations to eliminate North Korea's nuclear weapons program, we
got a deal, and then North Korea started cheating on the deal, very
quickly within a couple of years," said Mr. Boucher.

When approached by an Associated Press reporter in New York, North
Korean U.N. Ambassador Han Sung Ryol offered little hope his
government would return to multinational discussions.

The United Nations joined several governments in expressing concern
about North Korea's latest statements.

Maurice Strong Special Advisor Maurice Strong says, "Yes it's a very
real bump in the road. The Secretary-General is deeply concerned. He's
instructed me to intensify our efforts at supporting the resumption of
the six-party process, and our support for it. I expect that there
will be a peaceful resolution, because the consequences of NOT
resolving this issue are so horrendous for all parties.

Meanwhile, Mister McClellan said South Korea's foreign minister (Ban
Ki-moon) met with Vice President Dick Cheney in Washington, and agreed
that Pyongyang should end its nuclear weapons program.

Treating The Mental Impact of War

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=B8F3C3:2F72C9D

Doctors Without Borders provides psychological counseling, noting
emotional scars from trauma can continue long after physical damage
has healed Doctors Without Borders, also known as “Medecins Sans
Frontieres,” or MSF, has been responding to people in crisis for over
30 years.  It’s provided emergency medical care in natural
disasters, epidemics, famines, and war.  But the organization
says during the war in Bosnia in the 1990s, MSF realized it needed to
address psychological concerns as well, noting emotional scars from
trauma can continue long after physical damage has healed. 
Clinical psychologist Kaz de Jong is MSF’s mental health
adviser

“What do you do if there’s enough food, but no one wants to eat?”
That’s the question Mr. de Jong poses in the most recent issue of
MSF’s quarterly magazine, ”Alert.”  Mr. de Jong says there are a
number of reasons for this reaction. 

"People who return from their villages because their villages have
been burned, they’ve seen their children being killed, and we try to
address some of the problems these people have.  We try to help
them deal with the loss of their material roots, but it can also be of
persons in their lives.  It can also be that we help them to
adapt to the new environment, because living in a refugee camp is very
hard, most people are not used to it," he says. 

As another example, Mr. de Jong mentions children who’ve lost their
parents.  The clinical psychologist says MSF tries to find those
children, bring them to safe places for protection, then watch over
them.

Mr. de Jong says MSF recruits and trains local volunteers as
counselers who, themselves, have experienced the given traumatic
event. 

"Of course they work under clinical, technical supervision of us, but
we provide them with training, with tools to help their own people,
and basically that’s the process that we try to facilitate as much as
possible," he says. 

Mr. de Jong says this approach taps the interests and talents of local
people who’ve survived the trauma and are interested in helping
others, which makes the program more effective.

"Survivors are very good, able to help their own people, and we find
very often that the survivors of traumatic experiences are even better
supporters than … those people who have not lived through those
circumstances," he says.

Mr. de Jong says locally trained counselers helping other victims
overcome loss is also part of the adaptive process for both of
them.  For example, if people don’t eat because they’ve lost the
will to live, it helps both to address that problem directly.

He says, "If somebody has lost meaning, it’s not my job to give the
meaning back, but together with this person, discover why this
person’s still alive, why this person is not dead.  And in that
way, together we can find, maybe in the beginning, a small meaning of
life, which grows.  And then people will start to eat again."

The clinical psychologist says in a mass trauma situation, such as the
Rwandan genocide in ’94, or the on-going crisis in Darfur, not
everyone needs individual attention.  He estimates that between
20 and 30 percent of those needing counseling need it one on
one.  Others, he says, are helped through group therapy,
constructive activities, bringing back structure to their lives, and
reconnecting them with their environment.

People who suffer physical and mental damage from trauma obviously
need medical care, but Mr. de Jong says attention to mental and
psychological needs is just as important.  He says, at times,
showing concern for a person’s welfare is a powerful remedy.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/n...10876343.htm?1c

US Refuses One-On-One with North Korea Talks

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...b10.html?sub=AR

In Pyongyang, Raising the Ante

North Korea's Threat

IF NORTH KOREA'S declaration of itself as a nuclear power was intended, as it seems to have been, to shock the world and thereby pressure the United States into making unwarranted concessions, then the Bush administration responded well by playing it down. The erratic Pyongyang regime, officials pointed out, has made similar statements before. U.S. intelligence has credited the North with a couple of bombs for a decade, and in the absence of a nuclear test, there's no way to know whether it has workable warheads. The administration is also right to dismiss, again, North Korea's attempt to insist on bilateral negotiations with the United States. The Bush administration's recruitment of China, South Korea, Japan and Russia for "six-party" talks was its sole success on the Korean front in the past four years and should be preserved. The latest declaration nevertheless underlined the distressing truth that as the threat from North Korea grows steadily worse, the administration lacks an effective strategy to counter it.

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...er=emailarticle

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State Urges Unity After U.S. Rejects Demand
--------------------

From Times Wire Reports

February 13 2005

North Korea urged its impoverished citizens to rally around leader Kim Jong Il, after Washington rebuffed the Communist North's demand for direct talks to curb nuclear tension.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...headlines-world

U.S. Is Shaping Plan to Pressure North Koreans
By DAVID E. SANGER
The White House has been developing new strategies to choke
off North Korea's few remaining sources of income.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/14/politics/14korea.html?th

Seoul Stands Firm on Ties with Pyongyang

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=B995D1:2F72C9D

South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-Young tells lawmakers
there would be no change in Seoul's policy of engagement with
Pyongyang

Chung Dong-YoungSouth Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-Young on
Monday told lawmakers there would be no change in Seoul's policy of
engagement with Pyongyang.

Last week, North Korea announced that it possessed nuclear weapons,
and that it was withdrawing indefinitely from multilateral talks aimed
at ending its nuclear weapons programs.

Mr. Chung, the South's top policymaker on North Korea, says the
North's statements are probably just an attempt to gain leverage
before eventually returning to the negotiations.

Mr. Chung says the North probably has enough plutonium to make one or
two nuclear weapons, but says it is too early to call North Korea a
nuclear state. He says North Korea has never conducted a nuclear test.

The United States wants Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table
without preconditions, and Japan is threatening the North with
economic sanctions.

But Mr. Chung and other members of South Korea's ruling Uri party
support a policy of promoting gradual, positive change in North Korea
through economic ties, as opposed to confrontational rhetoric on such
issues as nuclear weapons and human rights.

Scholars and activists meeting in Seoul criticized that approach
Monday, at the opening of an international conference on North Korean
human rights. The delegates implied that in its eagerness to deal with
Pyongyang, the South Korean government is turning a blind eye to human
rights abuses in the North.

The conference was shown a documentary comparing North Korean prison
camps with the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz. Hundreds of
thousands of North Koreans are believed to be in such camps, many of
them for minor political crimes.

Heo Man-Ho, of South Korea's Kyungpook National University, told the
conference Seoul must make economic aid to Pyongyang conditional on
human rights improvements.

Mr. Heo says South Korea must take care it is not trapped into
condoning North Korea's human rights abuses.

About six thousand North Koreans have succeeded in defecting to South
Korea since the Korean War of the 1950s, and authorities here say more
and more are arriving each year after fleeing hunger and political
persecution at home. At least 100,000 North Korean refugees are
believed to be hiding in China.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/North-Korea/...8229852786.html

China shifts Korea stance as it counts cost of alliance

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/GB15Dg03.html

Best option is no action on North Korean nukes
Andrei Lankov

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Japan/GB15Dh01.html

Japan back to wait-and-see on North Korea

http://www.carnegieendowment.org/npp/publi...a=view&id=16509

Not So Fast
Jon Wolfsthal
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

http://www.catostore.org/index.asp?fa=Prod...&aeid=&adv=&pg=

The Korean Conundrum: America's Troubled
Relations with North and South Korea
Ted Galen carpenter and Doug Bandow

Rice Assures South Korean of U.S. Pressure on North
By JOEL BRINKLEY and JAMES BROOKE
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pledged on Monday to
continue using diplomatic means to pressure North Korea to
end its nuclear program.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/15/internat.../15rice.html?th

http://www.antiwar.com/eland/?articleid=4841

A Fresh Approach to North Korean Nukes is Needed
Ivan Eland

US options in the North Korea stand-off
With Bush reelected, the North Koreans may have judged February a good
month to turn the spotlight back on themselves. By Peter Grier
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0216/p03s01-usfp.html?s=hns

China's stake in a nonnuclear North Korea
Though at odds in the past, Beijing and Washington have mutual interest
in stable Korean Peninsula. By Nina Hachigian
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0217/p09s01-coop.html?s=hns

US, South Korea Envoys in Beijing for North Korea Talks

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=BA9A7F:2F72C9D

Flurry of diplomacy aimed at reversing North Korea's decision last
week to pullout of six-nation talks on dismantling its nuclear weapons
program Top U.S. and South Korean negotiators have met with Chinese
officials in Beijing Thursday as part of stepped up efforts to get
North Korean nuclear talks going again.

The newly appointed U.S. negotiator in the North Korea talks,
Christopher Hill, met in the Chinese capital with Foreign Minister Li
Zhaoxing. South Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon also
arrived in Beijing Thursday for separate consultations.

The flurry of diplomacy is aimed at reversing North Korea's decision
last week to pullout of six-nation talks on dismantling its nuclear
weapons program. China - which has hosted three rounds - is among
North Korea's few allies and aid benefactors. Japan, South Korea,
Russia and the United States want China to use this influence with
Pyongyang.

Thursday's meetings come before Chinese diplomat Wang Jiarui departs
for North Korea. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Kong Quan Thursday
declined to give details.

Mr. Kong says Mr. Wang and North Korean officials will exchange views
on issues of common interest. He declined to say if China would offer
a new economic aid package to Pyongyang - which has been done in the
past to successfully lure North Korea to the negotiating table.

At issue is North Korea's plutonium and uranium-based nuclear weapons
programs - which violate several international agreements signed by
Pyongyang. The crisis began in October 2002, when the United States
said North Korea admitted having a secret development program. Since
then North Korea pulled out of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,
expelled U.N. inspectors and claims now to actually have built
weapons. International experts believe the claim could be true.

North Korea has repeatedly said it will only dismantle its programs in
exchange for aid and security guarantees from the United States - seen
by Pyongyang as it main enemy. Washington rejects preconditions as
tantamount to blackmail and wants North Korea to comply with
long-standing accords before any incentives will be considered.

U.S. officials this week urged North Korea to return to talks at an
early date, saying the six-party process is the best opportunity North
Korea has to resolve the impasse peacefully.

--------------------
North Korea Urged to Resume Talks
--------------------

The U.S., Japan and China call on Pyongyang to rejoin nuclear arms negotiations. Its U.N. envoy reportedly cites deterrence against U.S.

By Bob Drogin
Times Staff Writer

February 20 2005

WASHINGTON; Senior U.S. and Japanese officials urged North Korea on Saturday to resume negotiations aimed at eliminating its nuclear weapons program, while a top Chinese diplomat visited Pyongyang to push the same message.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...0,5303012.story

U.S., Japan Worry About N. Korean Withdrawal From Talks

The United States and Japan expressed their "deep concern" yesterday over North Korea's refusal to negotiate over its nuclear arms programs.

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China Urges United States, North Korea to Be More Flexible in
Resolving Nuclear Dispute

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Comments follow reports that North Korea is backing away from early
statements that it would not take part in disarmament talks China is
calling on the United States and North Korea to show more flexibility
in efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear dispute. The comments
follow reports that North Korea is backing away from early statements
that it would not take part in disarmament talks.

Beijing's latest statements follow a four-day visit to Pyongyang by
Chinese officials who worked to convince North Korea to return to
nuclear negotiations hosted by China.

Arriving back in Beijing Tuesday, China's ambassador for Korean
Affairs, Ning Fukui, said no date was agreed for the resumption of
talks.

"The Korean peninsula's nuclear problem certainly [remains] very
complicated," he said.

Mr. Ning accompanied Wang Jiarui, the head of the Chinese Communist
party's international relations office, to Pyongyang where they met
with officials, including North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

Mr. Kim told the Chinese officials that his country would return to
the talks when conditions were right and the United States abandoned
what the North says is a "hostile" policy toward Pyongyang. Nearly two
weeks ago, North Korea said it would suspend participation in the
negotiations.

North Korea demands a security guarantee from the United States before
it will freeze its nuclear weapons programs. Washington has said it
will not reward North Korea for merely complying with its commitments
to be nuclear-free.

At a regular briefing Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong
Quan urged all parties to the talks, especially the United States, to
consider the North Korean demands seriously.

Mr. Kong says China hopes that all sides, especially those directly
concerned, will seriously consider the proposals. He says all sides
should show flexibility and make active and constructive efforts to
restart the six-party talks.

The dispute flared in 2002 when the United States said North Korea had
admitted to having a secret nuclear weapons program, despite previous
international pledges to remain nuclear free. Pyongyang has since said
it has built nuclear weapons and will build more.

China has arranged three unsuccessful rounds of nuclear talks with
North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Russia and the United States.

U.S. officials say they are ready to resume talks without conditions.
They have called on North Korea to return to the table, saying the
six-party mechanism is the best opportunity the North has to settle
the nuclear dispute and end its international isolation.

Last week, the United States urged China to use its influence to press
North Korea to return to the negotiating table.

U.S., S. Korea, Japan to Hold Nuclear Talks in Seoul

Negotiators from the United States, Japan and South Korea will meet in Seoul this weekend to discuss resuming nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea after the communist country's leader hinted at a possible compromise, officials said Wednesday.

To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artic...er=emailarticle

http://www.antiwar.com/engelhardt/?articleid=4978

Pyongyang Waits For Spring
Gavan McCormack and Tom Engelhardt

--------------------
N. Korea, Without the Rancor
--------------------

A businessman speaks his mind about the U.S., the 'nuclear club' and human rights issues.

By Barbara Demick
Times Staff Writer

March 3 2005

BEIJING; He arrived at the entrance to a North Korean government-owned restaurant and karaoke club here in the Chinese capital with a handshake and a request. "Call me Mr. Anonymous," he said in English.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...03,0,8347.story

US Ambassador: No Intention of Invading; North Korea

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Christopher Hill says successful six-way talks could help resolve
nuclear issue The top United States delegate to multilateral talks on
North Korea's nuclear programs says nuclear weapons are no answer to
the country's problems and that returning to the negotiating table is
the only way forward for Pyongyang.

Following discussions with his Chinese counterpart, Ambassador
Christopher Hill said Thursday that nuclear weapons will not help
address North Korea's severe economic problems.

But, he says, successful six-way talks could.

Christopher Hill"They have to deal with a future that is pretty bleak
indeed. When you look at the problems that North Korea faces - in
every measurement of human endeavor, whether it is per capita income,
or health care, or infrastructure - all of these issues are for North
Korea very difficult problems," he said. "And, without being too
rhetorical about it, it seems to me pretty obvious that North Korea
cannot use nuclear weapons in any way to deal with what the threats
they have are."

North Korea said last month it was indefinitely withdrawing from
six-nation talks, which also involve South Korea, Japan, and Russia,
saying it already had nuclear weapons and would make more. Days later,
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told a Chinese envoy he might be
willing to return to talks, if unspecified conditions were right.

Ambassador Hill went on to say that he and China's top delegate, Vice
Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, are fully committed to reaching a deal with
North Korea over its nuclear programs.

Mr. Hill stresses that if talks resume, they will be of the highest
possible quality.

"We stressed the need to approach these with a businesslike, flexible
manner, to use some imagination, to deal with the problems at hand, at
the table," he said. "So, I would say that we are very much ready."

The United States and its partners in the talks are trying to get
North Korea to live up to international agreements it has signed to
remain free of nuclear weapons. Pyongyang says it needs a nuclear
deterrent against what it calls a hostile U.S. policy.

Ambassador Hill says the U.S. has no aggressive intention toward
Pyongyang.

"We have absolutely no intention of invading North Korea, and they
should know that," he said.

Moon Chung-In is the chairman of South Korea's Presidential Committee
on Northeast Cooperation Initiative. Mr. Moon urges the United States
to better understand the mentality of North Korean leaders, and strive
for a deal with Pyongyang.

"For North Korea, more than any other countries in the world,
face-saving rhetorics are very, very important -sometimes more
important than the substance per se. I really hope the United States
would give attention to North Korea in its own context," he said.

Mr. Moon cites President Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China as an
example of Washington engaging a partner with which it had serious
differences, for the sake of a greater good.

North Korea this week also has said it is no longer bound by its
self-imposed moratorium on missile tests. The 1999 freeze on tests
came during talks with the administration of President Clinton. In
1998, the North test fired a medium-range missile that flew over
Japan, sparking new concerns in the region about its weapons programs.

North Korea Urged to Respond on Fate of Japanese Abductees

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=BF4E29:2F72C9D

UN Special Rapporteur Vitit Muntarbhorn calls for communist state to
resolve issues concerning Japanese citizens kidnapped by its agents
The United Nations special rapporteur on North Korean human rights is
calling for the communist state to resolve issues concerning Japanese
citizens kidnapped by its agents. The U.N. official also says
Pyongyang does not recognize his mandate and has failed to cooperate
with requests for information.

U.N. Special Rapporteur Vitit Muntarbhorn, has spent the week in Japan
focusing on the issue of Japanese abducted by North Korea in the 1970s
and 1980s.

On Thursday, Mr. Muntarbhorn issued what he termed a "humanitarian
call" to Pyongyang to quickly and effectively respond to Japan's
claims.

Japanese officials believe that some of the 10 suspected kidnap
victims are alive in North Korea. Pyongyang says that eight are dead
and the two others never were in North Korea.

Mr. Muntarbhorn says he hopes the other parties involved in talks on
North Korea's nuclear weapons - China, South Korea, the United States,
Japan and Russia - also can prod North Korea on its unresolved issues
with Tokyo.

"I would hope that those involved in other talks can also lend their
support for the satisfactory resolution of the issue between the two
countries, particularly on the abductions issue," he said.

Mr. Muntarbhorn, a law professor from Thailand, was appointed eight
months ago to investigate North Korean human rights violations. He was
also supposed to begin a dialogue with the Pyongyang government. But
Mr. Muntarbhorn acknowledges he has had no success with that part of
his mandate.

"Any information from them, any constructive response from them would
be most welcome," he said. "To date they have not responded in terms
of providing any information. I think it is generally known that they
do not accept the mandate and that they rebut the post of the special
rapporteur."

Mr. Muntarbhorn brushed aside questions about whether economic
sanctions might be effective in pressuring North Korea to improve its
human rights situation. He said his approach is to "broach
constructive influence first" within the U.N. system.

North Korea has previously warned that it would consider sanctions
tantamount to a declaration of war.

The special rapporteur's report on North Korea will be submitted to
the U.N. Human Rights Commission at the end of this month. The report
will make note of continued allegations of torture, public executions,
capital punishment for political crimes and infanticide in prison and
labor camps, among other human rights violations.

The commission could decide to issue a resolution and declare the
situation needs further monitoring.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/a...ar_050303164924

North Korea ends missile test moratorium, raising nuclear stakes

North Korea ends missile-test moratorium :

North Korea ended a self-imposed moratorium on testing long-range missiles and said "hostile" US policy was forcing it to develop its nuclear arsenal, prompting immediate condemnation from Japan.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp.../135443/1/.html

--------------------
Nuclear Watchdog Assails North Korea
--------------------

The IAEA session also focuses on Iran, which is urged by the agency chief to 'come clean.'

From Associated Press

March 4 2005

VIENNA; A 35-nation meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday called North Korea's nuclear posturing a threat to peace and urged the communist nation to return to negotiations and let the agency resume its monitoring activities.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...headlines-world

--------------------
N. Korea Lists Conditions for Negotiations
--------------------

By Barbara Demick
Times Staff Writer

March 4 2005

SEOUL ; North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told a Chinese envoy last week that his country would resume talks over its nuclear weapons program only if it got assurances that the United States had no hostile intent and a promise that its negotiators could speak directly to the Americans, diplomats here said.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...headlines-world

North Korea Postpones Parliament Session, Raises Concerns About
Missile Tests

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=BFAC77:2F72C9D

Supreme People's Assembly was scheduled to meet next Wednesday,
but North Korean Central News Agency says it has been postponed at
request of lawmakers

North Korea has postponed a session of its parliament, an unusual move
that follows hints this week that it might resume testing missiles.

South Korea's Unification Ministry says it is still evaluating an
unusual move by North Korea to delay a meeting of its central
lawmaking body.

The North Korean Supreme People's Assembly was scheduled to meet next
Wednesday, but the North Korean Central News Agency says it has been
postponed at the request of lawmakers. No reason was given, and North
Korea experts in the South describe the move as unusual.

The assembly sessions are usually a formality for approving policies
set by leader Kim Jong Il and other senior officials.

In Seoul, Unification Ministry officials reject speculation that the
move reflects a power struggle in Pyongyang. They say their assumption
is that Kim Jong Il is in complete control of North Korea.

The move follows statements from Pyongyang this week that it was
ending a five-year-old moratorium on missile tests, and hints that it
would hold such tests.

In addition, last month the North Korean government suspended
participation in multilateral nuclear disarmament talks and said it
not only had nuclear weapons, but was making more. But days later, Kim
Jong Il indicated talks were still possible.

In Seoul, Kim Taewoo, a researcher at the Korean Institute for Defense
Analyses, calls Pyongyang's latest actions "smile and blackmail."

"The smile part is remarks that North Korea is still ready to come
back to the dialogue table, and then leaking the possibility of
another missile test is the blackmail part," he said.

Mr. Kim says he doubts recent reports that North Korea has developed
intercontinental ballistic missiles. He says if Pyongyang does conduct
a test, it would probably be with a missile type it already has.

The North in 1998 for the first time demonstrated it has medium-range
missiles by testing a rocket that flew over the main Japanese islands.
The surprise test caused great concern in both Tokyo and Washington
about Pyongyang's growing weapons technology.

For the past two years, the focus has been on its nuclear weapons
programs. The United States, Japan, China, South Korea and Russia have
met three times with North Korean officials to negotiate an end to
their country's nuclear ambitions. The talks have made no progress.

China's senior delegate to the talks has said that North Korea wants
Washington to apologize for calling it an "outpost of tyranny."

U.S. officials say North Korea should come back to the bargaining
table "without preconditions." They say the United States has no
intention of invading North Korea, and urge Pyongyang to live up to
international obligations to remain free of nuclear weapons.

China Doubts U.S. Data on North Korean Nuclear Work
By JOSEPH KAHN
China's foreign minister expressed doubt about the quality
of American intelligence on North Korea's nuclear program.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/07/internat...07china.html?th

UN Agencies Say North Korea Malnutrition Figures Improve

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=C0C1B7:2F72C9D

However, they add the reclusive Communist country is still falling far
short of feeding its people adequately The World Food Program and the
U.N. children's agency say there are signs that malnutrition is
beginning to ease in North Korea. However, they say the reclusive
Communist country is still falling far short of feeding its people
adequately. VOA's Luis Ramirez reports from Beijing, where U.N.
workers based in North Korea briefed reporters on Monday.

Richard Ragan, director of the World Food Program's North Korea
operations, told journalists that in 2002, 42 percent of North Korean
children under the age of six were found to be malnourished. He said a
random survey by the WFP and UNICEF last October showed that the rate
in this age group had dropped to 37 percent.

"We think we can mainly attribute this improvement to the provision of
humanitarian assistance, as well as to a slight increase in the
overall production of agriculture," he said.

Mr. Ragan said he believes the survey highlights the importance of
international food donations to North Korea. However, he said North
Korea is still facing a shortfall of one million tons of food this
year.

Mr. Ragan, who lives in Pyongyang, says he has seen anecdotal
indications that small economic reforms are starting to result in
increased amounts of food on the market. However, he says many North
Koreans do not have access to it.

"We see a lot more food - a lot of it grown in the DPRK, a lot of it
coming across from China," he said. "But in general, I think there's a
lot more available. But what's available is often at a very high
price, and is completely unaffordable for your average Korean."

Some international observers in the past have accused North Korean
authorities of reserving emergency food supplies for the military and
for those closely associated with the government of leader Kim Jong
Il, while the general population is underfed.

U.N. officials said their recent survey did not allow them to quantify
or describe disparities in food distribution, since North Korean
officials did not allow them to gather information about respondents'
socioeconomic status.

Some critics have also noted that Pyongyang continues to ask for
donations in the form of food and fuel, but is able to find the money
to finance a nuclear weapons program.

North Korea has suffered severe food shortages starting in the 1990s,
when the loss of Soviet subsidies, natural disasters, and general
mismanagement caused its economy to collapse.

As many as a million North Koreans are estimated to have died of
hunger since then, and the country has relied heavily on food
donations procured through international organizations such as the
World Food Program - which periodically issues requests for aid.

The United States and Japan have continued to send food aid, despite
their demand that North Korea end its nuclear programs.