DPRK Nuclear Programme06

Nuclear Issue
Includes missile and rocket issues
2006

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Much material on this issue finds its way to the US and other pages, when the emphasis seems to be on state-to-state relations. The exception being the Six-Party Talks which are usually posted here.

2006

Spokesman for DPRK Foreign Ministry on Resumption of Six-Party Talks
Pyongyang, November 1 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry gave the following answer to a question put by KCNA on Nov. 1 as regards the bilateral and multi-lateral contacts made in Beijing with main emphasis on the DPRK-U.S. contact: The DPRK recently took a self-defensive counter-measure against the U.S. daily increasing nuclear threat and financial sanctions against it.
Bilateral and multi-lateral contacts took place in Beijing on Oct. 31 with main emphasis on the contact between the DPRK and the U.S. Discussed there were issues of seeking ways for the resumption of the six-party talks. The DPRK decided to return to the six-party talks on the premise that the issue of lifting financial sanctions will be discussed and settled between the DPRK and the U.S. within the framework of the six-party talks.

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NOVEMBER 2006

Changing North Korea's nuclear game plan
[OVERSEAS VIEW] A true breakthrough could be achieved with a coordinated response, sustained sanctions and a face-sa
Diplomatic wrangling over how to deal with a nuclear North Korea does not end with a United Nations Security Council resolution or the resumption of six-party talks. Many questions remain about how to answer North Korea's challenge to the global non-proliferation regime and prevent it from using or exporting its nuclear capability. What is clear is that a policy of regime change is too expensive and risky, and engagement has failed to elicit a meaningful opening by Pyongyang. An effective strategy rests somewhere in between; the trillion-dollar question is where. There are many reasons Pyongyang wants nuclear weapons. The most fundamental is that these weapons allow a certain brand of isolation: the kind where others have a stake in your not losing control. North Korea has calculated that the probability of perpetuating its regime in this sort of isolation is better than its chances of retaining control if it opens up to the outside world.
The writer is a Ph.D. candidate in Government and International Relations at Harvard University and a member of the Pacific Forum CSIS Young Leaders Program. by Leif-Eric Easley
Global Nuclear Future: A Japanese Perspective
by Tatsujiro Suzuki
November 9th, 2006
Tatsujiro Suzuki, Senior Research Scientist, Socio-economic Research Center, Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI), and Visiting Professor, Graduate School of Public Policy, the University of Tokyo, writes, "The primary driving force behind Japan's reprocessing program is the management of spent nuclear fuel. The back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle, i.e. management of spent fuel and waste, would pose significant financial, political, and social risks to Japan's nuclear power program. Japan should explore alternative socio-political solutions, including multinational approaches, to its complex spent fuel management issues. [Energy security] [Nuclear power]
Korea: US provokes nuclear crisis
by Iggy Kim
October 17, 2006 Green Left Weekly, October 18, 2006
On October 9, North Korea announced it had successfully carried out its first nuclear-weapons test, six days after announcing it intended to conduct such a test. The test was the culmination of nearly two years of hostility and provocation by the United States. The February 13, 2005 New York Times revealed the existence of a US National Security Council "toolkit" for destabilising North Korea. It was based on the financial interdiction techniques developed in the "war on terror".
U.S. Fresh Moves to Bolster Modern Nuclear Force under Fire
Pyongyang, November 7 (KCNA) -- The U.S. is stepping up a plan for the construction of a new nuclear arsenal known as "Complex 2030". This is a clear proof that it is putting spurs to the moves to bolster its modern nuclear force, increasingly depending on nukes in realizing its strategy for world domination. Rodong Sinmun Tuesday says this in a signed commentary. The U.S. new nuclear arsenal project reflects the Bush administration's policy of attaching importance to nukes and it is prompted by its barbarian, brigandish and aggressive design not to bother to use even nukes to achieve its hegemonic and predatory objectives, the commentary notes, and goes on: The U.S. imperialists were the first to test the nuclear explosion and use nukes against humanity in the world in the last century. They have become all the more undisguised in their attempt at a nuclear war in the new century. The Bush administration considered the strategy of preemptive nuclear attack as the mainstay of its "national security strategy" in the 21st century and has since frantically pushed forward it. The U.S. has staged DPRK-targeted nuclear war exercises of various codenames one after another by mobilizing its allies including south Korea, thus bringing the situation on the Korean Peninsula to an extreme pitch of tension. Such being a hard fact, the U.S. is justifying them, describing those saber-rattling as one for "security" and "peace." With nothing can the U.S. imperialists justify their nuclear war moves. The U.S. is chiefly to blame for posing the danger of a nuclear war to the world. Humanity finds itself in the danger of a catastrophic nuclear war as the U.S. imperialists are increasing the threat of a nuclear war to other countries while frantically stepping up the preparations for a nuclear war after sidestepping nuclear disarmament. The world can never be free from the danger of a nuclear war nor can humankind escape such danger as long as the U.S. keeps pushing forward the preparations for this kind of war.
North Korea Returns to the Negotiating Table
John Feffer, IRC | November 1, 2006
Editor: Emily Schwartz Greco, IPS
North Korea's decision to return to the negotiating table is a win-win-win situation, at least temporarily. The United States, China, and even North Korea gain from the announcement. However, the boost given to each country—a modest “October surprise” for the Bush administration, a diplomatic achievement for China, and a stronger negotiating position for North Korea—will not carry over into the negotiations themselves. A decision to talk, after all, does not translate automatically into a decision to compromise.
North Korea's Nuclear Test—Bush's Godchild?
By Tim Beal
[Japan Focus 6 November 2006]
The nuclear test by the DPRK has led to a predictable deluge of hype and hypocrisy, amidst a dearth of informed and sensible comment. Politicians, and journalists, have reveled in the situation. North Korea is a convenient whipping boy, with few friends. It tends to be excoriated across the political spectrum. Since it is a small country targeted by the world’s superpower, which, though hemorrhaging and perhaps in relative decline, still possesses such formidable political, economic and military power that no country, or international civil servant for that matter, dares openly speak up, even if they so desired. Politicians have hastened to express moral outrage even if, and perhaps especially if, they come from countries which have many nuclear weapons and have conducted tests. Journalists have been having a field day, many delighting in the opportunity to write lurid stories unencumbered by the need to check facts and qualify opinions. Under the circumstances, it is more necessary than ever before to keep a clear head and try to disentangle fact from fantasy, to unearth what has been going on, and what is likely to happen. [Camouflage]
Nuclear Shockwaves: Ramifications of the North Korean Nuclear Test
Ambassador Robert Gallucci
North Korea’s nuclear test almost certainly failed to achieve its design yield. Nevertheless, it is likely to spread major shockwaves, domestically and internationally. Domestically, the finger pointing has begun, inevitably if regrettably, as a threat to the national security dramatically rises in public awareness on the eve of midterm congressional elections. As much as we might want to deplore the reduction of a critical and complex foreign policy issue to a debating point in partisan political exchange, however, it is important to sort out the facts of what has happened in the last decade or so if we want to chart a more effective course for policy in the years ahead. The political atmosphere may not be the best for dispassionate analysis and clear thinking, but that is exactly what is needed.
In the end, the question is less whether North Korea is prepared to make a deal than it is whether the United States has the stomach for another negotiation and another framework arrangement, knowing that Pyongyang cheated on the last one. Those tempted to answer in the negative should be required to describe a better, plausible alternative to negotiation.
Nuclear Shockwaves: Making the Best of Bad Options
Michael J. Green North Korea’s October 9 nuclear test has been called a failure of U.S., South Korean, and Chinese policy, and those criticisms are undoubtedly accurate to some degree. Lost in the finger pointing, however, is the strong evidence that Kim Jong Il intended all along to demonstrate North Korea’s unambiguous status as a nuclear-weapon state regardless of what steps the other parties took.
A Technical Analysis: Deconstructing North Korea’s October 9 Nuclear Test
Richard L. Garwin and Frank N. von Hippel
* Nuclear Forensics and the North Korean Test On October 9, North Korea announced that it had carried out an underground nuclear test. In subsequent days, the apparent low yield of the device and initial lack of reports of detection of radioactivity from the test raised questions about whether North Korea had actually tested a nuclear device or if a test had failed. One week later, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued a statement confirming the detection of radioactive debris and stating that North Korea had conducted a nuclear explosion with a yield of less than 1 kiloton (1,000-ton TNT equivalent).[1] Our analysis of the available public information is consistant with this conclusion. We also judge that, although the test did not succeed as planned, North Korea might have been testing a lower-yield design than many commentators have assumed. This imperfect test may well lead North Korea to test again.
Our analysis concerns three questions: How powerful was the explosion? Was it a nuclear test? If nuclear, was the test successful?
'North Korea Needs Nukes for Self-Defence'
By Lee Jin-woo Staff Reporter Moon Sung-hyun, left, chairman of the Democratic Labor Party, talks with Kim Yong-nam, North Korea's No. 2 leader, at Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang, Friday. Kim said North Korea had no other alternative but to develop nuclear weapons in order to protect itself./ Courtesy of the Democratic Labor Party North Korea's No. 2 leader told visiting South Korean politicians yesterday that the communist country had been compelled to make nuclear weapons in order to defend itself, the Yonhap News Agency reported Friday. The comments by Kim Yong-nam at a meeting with delegates from the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) in Pyongyang earlier in the day came after North Korea detonated a nuclear device on Oct. 9, a move that triggered worldwide condemnation.
What Are Nuclear Weapons For? Recommendations For Restructuring U.S. Strategic Nuclear Forces
Sidney D. Drell and James E. Goodby
April 2005
Based on an analysis of the present and prospective threats that define missions for U.S. nuclear weapons we conclude that the strategic arsenal required by the United States can be reduced to considerably lower numbers. We recommend a U.S. force structure of 500 operationally deployed nuclear warheads, plus 500 in a responsive force. [Double standards]
NKorea gave US face-saving proposal to restart talks: report
Fri Nov 3, 11:37 AM ET SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea gave the United States a face-saving proposal to secure the resumption of six-party nuclear disarmament talks, its number two leader was quoted as saying in Pyongyang. Kim Yong-Nam, chairman of the presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly or parliament, also said the ball is now in Washington's court to make the negotiations a success. Park Yong-Jin, a spokesman for South Korea's leftist Democratic Labour Party (DLP), quoted Kim as making the remarks to a visiting DLP delegation.
Why Is Pyongyang Reluctant to Forget BDA?
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter North Korea's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that it decided to return to the six-party talks on its nuclear weapons program on condition that it will discuss with Washington ways to lift financial sanctions on Pyongyang. In other words, the North wants to get back $24 million frozen in Macau's Banco Delta Asia (BDA), which cut its relations with Pyongyang after being blacklisted by Washington in September last year as a main money-laundering concern. Since then, the U.S. Treasury Department has continued the investigation into the North Korean accounts in the bank, while the North boycotted the denuclearization talks, citing the U.S. sanctions as an attempt to obliterate the Pyongyang regime.
Then why is the North still attached to its bank accounts in the Chinese bank? Pyongyang apparently considers it a key to lift financial restrictions imposed by two dozen other banks that allegedly accepted the Treasury Department's request to sever their financial ties with the North. Stuart Levey, the Treasury's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said last September that 24 financial institutions have voluntarily stopped transactions with North Korea. [Sanctions]
N.Korea Nukes Won't Upset Power Balance: Roh
President Roh Moo-hyun on Thursday admitted that "security threats" to South Korea have increased but warned against overestimating the danger in the wake of North Korea's first nuclear test on Oct. 9. In a meeting to promote foreign investment at the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, Roh said about North Korea's nuclear weapons, "We need to think cool-headedly about such questions as why does it produce them? Will it actually use them? When and under what circumstances will it use them? And will the North stage any preemptive attack on the Korean Peninsula with them?"
PCs, Steel Among Goods Banned From Export to N.Korea
North Korea will be banned from importing high-performance computers, global positioning system (GPS), high-strength steel and bearings that could be used to develop nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and missiles. A UN Security Council committee on Wednesday decided on the list of items under export ban to the North in line with UN Resolution 1718 adopted to punish Pyongyang for its nuclear test. The sanctions committee notified 192 UN member nations that they cannot trade the items with the North as the UNSC decision is binding. Hundreds of items were selected based on restrictions under the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Missile Technology Control regime and the Australia Group, which controls exports of chemical and biological weapons-related goods. They cover materials, machinery, equipment and drugs that could be directly used to develop such weapons. In a blow to the North Korean economy, the UNSC lists not only items purely for military purposes such as finished missile products but also goods needed for industrial development such as high-strength steel, a variety of compound metals and computers. Slovakia's UN Ambassador Peter Burian, the sanctions committee chairman, said no objections had been raised by the deadline. [Sanctions]
North Korea's Nuclear Test Challenge to Peace on the Korean Peninsula
The KyungHyang Shinmun
A consequential incident has finally taken place. In defiance of the desperate hope many people had that its forewarning of a nuclear test would prove to be a bargaining chip in future diplomatic negotiations, North Korea has irrevocably carried out the explosion of a nuclear bomb. The test is an act that upsets not only the global regime of the (nuclear) Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) but also the security environments of the Korean peninsular and the Northeast Asia region. First of all, tension on the Korean peninsula cannot help escalating. The test would eventually strengthen the military alliance between the United States and Japan, against which China would accelerate the modernization of its military power. Also evident is the growing possibility that voices in favor of possessing nuclear arms would gain forces in Japan, Taiwan and even in South Korea. Thus, North Korea has opened Pandora's box that should never be unclosed.
U.S. Debates Value of North Korea Talks
By HELENE COOPER Published: November 2, 2006 WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 - Officially, the Bush administration is "pleased" - as President Bush put it on Wednesday - that North Korea has agreed to resume talks on nuclear disarmament. But behind closed doors at the White House and the State Department, some are less happy, saying the country's nuclear test should be answered with isolation. When it comes to North Korea, the Bush administration has always found itself pulled in two directions - confrontation versus engagement - and has generally settled on a middle course that was neither. To persuade North Korea to return to the bargaining table, President Bush agreed last week to a slight softening of his stance against direct talks with North Korea, a concession that made clear that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in charge of the policy, at least for now. But Ms. Rice is coming under increased fire inside and outside the administration from officials and experts who are skeptical about what diplomacy can achieve in this case, and who argue that there is no chance a new round of nuclear talks with North Korea will succeed. "What's a good description? Fantasy? Dreamworld?" said Nicholas Eberstadt, a North Korea expert with the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. "All we're doing with these hapless efforts at conference diplomacy is continuing to talk while North Korea continues to build nuclear weapons." [Dissension] [Neocon]
DPRK Agrees to Return to Six-party Talks
DPRK, U.S. and China Hold Unofficial Meeting in Beijing
Spokesman for DPRK Foreign Ministry on Resumption of Six-Party Talks PYONGYANG, November 1 (KCNA)- A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry gave the following answer to a question put by KCNA on November 1 as regards the bilateral and multi-lateral contacts made in Beijing with main emphasis on the DPRK-U.S. contact. The DPRK recently took a self-defensive counter-measure against the U.S. daily increasing nuclear threat and financial sanctions against it. Bilateral and multi-lateral contacts took place in Beijing on October 31 with main emphasis on the contact between the DPRK and the U.S. Discussed there were issues of seeking ways for the resumption of the six-party talks. The DPRK decided to return to the six-party talks on the premise that the issue of lifting financial sanctions will be discussed and settled between the DPRK and the U.S. within the framework of the six-party talks.
U.S. Wants Evidence that N.Korea Is Denuclearizing
The U.S. will ask North Korea for evidence that it is serious about dismantling its nuclear weapons program, including shutting down a reactor in Yongbyon and admitting IAEA inspectors, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday. [Sequencing]
6-party talks: Now the hard part begins
'No preconditions,' U.S. says, but North has its own agenda November 02, 2006 ? North Korea confirmed yesterday that it would return to nuclear talks in Beijing, but added that Pyongyang expects Washington's financial sanctions to be settled during those negotiations as part of the price of its return. "The DPRK decided to return to the six-party talks on the premise that the issue of lifting financial sanctions will be discussed and settled between the DPRK and the U.S. within the framework of the six-party talks," a Foreign Ministry spokesman told the North's Korean Central News Agency.
Spokesman for DPRK Foreign Ministry on Resumption of Six-Party Talks
Pyongyang, November 1 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry gave the following answer to a question put by KCNA on Nov. 1 as regards the bilateral and multi-lateral contacts made in Beijing with main emphasis on the DPRK-U.S. contact: The DPRK recently took a self-defensive counter-measure against the U.S. daily increasing nuclear threat and financial sanctions against it.
Bilateral and multi-lateral contacts took place in Beijing on Oct. 31 with main emphasis on the contact between the DPRK and the U.S. Discussed there were issues of seeking ways for the resumption of the six-party talks. The DPRK decided to return to the six-party talks on the premise that the issue of lifting financial sanctions will be discussed and settled between the DPRK and the U.S. within the framework of the six-party talks.
North Korea to return to 6-way talks
Agreement announced after meeting with U.S. and Chinese diplomats in Beijing November 01, 2006 ? North Korea has agreed to return to stalled nuclear talks soon, China's Foreign Ministry announced yesterday evening. In a written statement, the South Korean Foreign Ministry welcomed the decision, which came after a meeting yesterday of the chief delegates to the six-party talks from China, the United States and North Korea. The announcement in Beijing gave no date for the next round of talks, saying only that they would be held "soon, at a time convenient to the six parties."
North Korea Will Resume Nuclear Talks
By JOSEPH KAHN and HELENE COOPER Published: November 1, 2006 BEIJING, Oct. 31 - North Korea agreed Tuesday to resume nuclear disarmament talks, a first sign of easing tensions since the country's nuclear test this month. But the talks have dragged on inconclusively for three years, and the chances for rolling back the country's now-proven nuclear capability remained uncertain.
China announced that six-nation talks would reconvene shortly after a hiatus of more than a year, and an American envoy in Beijing said they could take place in November or December. The agreement was a procedural victory for Beijing, which scrambled to reopen a diplomatic channel even as it joined the United States and other international powers in supporting United Nations sanctions on North Korea after the Oct. 9 test.
But Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader, has participated in multiple rounds of talks over the past several years while he accelerated his pursuit of nuclear weapons, and some analysts suspect that he agreed to restart talks now to forestall tough enforcement of sanctions and to persuade China and South Korea to ease his government's growing economic woes. [Media] [Spin]
Koreans Oppose Air Strikes Against Nuclear Facilities
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Even though Pyongyang's nuclear threat has become real with its test of atomic devices, more than half of South Koreans oppose the idea of a United States' surgical strike on nuclear facilities in North Korea. According to The Korea Times poll, 65.2 percent of the respondents said they disapprove of a surgical strike on those facilities even if Pyongyang continues to test its nuclear devices. But 28.9 percent gave their approval to the military measure. [Military option]
A Humiliation for South Korea
The chief negotiators in six-party talks from China, North Korea and the U.S. met in Beijing on Tuesday and agreed to resume six-party talks, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said North Korea set no conditions and the meeting will be in November or December, according to wire reports. The Chinese announcement mentions neither that South Korea, the biggest party to the North Korean nuclear issue, took part in the preparations nor whether it was told of the tripartite meeting in advance [Dilemma]
Pyongyang 'Based Decision on Talks About U.S. Sanctions'
North Korea says it is returning to six-party talks on its nuclear program talks "on the premise that discussions on financial sanctions take place and a resolution of the matter will be reached." A North Korean North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman made the statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday. "In Beijing on Oct. 31, bilateral and multi-lateral contacts were made with the emphasis on the meeting between North Korea and the U.S.," the statement claimed. "It was there that a way of reopening the talks was discussed." The spokesman added the North conducted the nuclear test on Oct. 9 "to address the ever more severe U.S. nuclear threat and financial sanctions." China, the U.S. and North Korea met Tuesday in Beijing for informal talks and agreed to reopen the talks as soon as convenient for member countries. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei had called the meeting with the U.S. chief nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill and his North Korean counterpart Kim Kye-gwan. South Korea was left out of the meeting. Immediately after the talks, Hill said North Korea did not make any conditions, but added the U.S. is prepared to create a mechanism to address concerns surrounding U.S. financial sanctions when the talks reconvene.
Why N.Korea Had a Sudden Change of Heart
Why did North Korea wait till Tuesday with its sudden agreement to rejoin six-party talks on its nuclear program? North Korea had been adamant that the U.S. must revoke financial sanctions before it would return to the negotiating table. But the U.S.'s chief negotiator in the talks Christopher Hill on Tuesday said Pyongyang put no conditions to rejoining the talks. Some experts had expected an abrupt about-face after the nuclear test. Seeing the swift and firm response of the international community and stronger sanctions than it may have anticipated, the Stalinist state may have judged a quick return to the talks was its best bet for staving off the worst of the punitive measures. Nam Joo-hong, a political scientist at Kyonggi University in Seoul, says Pyongyang "may simply be trying to buy some time before it draws out the nuclear problem even further." In other words, the North's main goal is to dodge the cutting edge of the U.S.-led sanctions. But others say North Korea played its last trump card with the nuclear test. "After seeing that the U.S. and the international community weren't buying the North's brinkmanship as manifested in the nuclear test, it may have realized that it threw away its best card," Prof. Kim Geun-sik of Kyungnam University says. It is also possible that the North realized the U.S.' determination in the matter and judged that tossing out everything, including the option of a return to the six-way talks, would leave it in a precarious position. Now it is becoming accepted that the North is indeed a nuclear power, it may also be hoping to take advantage of the situation by demanding mutual disarmament negotiations. Some speculate that Pyongyang may be concerned that advocates of the engagement policy in South Korea have their back against the wall after the nuclear test, and is seeking to provide them with a way to save face.
Nuclear Cleanup Site Has Cities Cleaning Up Financially
Effort That Began In 1989 Has Been An Economic Boon
By Blaine Harden Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, November 1, 2006; Page A03
RICHLAND, Wash. -- Out on the Hanford nuclear reservation, a fantastically poisoned plateau where the federal government brewed up most of the plutonium for its nuclear arsenal, the cleanup is going rather badly. Now in its 17th year, the nation's largest and most complex environmental remediation project is costing many billions of dollars more than expected and will continue far longer than experts once predicted.
N. Korea Agrees to Return To Talks
A Surprise Reversal In Nuclear Dispute By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, November 1, 2006; Page A01
North Korea agreed yesterday to return to the six-nation nuclear disarmament talks, just three weeks after it conducted its first test of a nuclear device. The country's unexpected decision, which was announced by Chinese and U.S. officials in Beijing, will end Pyongyang's year-long boycott of the talks, which have dragged on intermittently for more than three years. Fourteen months ago, North Korea agreed in principle to dismantle its nuclear programs, but hard bargaining is still necessary to determine the sequence and timing of the incentives it expects in return.
Pyongyang had refused to return to the talks until the United States separately negotiated an end to a crackdown on North Korea's counterfeiting of U.S. currency. But that demand disappeared Tuesday during seven hours of meetings, set up by China at Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, involving U.S., North Korean and Chinese officials. North Korea instead agreed to a long-standing U.S. proposal to deal with the counterfeiting issue through a working group of the six-party talks. [Sanctions]
Who's to Blame for North Korea?
The unreported significance of the North Korean plutonium test
Ludwig De Braeckeleer (ludwig)
Published 2006-10-31 08:27 (KST) Was the nuke tested by North Korea a uranium or a plutonium device? The answer to this simple question is of paramount importance as it can unambiguously gauge the efficacy of Clinton's and Bush's opposite approaches to the crisis raised by the North Korean nuclear program.
On Oct. 16, the U.S. officially confirmed the nuclear nature of the North Korean test by posting the following message on the Web site of the Office of the Director of the National Intelligence. "Analysis of air samples collected on Oct. 11, 2006 detected radioactive debris which confirms that North Korea conducted an underground nuclear explosion in the vicinity of Punggye on Oct. 9, 2006. The explosion yield was less than a kiloton." Until radiation from venting was actually detected, the extremely low yield of the blast, estimated at 0.2 kilotons of TNT, had led some to suspect that North Korea may have faked a nuclear explosion with conventional explosive. On Oct. 25, the South Korean government officially confirmed that North Korea had conducted a nuclear test on Oct. 9. "The radioactive gas was found after the analysis of air samples collected in the country using a device borrowed from Sweden," said Ministry' spokesman Lee Jae-young.
On Tuesday Oct. 17, The New York Times quoted unnamed U.S. Administration and Intelligence officials saying that the study of air samples revealed that the explosion resulted from a plutonium device.
So, here we are. Firstly, the detonation by North Korea of a plutonium device demonstrates that the 2002 NIE concerning the North Korean uranium enrichment program was just as misleading as the one that gave us the war in Iraq.
Secondly, the confirmation that the weapon tested was a plutonium device brings to a halt the blame-game about who shares the largest responsibility for the North Korean nuclear test: Clinton or Bush? Indeed, this inescapable fact establishes de facto, forever, and beyond the shadow of a doubt the complete failure of the Bush's administration in combating nuclear proliferation and dealing with "the axis of evil." [HEU] [Agreed Framework]
North Korea Agrees to Resume 6-Party Talks
North Korea agreed Tuesday to return to the long-stalled six-way talks on its nuclear program, just weeks after the communist country conducted a nuclear bomb test. South Korean and Chinese officials said the talks are likely to restart in November or December. Seoul hailed the North's decision, made three weeks after its first nuclear test, as a possible breakthrough in the protracted nuclear stalemate. Pyongyang's agreement came at an informal meeting of the chief envoys to the negotiations from the United States, North Korea and China in Beijing on Tuesday, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The gathering was reportedly brokered by Chinese chief nuclear interlocutor Wu Dawei, and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill hurriedly flew to the Chinese capital, cutting short his trip to Australia. "The three parties agreed to resume the six-party talks at the earliest convenient time," the Chinese ministry said in a statement posted on its Web site. The six-way talks also include South Korea, Russia, and Japan. Hill told reporters in Beijing that the talks will likely restart as early as in November. "We believe it will be either this coming month, November, (or) possibly December," Hill said. He added North Korea set no conditions for its decision
The North was supposed to hold discussions with its dialogue partners on how to implement the Sept. 19 joint statement in which it agreed to abandon its nuclear program in return for security guarantees and economic aid. But North Korean negotiators took issue with Washington's blacklisting of a Macau-based bank, Banco Delta Asia (BDA), which was suspected of laundering money for Pyongyang. North Korea had said it would continue to boycott the nuclear talks unless the U.S. lifts the restrictions. The U.S. had urged the North to come back to the table unconditionally. It remained uncertain whether the U.S. and North Korea reached a deal on the thorny BDA issue at Tuesday's meeting. A South Korean government official, asking not to be named, said the two sides seem to have made progress in resolving their financial disputes. "We need to get more information from China on the issue," he said. [Counterfeiting] [Camouflage] [Sanctions]
N. Korea Agrees to Return to Nuclear Talks
Bush Says U.S. to Send Teams to Monitor Enforcement of U.N. Sanctions By Howard Schneider and Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, October 31, 2006; 1:42 PM North Korea agreed today to return to stalled, six-nation talks on its nuclear program following a meeting in Beijing with Chinese and U.S. officials, a development that could ease tensions over the isolated country's testing of a nuclear device three weeks ago. The seven-hour meeting was brokered by Chinese officials during the past few days, and afterward U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill told reporters in Beijing that the talks could resume by the end of the year. Hill, the chief U.S. negotiator on North Korea, said he thought the stage was now set for "substantial progress" on an issue that has raised the specter of a nuclear arms race in northeast Asia and the possible sale of nuclear technology to terrorist organizations.
China, U.S., DPRK agree to resume Six-party talks soon
www.chinaview.cn 2006-10-31 19:07:38 b BEIJING, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- The six-party talks on the Korean peninsula nuclear issue are to resume soon, according to a source from the Chinese Foreign Ministry here Tuesday. At the invitation of China, the heads of delegations to the talks from China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States had an informal meeting in Beijing Tuesday, said the source. "The three parties agreed that the six-party talks be held soon at a time convenient to the six parties," the source said. The source said the three heads had a "candid" and "in-depth" exchange of views on continuing efforts to advance the process of the talks.
The Taoist Enlightenment on Mt. Huashan: How American Eagle and North Korean Tortoise Can Get Along
by Alexandre Y. Mansourov
October 31th, 2006
Alexandre Y. Mansourov, Associate Professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu, writes, "The Taoist "Way" out of the current nuclear standoff between North Korea and the United States is based on four simple Tao wisdoms - "small steps together," "use help from others when in trouble," "know when enough is enough," and, finally, "doing less is doing more." It may look paradoxical and even heretic, but the Taoist conclusion is that the less we do in our quest to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis at present, the more we will achieve in the end and the safer we will all be in the meantime."

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OCTOBER 2006

NK Suspected of Preparing 2nd Test
By Lee Jin-woo Staff Reporter North Korea is suspected of preparing a second nuclear test at a site where the communist state is believed to have conducted an underground nuclear blast earlier this month, reports said. ``The North is constructing a structure at a site in Punggye-ri, North Hamkyong Province, in the northeastern part of North Korea,'' an unidentified military official was quoted as saying by the Yonhap News Agency. ``It is clear that there have been movements there. We're closely monitoring whether North Korea is gearing up for a second nuclear test.''
Tehran: North Korea's Nuclear Test a Reaction to Violation of NPT
October 15, 2006 FARS News agency javascript:sendarticle('sendEmailLink', 'Tehran: North Korea`s Nuclear Test a Reaction to Violation of NPT');Email this article to a friend javascript:printarticle(3494);Print this article North Korea's Nuclear Test a Reaction to Violation of NPT TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- An Iranian Foreign Ministry diplomat stressed that the nuclear test North Korea has conducted should be considered as a strong reaction to the long-time repetition of the blatant violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) by the western states in the last 25 years. Speaking to FNA here on Sunday, Mahmoud Mehdi Soltani said attention must be paid to the very fact that the nuclear test carried out by North Korea is a domestic issue of that country, the correctness or incorrectness of which should be viewed under the national authority and sovereignty of that country. He said that the different approaches towards North Korea and the Zionist Regime are an indication of the West's double-standards. Soltani reminded that there exists no law or regulation in the legal regime dominating the international community, which bans nuclear tests, adding, "And the Comprehensive Nuclear Tests Ban Treaty (CTBT) which was signed by a number of countries in New York 10 years ago has never turned into a binding agreement at the international level." [NPT}
N.Korea in Intense Military Exercises
North Korea is conducting intense military exercises after its nuclear test on October 9 and even tested five ground-to-air and air-to-air missiles last week, officials here say. A government official said Sunday North Korea test-fired five ground-to-air and air-to-air missiles at a training facility in the western region last week. "It seems to be part of annual military exercise to evaluate combat preparedness, but we're analyzing the intention because the actual firing of five missiles during the drill is very unusual and comes amid Pyongyang's protests against the UN Security Council resolution against it," the official added. [Media] [Double standards]
N.Korea 'Exported 40 Missiles to Mideast, Africa'
North Korea exported 40 missiles over the last four years, a U.S. report says. "North Korea shipped about 40 ballistic missiles to other nations in the four-year period ending in 2005," the new York Times on Sunday quoted a report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) as saying. "Transfers of these weapons are prohibited under international agreements to control the trade of ballistic missiles," the daily added. North Korea was caught attempting to export Scud missiles to Yemen by Spanish authorities back in 2002. The U.S. Defense Department speculates that Pyongyang recently exported weapons to 18 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. AP reports that these countries are Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Libya, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Angola, Burma, Ethiopia and Indonesia. Meanwhile, The CRS said Russia overtook the U.S. as the biggest arms exporter last year by shifting US$7 billion worth of weapons. France was second with $6.3 billion and the U.S. came third with $6.2 billion. The CRS compiles and announces statistics about weapons exports in countries around the world every year. (englishnews@chosun.com ) [Media] [Legality] [Disinformation] [Spin]
More Meetings Hail Successful Nuclear Test
Pyongyang, October 27 (KCNA) -- More provincial meetings of servicepersons and people took place in the DPRK to hail the successful historic nuclear test. Meetings held in North Phyongan Province, North and South Hwanghae Provinces and North and South Hamgyong Provinces were attended by officials of the Party and power organs and working people's organizations, officers and men of the Korean People's Army and people from all walks of life and youth and students. Speakers at the meetings said that the successful nuclear test in the DPRK was an event which demonstrated the self-reliant national defence capability of Songun Korea and made a contribution to defending the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the rest of Northeast Asia.
Nuclear test gives U.S. new sanctions authority
October 28, 2006 ? The U.S. State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, said yesterday that Washington is preparing a set of unilateral sanctions on North Korea. "Right now we're taking a look, the lawyers and the proliferation experts are taking a look, at what the applicable sanctions might be, what is the possible universe," Mr. McCormack said.
U.S. under Fire for Paralyzing World Nuclear Disarmament System
Pyongyang, October 25 (KCNA) -- With nothing can the U.S. evade its responsibility for bringing a nuclear threat and proliferation to the international community and eventually destroying the world nuclear disarmament system, says Rodong Sinmun in a commentary Wednesday, adding: The most urgent task of the U.S. is to sincerely implement its commitment to nuclear disarmament and it is nothing but an empty talk to argue about nuclear non-proliferation apart from it. The analyst goes on: Nuclear disarmament should be realized and all nukes be destroyed on the earth to begin with, if global peace and security are to be guaranteed. The U.S. asserts non-proliferation, setting the existence of nuclear weapons as a separate issue from their proliferation. This means that it does not want nuclear disarmament.
Bush calls diplomacy his choice for crisis
October 13, 2006 ? U.S. President George W. Bush reaffirmed Wednesday that the United States would not attack North Korea and that diplomacy was his tool of choice in dealing with Pyongyang. But he also continued to rule out direct bilateral talks with the North, a policy his critics have said was the main cause of North Korea's apparent effort to test a nuclear device. [Bilateral]
Making Good on Bush's Vow Will Require Detective Work
By THOM SHANKER and DAVID E. SANGER Published: October 13, 2006 WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 - Making good on President Bush's vow this week to hold North Korea "fully accountable" if it shares nuclear material will pose a major challenge to American intelligence and diplomacy, requiring new equipment and a high level of international cooperation, administration and military officials say.
Mr. Bush's declaration on Monday, in his first public comments after the North announced that it had detonated a nuclear device, underscored the importance of monitoring North Korea's nuclear program, tracking its exports and investing in technology for "fingerprinting" nuclear materials. Security specialists said Mr. Bush's warning signaled a significant expansion of longstanding policies of deterrence, extending the threat of reprisals to the transfer of nuclear weapons or materials to another country or to terrorists. That has long been a concern about the North Korean program, but the tools to prevent it are still limited. Robert Joseph, the under secretary of state for arms control and international security, said in an interview on Thursday that "to be credible, declaratory policy must be backed up by effective capabilities." Mr. Joseph cited three existing programs as models for what was needed: the Proliferation Security Initiative, a loose grouping of dozens of countries that have agreed to intercept illicit arms shipments moving through their waters or airspace; Megaports, an effort to install radiation detectors at major cargo ports around the world; and Second Line of Defense, a program to place radiation detectors at major border crossings around the world. [Evidence]
Assembly Resolution Denounces Nuclear Test
By Lee Jin-woo Staff Reporter Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary-general, shakes hands with Ban Ki-moon, foreign minister of South Korea, at the U.N. headquarters in New York, Wednesday. AP-Yonhap The National Assembly yesterday adopted a resolution condemning North Korea's proclaimed nuclear test after three days of confrontation between governing and opposition parties. The resolution urges the communist North to scrap all plans related to its nuclear weapons programs and return to the stalled six-party talks. It also called on Pyongyang to rejoin the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
Seoul Misjudged Location of Site, Says Lawmaker
By Kim Tae-gyu Staff Reporter A South Korean lawmaker yesterday said the country seems to be wrong about the exact site where the North's alleged nuclear tests happened on Monday. Rep. Kim Hee-jung of the main opposition Grand National Party made the remarks based on four different analyses from the United States and Japan, as well as South Korea. [Intelligence]
'North Korea Will Test H-Bomb'
By Lee Jin-woo Staff Reporter A Korean-Japanese scholar who is considered North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's unofficial spokesman said yesterday that Pyongyang has a hydrogen bomb it would test as part of a series of actions mentioned in its statement against the United States. In an interview with MBC radio, Kim Myong-chol, director of the Center for Korean-American Peace, a Japan-based pro-North Korean research agency, said the Stalinist state is ready to test its H-bomb or conduct a nuclear test larger than its proclaimed test on Monday.
Nuke Test Impact Yet Unpredictable'
By Na Jeong-ju Staff Reporter Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Lee Seong-tae hits his gavel to open the monthly meeting of the bank's Monetary Policy Committee at the BOK headquarters, Thursday. /Korea Times Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Lee Seong-tae said yesterday it was difficult for the bank to predict how much impact North Korea's nuclear test will have on the economy, but that the market is recovering quickly from the shock. He said the bank didn't find any symptoms of any ``serious action'' by foreign capital, noting that the market has become more ``tolerable'' than in the past toward the North's nuclear threats. ``Things could be worse, but could also be better. It depends on how the international community responds to the North's nuclear test, and how Pyongyang reacts to possible economic sanctions by the United Nations,'' Lee said
New estimate of N.K. WMDs
The South Korean military estimates that North Korea possesses up to 50 kilograms of weapons-grade plutonium, enough to make up to seven nuclear weapons, government data released by a lawmaker said yesterday. The military also assesses the North is now studying ways to reduce the size of its nuclear warheads so they can be deployed on ballistic missiles, according to the report which was unveiled by Rep. Song Young-sun of the opposition Grand National Party
Effectiveness of UN Panel on N. Korea Questioned
By Kim Sue-young Staff Reporter A committee of the United Nations Security Council cannot punish nations that do not impose sanctions on North Korea as stipulated in the resolution on the North, a U.S. expert said yesterday. The committee was launched last Monday to monitor whether states comply with their obligations to sanction the Stalinist state for its nuclear test on Oct. 9 but some have cast doubt on the committee's role. ``The effectiveness of the committee varies from case to case and really depends on the commitment of the key parties,'' Kimberley Elliott, a senior fellow of the Institute of International Economics (IIE), a nongovernmental think tank, said in an interview with Radio Free Asia (RFA). There was a committee under the Security Council to sanction a certain country but it is just used to supervise the fulfillment of the resolutions rather than make a decision on punishment, she said. ``I think it's more symbolic than real,'' the researcher said. [Sanctions]
DPRK Foreign Ministry Spokesman on U.S. Moves Concerning Its Nuclear Test
Pyongyang, October 11 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry issued the following statement Wednesday as regards the U.S. ill-boding moves in the wake of the nuclear test in the DPRK: As we have already declared the field of scientific research of the DPRK successfully conducted an underground nuclear test under secure conditions on Oct. 9 as a new measure for bolstering its war deterrent for self-defence. The DPRK's nuclear test was entirely attributable to the U.S. nuclear threat, sanctions and pressure. The DPRK has exerted every possible effort to settle the nuclear issue through dialogue and negotiations, prompted by its sincere desire to realize the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The Bush administration, however, responded to our patient and sincere efforts and magnanimity with the policy of sanctions and blockade. The DPRK was compelled to substantially prove its possession of nukes to protect its sovereignty and right to existence from the daily increasing danger of war from the U.S.
North Korea Warns of More Nuclear Tests
By NORIMITSU ONISHI Published: October 12, 2006 SEOUL, South Korea, Oct. 11 - North Korea said Wednesday that it would consider sanctions a "declaration of a war" and vowed to carry out further nuclear tests if the United States maintained a "hostile attitude." The North seems to be following a clear strategy that experts say has allowed it, a small, isolated, nearly bankrupt nation, to keep the attention of the United States for more than a decade.
Kim Yong-nam, a top North Korean official [sic], criticized the United States for what he called its "hostile attitude" toward North Korea.
In the country's first remarks since its reported nuclear test on Monday, North Korea said it felt compelled to prove its nuclear capacity to "protect its sovereignty and right to existence from the daily increasing danger of war" from the United States
Pyongyang Vows to Hit Back
By Lee Jin-woo Staff Reporter North Korea yesterday threatened to respond with a series of physical measures if the United States steps up pressure on the Stalinist country. ``We have no choice but to carry out a nuclear test due to the United States' nuclear threat and its sneaky tactics of using sanctions,'' the North's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The statement was carried by the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). If Washington continues the pressure, North Korea will consider the U.S. acts as a ``declaration of war,'' it said. However, the North said it is still willing to hold negotiations with the United States and remains committed to a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula through dialogue.
Nuclear Test Puzzles Scientists at Home and Abroad
By Kim Tae-gyu Staff Reporter Early Monday, something certainly exploded at an underground test site in North Korea to create a tremor with a magnitude of 3.58 on the Richter scale. The Stalinist North did not waste time announcing it was a successful nuclear test but material evidence to support the claim has yet to be found. In this climate, some South Korean scientists raise concerns that they may never know exactly what happened early this week at the rugged site in North Hamkyong Province. ``There is no conclusive evidence that the explosion was triggered by a nuclear test. But at the same time, there is no conclusive evidence to negate it,'' said Lee Kun-jai, a professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. (KAIST)
N.K. Nuclear Test: Evidence and Unknowns
World waits for confirmation that Pyongyang's claim was not a hoax
Ludwig De Braeckeleer (ludwig)
Published 2006-10-12 10:29 (KST) Has North Korea really entered the much restricted club of Nuclear Weapon States? Or could it be that the "historic event" is nothing more than a bizarre hoax?
North and South
By Ignacio Ramonet
DISSENSION in the Korean peninsula increased sharply, despite repeated warnings from Washington and Tokyo, after North Korea test-fired seven missiles on 5 July. All seven came down in the Sea of Japan although one, the Taepodong 2, is theoretically capable of reaching United States territory. The tests were not in breach of international law but were reprehensible because they threaten security in northeast Asia, potentially one of the most dangerous regions in the world. The anxiety level was ratcheted up further this month with Pyongyang’s announcement that it had tested a nuclear weapon.
Pyongyang 1, Bush 0
John Feffer, IRC | October 10, 2006
Editor: Emily Schwartz Greco, IPS Foreign Policy In Focus www.fpif.org Five years ago, when George W. Bush took office, North Korea didn't claim membership in the nuclear club. Its plutonium reprocessing facilities were frozen. It was even willing to negotiate away its missile program. Instead of pursuing the diplomatic route, the Bush administration tried to ignore Pyongyang. Then came the schoolyard taunts such as lumping North Korea together with Iraq and Iran in an “axis of evil.” When indifference and insult failed to move the isolated East Asian country, the administration accused North Korea of enriching uranium, which led to the unraveling of the 1994 Agreed Framework and the reigniting of a major crisis. To top it off, Washington began to squeeze Pyongyang economically with sanctions. Pyongyang has refused to cry “uncle.” Instead, it has replied in kind. With its missile launches in July and its recently announced nuclear test, Pyongyang has demonstrated that it can be as stubborn and as enamored of military playthings as the Bush administration. With such a miserable track record in inducing behavior change, why has the United States continued to speak loudly and wield a big stick against a hornet's nest like North Korea? It might be, like North Korea's recent test, a fundamental miscalculation. The Bush administration, after all, has shown a pathological inability to learn from its mistakes. Or there might be a deeper, more malign intent at work.
For some in the Bush administration, the nuclear test is cause for celebration. The coterie around Dick Cheney rejoices at the growing divide between North Korea and China, the more aggressive military and foreign policy of Japan, and the compromised efforts of South Korea to engage the North. The nuclear test is the most effective argument the Cheney crowd can use to defeat calls for diplomacy. An amplified North Korean threat works wonders on Capitol Hill and with our allies to push missile defense, more military spending, and the like. But the recent test has not destroyed the diplomatic option. Pyongyang has reiterated its willingness to negotiate. It doesn't have much choice. A nuclear weapon can't feed its people or rebuild its factories.
A Nuclear North Korea: Where Do We Go from Here?
Marcus Noland
Institute for International Economics
Op-ed in the Straits Times October 11, 2006 © Straits Times
If nuclear weapons could be hermetically confined to the Korean peninsula, the North Korean nuclear test would be a regrettable development but a manageable one. For more than half a century the North Koreans have held South Korea’s capital city Seoul hostage with forward-deployed artillery, but deterrence has held. For years any prudent military planner had to assume that the North Koreans had a small number of nuclear weapons. Today’s development merely affirms the correctness of this assumption. The problem, of course, is that the impact of North Korea’s nuclear test cannot be limited to the Korean peninsula. In the long run, North Korea’s action threatens to set off an arms race in Northeast Asia, a region of rich, technologically advanced states. In Japan the North Korean action will strengthen political elements wishing to see it become more of a “normal country” with a more robust military capability and assertive foreign policy. From the standpoint of new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, North Korea’s nuclear test is an unwelcome development, but the timing could hardly be better. [Japanese remilitarisation]
Talk to Pyongyang, not at it
By Ian Williams Oct 11, 2006 COMMENT Knowing North Korea's penchant for symbolism, one cannot help wondering whether the timing of its apparent nuclear test was meant to rain on Ban Ki-moon's party as the United Nations secretary general-designate. As it was, the business of selecting a South Korean as the world's secular pope was rushed through with almost unseemly brusqueness by the UN Security Council so it could discuss Kim Jong-il's diversion. [Bilateral]
How North Korea bungled its nuclear timing
By Donald Kirk Oct 10, 2006
SEOUL - North Korea's nuclear test has altered the landscape of alliances and enmities in East Asia, suddenly putting Japan in common cause with two terrible foes, China and South Korea. If Kim Jong-il deliberately timed the test to coincide with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit first to Beijing and then to Seoul, he may have dreadfully miscalculated. The leaders of all three countries could hardly agree more - the test is a "provocation" and they have to act together to do something about it. The verbiage from South Korea was startling. There, after his summit on Monday with Abe, was President Roh Moo-hyun declaring that South Korea would find it "increasingly difficult to stick by its engagement policy" with North Korea. Is Roh really prepared, however, to do away with nearly 10 years of efforts at reconciliation with North Korea? [Dilemma]
How Bush Created a Nuclear North Korea
By Tom Ball 10/10/2006 01:42:45 PM EST (Warning: This post is long. Damn long! That's because there are heaps of evidence that show Bush, not Clinton, is reponsible for the nuclear debacle we face today with North Korea. Pace yourself, but please be sure to take in every word. The truth is always worth it.) "Why should I care about North Korea?" -- President George W. Bush Blame Clinton? Yeah right! Clearly, the Bush Administration is, by far, the causal factor in Kim Jong Il's entry into Earth's 'Nukular' Club. They can blame Clinton all they want. At least he did something about this rising calamity. In 1994, the Clinton Administration reached an agreement with the DPRK that successfully froze North Korea's nuclear production for the next eight years.
The Time of Reckoning: U.S. Vital Interests on the Korean Peninsula and Response to the Escalation of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis
By Alexandre Y. Mansourov October 11th, 2006
Alexandre Y. Mansourov, Associate Professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu, writes, “The day after the nuclear test, we are all somewhat less secure, worse off, and closer to the second Korean War. This notwithstanding, the international community can attempt to turn this crisis into a unique opportunity to resolve the Korean question writ large once and for all through a multinational peace-making effort aimed at extending the benefits of secure and prosperous life in a free and open society to all Koreans living on a united peninsula, while establishing the foundations for a genuine regional multilateral security architecture capable of coping with the most difficult security challenges in Northeast Asia in a cooperative, effective, and mutually acceptable manner.”
U.N. Chief Urges U.S.: Talk to N. Korea
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan Calls on the United States to Hold Talks With North Korea
UNITED NATIONS Oct 11, 2006 (AP)— Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged North Korea on Wednesday not to escalate an "extremely difficult" situation and called on the United States to hold bilateral talks with the reclusive communist nation. [Bilateral]
Pyongyang Vows to Hit Back
By Lee Jin-woo Staff Reporter North Korea yesterday threatened to respond with a series of physical measures if the United States steps up pressure on the Stalinist country. ``We have no choice but to carry out a nuclear test due to the United States’ nuclear threat and its sneaky tactics of using sanctions,’’ the North’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The statement was carried by the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). If Washington continues the pressure, North Korea will consider the U.S. acts as a ``declaration of war,’’ it said. However, the North said it is still willing to hold negotiations with the United States and remains committed to a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula through dialogue.
Accept North Korea into the nuclear club or bomb it now
Economic sanctions are a coward's response that would only punish the people while propping up Kim Jong-il's dictatorship Simon Jenkins Wednesday October 11, 2006 The Guardian
So what now? North Korea is the fourth, possibly fifth, state to have rejected the 1970 non-proliferation treaty and proceeded towards a nuclear arsenal. The others are India, Pakistan, Israel and perhaps Iran. That makes five states in the old nuclear club (America, Russia, Britain, France and China) and five in the new one. The appropriate relationship, diplomatic, military and moral, between the two clubs is now a consuming world obsession. There is no easy answer. If strategically secure countries such as Britain and France want nuclear missiles as an ultimate line of defence, why not Iran and North Korea?
UN divided over severity of nuclear sanctions
· Fears that tough measures could escalate dispute · China cautious after agreeing to back west
Ewen MacAskill and Jonathan Watts in Beijing and Justin McCurry in Tokyo Wednesday October 11, 2006 The Guardian A North Korean soldier on patrol in Sinuiju, on the border with China. Photograph: Reinhard Krause/Reuters UN security council members were split yesterday over the sanctions to be imposed against North Korea in response to its claimed nuclear weapons test. HREF=http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200610/10/200610102217220779900090209021.html> Chorus of criticism at blast continues
UN begins work on a sanctions resolution October 11, 2006 ? As experts yesterday began questioning whether the North Koreans' declared success in testing a nuclear device was actually that, North Korea's traditional allies joined the rest of the world in condemning the reclusive communist state. U.S. President George W. Bush's voice was one of many calling for swift action by the United Nations Security Council to respond to the test. Mr. Bush said Washington remained committed to diplomacy, but added that the United States would continue to protect itself and its interests.
Nuclear test would violate international agreements
October 11, 2006 ? If North Korea conducted a nuclear test on Monday, it violated international agreements. One of them is the 1991 inter-Korean statement for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. It placed a ban on making, accepting and using nuclear weapons and on possessing facilities for nuclear fuel reprocessing or nuclear concentration. It also states inspections of nuclear-related facilities in both Koreas will be allowed and specifies nuclear energy must be used peacefully. After the two Koreas signed the statement in December 1991, allied forces removed about 750 nuclear weapons from South Korea. A 1994 agreement between Pyongyang and Washington was based on the 1991 inter-Korean joint statement. North Korea promised to close the laboratories for nuclear fuel reprocessing and to keep the 1991 inter-Korean statement in return for two lightwater reactors and heavy oil. However, North Korea in January 2003 declared the annulment of the agreement amid aggravating relations with Washington. [Admission] [Spin] [Legality]
Solving the Korean Stalemate, One Step at a Time
By JIMMY CARTER Published: October 11, 2006 ATLANTA IN 1994 the North Koreans expelled inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency and were threatening to process spent nuclear fuel into plutonium, giving them the ability to produce nuclear weapons. With the risk of war on the Korean Peninsula, there was a consensus that the forces of South Korea and the United States could overwhelmingly defeat North Korea. But it was also known that North Korea could quickly launch more than 20,000 shells and missiles into nearby Seoul. The American commander in South Korea, Gen. Gary Luck, estimated that total casualties would far exceed those of the Korean War. Responding to an invitation from President Kim Il-sung of North Korea, and with the approval of President Bill Clinton, I went to Pyongyang and negotiated an agreement under which North Korea would cease its nuclear program at Yongbyon and permit inspectors from the atomic agency to return to the site to assure that the spent fuel was not reprocessed. It was also agreed that direct talks would be held between the two Koreas. [Agreed Framework] [Carter]
Word of Test Confirms Stances in 2 Nations
By NORIMITSU ONISHI and MARTIN FACKLER Published: October 11, 2006 SEOUL, South Korea, Oct. 10 - In the suburbs north of here, the thaw between the Koreas has led South Korea to dismantle highway barricades meant to slow down an invasion of North Korean tanks. Japan, meanwhile, has begun investing billions of dollars in erecting a high-tech shield against North Korean missiles.
South Korea and Japan, America's two major allies in this region, have grown increasingly apart in their attitudes and policies toward North Korea, even though President Roh Moo-hyun said Monday that the North's announcement of a nuclear test had put him on the same page as Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe. Still, despite the gravity of an reported nuclear test, the calculations and interests that have led each country on its respective path have changed little. What's more, random interviews with South Koreans and Japanese on Tuesday suggested that the test, rather than changing public opinion, has merely reinforced it.
Preparing for a North Korean Nuclear Test
L. Gordon Flake
In the weeks immediately following North Korea’s July 5 launching of multiple missiles, Japan and the United States closely collaborated at the United Nations and in the region to secure a meaningful UN Security Council Resolution (1695) that not only condemned the North Korea missile tests, but also called for sanctions in response. Although there now appears to be some movement on sanctions, some in Japan may have been disappointed by the Council’s failure to accept the full Japanese proposal including what are termed “Chapter 7 sanctions,” which would have held the potential of some form of enforcement mechanism. However, given the initial reticence by China and Russia, both with veto powers, the final wording of the resolution greatly exceeded most expectations.
THE “INDIA DEAL”: ARE SABERS RATTLING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD?
Niharika Chibber Joe The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation
As the Bush-Koizumi sayonara caravan partied its way to Graceland, the U.S.-India civil nuclear deal sailed through the foreign affairs committees in the U.S. Congress. On June 29th, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the deal with a 16-2 vote that came on the heels of the House International Relations Committee’s 37-5 decision in favor of the agreement. This is only the first step. The agreement needs full congressional approval before it can become U.S. law; and with some legislators eagerly awaiting the opportunity to reconfigure it in the United States’ favor, securing Congress’ blessing will not be painless.
Dr. Strangelove in Pyongyang
by Peter Hayes and Tim Savage
October 10th, 2006
Peter Hayes, Nautilus Institute Executive Director, and Tim Savage, Nautilus Institute Senior Associate, write, "The United States and China should also avoid falling into the "blame game" about who failed to prevent North Korea from testing. The Six Party Talks are now dead. As the two great powers involved directly with the North, they have to work together to develop a viable strategy to engage North Korea and restart negotiations, possibly in a new tripartite forum. If the United States baulks at engaging North Korea, then China and Russia will simply cut their own deals with Kim Jong Il in order to re-stabilize the situation."
North Korea's Nuclear Claim Revives Pressure on U.S.
(Update3) By Janine Zacharia
Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- North Korea's claim it tested a nuclear weapon is reviving pressure on President George W. Bush to engage Kim Jong Il's government in direct talks.
Bush's rejection of one-on-one negotiations with North Korea -- and Iran -- and reliance on allies and other intermediaries leaves the U.S. with less leverage and fewer options for a response, according to foreign-policy experts. ``One of the reasons we're having such difficulty in several parts of the world is because the Bush administration thinks diplomacy is something you give to a country as a reward for their good behavior,'' said Donald Gregg, U.S. ambassador to South Korea during the presidency of George H.W. Bush. ``We're only talking to our friends.''
The U.S. may need days or weeks to confirm whether the blast detected deep inside a mountain near North Korea's northeast coast was caused by a nuclear device. The results of the analysis may not matter. Bush said yesterday that the ``claim itself constitutes a threat to international peace and security.'' Bush has consistently refused North Korea's demands for direct talks even as China, South Korea and Russia, U.S. partners in the six-nation talks on the Kim regime's nuclear program, all have urged the administration to agree. [Bilateral]
North Korea's Nuclear Weapon Test
10 October 2006 North Korea's October 9 nuclear weapon test was an outcome of Pyongyang's judgment that the test will enhance its regime survival and increase its foreign policy leverage. It does not expect that any state will launch a military operation against it in response to the action, and by acquiring a proven nuclear capability it makes such a strike less likely in the future. The success of North Korea's initiative hinges upon China's reaction to the test and whether Beijing will continue to support Pyongyang. If the test moves Beijing closer to the United States -- which is unlikely -- pressure will mount on Pyongyang to backtrack from its decision in a face saving way. Yet if Beijing mounts public criticism of North Korea but remains passive in action, then North Korea will have succeeded in adding to its political and military capabilities without inviting a major conflict.
The moment North Korea became a nuclear player
Jonathan Watts in Beijing and Ewen MacAskill Tuesday October 10, 2006 The Guardian
International efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons suffered a severe setback yesterday when North Korea claimed it had successfully conducted its first nuclear weapons explosion. After meeting in emergency session, the UN security council unanimously condemned the test and began negotiations on imposing tougher sanctions against Kim Jong-il's reclusive state. Measures under discussion range from an arms ban to a naval blockade. The US last night proposed sanctions that included a trade ban on military and luxury items, the power to inspect all cargo entering or leaving the country, and freezing assets connected with its weapons programmes
North Korea's nuclear policy is not irrational at all
We are heading towards another pre-emptive war and Japanese nuclear weapons unless pressure for disarmament revives
Dan Plesch Tuesday October 10, 2006 The Guardian
North Korea's nuclear test is only the latest failure of the west's proliferation policy. And it demonstrates the need to return to the proven methods of multilateral disarmament. Far from being crazy, the North Korean policy is quite rational. Faced with a US government that believes the communist regime should be removed from the map, the North Koreans pressed ahead with building a deterrent. George Bush stopped the oil supplies to North Korea that had been part of a framework to end its nuclear programme previously agreed with Bill Clinton. Bush had already threatened pre-emptive war - Iraq-style - against a regime he dubbed as belonging to the axis of evil. The background to North Korea's test is that, since the end of the cold war, the nuclear states have tried to impose a double standard, hanging on to nuclear weapons for themselves and their friends while denying them to others. Like alcoholics condemning teenage drinking, the nuclear powers have made the spread of nuclear weapons the terror of our age, distracting attention from their own behaviour. Western leaders refuse to accept that our own actions encourage others to follow suit. [Double standards]
Steve Bell cartoon
[Double standards]
Atomic test jars world
China calls Pyongyang's nuclear explosion 'a brazen act'
October 10, 2006 ? Moving regional ? and global ? tensions to a higher level, North Korea announced yesterday that it had successfully tested a nuclear device.
Environmental damage from test unlikely here
October 10, 2006 ? South Korea will probably not suffer from serious environmental contamination from the North's nuclear test, experts in Seoul said yesterday, but they added that they were trying to prepare for the worst. Experts in environment and nuclear programs said the possibility of nuclear contamination is significantly lower for an underground test than ground or airborne tests. The North was suspected of having conducted a test at an underground pit after sealing the entrance with cement. Experts said nuclear materials created from the explosion normally integrate with other rocks nearby. They said a pit should be at least 1 kilometer (3,280 feet) deep in the ground for a safe nuclear test. North Korea said its test was safe, but experts here took the most conservative position they could. "If radioactive material leaked to the air, the amount wouldn't be a lot," said Lee Dong-myeong, director of the radiation safety regulation department at the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety. "If there was any, the westerly wind would carry it to the East Sea [Sea of Japan], and South Korea would probably not suffer damage."
For U.S., a Strategic Jolt After North Korea's Test
Reinhard Krause/Reuters A North Korean soldier and his dog guarded an army installation Monday near Sinuiju, close to the Chinese border city of Dandong. More Photos >
By DAVID E. SANGER Published: October 10, 2006 WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 - North Korea may be a starving, friendless, authoritarian nation of 23 million people, but its apparently successful explosion of a small nuclear device in the mountains above the town of Kilju on Monday represents a defiant bid for survival and respect. For Washington and its allies, it illuminates a failure of nearly two decades of atomic diplomacy.
North Korea is more than just another nation joining the nuclear club. It has never developed a weapons system it did not ultimately sell on the world market, and it has periodically threatened to sell its nuclear technology. So the end of ambiguity about its nuclear capacity foreshadows a very different era, in which the concern may not be where a nation's warheads are aimed, but in whose hands its weapons and skill end up.
Blast May Be Only a Partial Success, Experts Say
By WILLIAM J. BROAD and MARK MAZZETTI Published: October 10, 2006 The North Korean test appears to have been a nuclear detonation but was fairly small by traditional standards, and possibly a failure or a partial success, federal and private analysts said yesterday.
Throughout history, the first detonations of aspiring nuclear powers have tended to pack the destructive power of 10,000 to 60,000 tons - 10 to 60 kilotons - of conventional high explosives. But the strength of the North Korean test appears to have been a small fraction of that: around a kiloton or less, according to scientists monitoring the global arrays of seismometers that detect faint trembles in the earth from distant blasts. "It's pretty remarkable that such a small explosion was promptly apparent on seismometers all over the world," said Paul Richards, a seismologist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, N.Y. "The detection of this was really good. You can't hide these kinds of things, even very small tests." A senior Bush administration official said he had learned through Asian contacts that the North Koreans had expected the detonation to have a force of about four kilotons. Because classified information was involved and there was lingering uncertainty, he would not let his name be used. Philip E. Coyle III, a former director of weapons testing at the Pentagon and former director of nuclear testing for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a weapons design center in California, said the small size of the test signaled the possibility of what might be described as a partial success or a partial failure. "As first tests go, this is smaller and less successful than those of the other nuclear powers," he said. Perhaps the North Koreans wanted to keep it small, he added. "But if it turns out to be a kiloton or less," Dr. Coyle said, "that would suggest that they hoped for more than that and didn't get it."
UN Seeks Bold Action on North Korea
By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter The U.N. Security Council met Monday on North Korea after the communist nation said it had conducted an underground nuclear test, reports said. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting had not been officially announced, said North Korea had been added to the agenda of the meeting, according to the Associated Press.
NZ-DPRK Society media release on nuclear test
Test firing of nuclear devices is regrettable whoever is responsible. In the case of the DPRK nuclear test it is important to remember that ever since the Bush Administration reneged on the Agreed Framework in 2002 the DPRK has been calling on the US to enter into bi lateral talks .
Sanctions calls mount against North Korea
October 09, 2006 ? The international community stepped up efforts over the Chuseok holiday to stop North Korea from testing a nuclear weapon, as concern grew that a test might be imminent. The latest diplomatic efforts to dissuade the North from a test came yesterday, when Shinzo Abe, Japan's new prime minister, met President Hu Jintao of China. Despite strained relations over Japan's imperial past and its interpretation of that history, the two leaders found common ground in discussing the North's nuclear brinkmanship. Their meeting, China's Foreign Ministry told reporters, resulted in agreement on the issue that generally echoed a UN statement issued Friday. The leaders said they were concerned about a possible nuclear test by Pyongyang and agreed to cooperate to prevent one from taking place. But Liu Jianchao, a ministry spokesman, gave no details on what form that cooperation might take. He deflected questions about sanctions, saying the two had agreed that multilateral dialogue was the best way to defuse the crisis.
N. Korea Reports 1st Nuclear Arms Test
By DAVID E. SANGER Published: October 9, 2006 WASHINGTON, Monday, Oct. 9 - North Korea said Sunday night that it had set off its first nuclear test, becoming the eighth country in history, and arguably the most unstable and most dangerous, to proclaim that it has joined the club of nuclear weapons states.
The test came just two days after the country was warned by the United Nations Security Council that the action could lead to severe consequences. American officials cautioned that they had not yet received any confirmation that the test had occurred. The United States Geological Survey said it had detected a tremor of 4.2 magnitude on the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea Says Nuclear Test Successful
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: October 9, 2006 Filed at 3:24 a.m. ET SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea said Monday it had performed its first nuclear weapons test, an underground explosion that defied international warnings but was hailed by the communist nation as a ''great leap forward'' for its people. The reported test drew harsh condemnation from world powers and some warned it would destabilize the region. The U.N. Security Council was expected to discuss North Korea on Monday, and the United States and Japan were likely to press for a resolution imposing additional sanctions on the impoverished country. The U.S. Geological Survey said it recorded a seismic event with a preliminary magnitude-4.2 in northeastern North Korea that coincided with the announced test. But the Colorado-based agency was unable to tell whether it was the result of an atomic explosion or a natural earthquake, USGS official Bruce Presgrave said.
Australia and South Korea said there was seismic confirmation that pointed to a nuclear test. A top Russian military officer confirmed the device tested was a nuclear weapon, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported. However, Japan said it could not immediately confirm a nuclear test had been conducted. The magnitude of the tremor could indicate the test was equivalent to the force of 550 tons of TNT, said Park Chang-soo, spokesman at the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, a state-run South Korean geological institute. That is relatively small compared to the World War II atomic bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on Aug. 6, 1945, which was equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT. Although North Korea has long claimed it had the capability to produce a bomb, the reported test, if confirmed, would be the first proof of its membership in a small club of nuclear-armed nations. It would dramatically alter the strategic balance of power in the Pacific region and seriously undermine global anti-proliferation efforts.
North Korea Conducts Nuclear Test
By way of the state-run Korean Central News Agency, North Korea announced that it had conducted a successful nuclear test Monday. The KCNA reported, "A safe and successful underground nuclear test was conducted on Oct. 9, 2006 by our division of scientific research" adding, "We have confirmed that this test, which was carried out after scientific analyses of possible outcomes and the most scrupulous calculations, has caused absolutely no radiation outflow or other hazards." "This nuclear test was realized with knowledge and technology that is 100 percent ours," adding, "Both to the people and military, who have always yearned for the strength to defend the nation, this day brings joy and encouragement." "This test will contribute to ensuring peace and stability on the peninsula and in the region." A spokesman for North Korea's foreign ministry had announced on Oct. 3 that it would be conducting a nuclear test that it says would be "thoroughly guaranteed to be safe" in the field of "scientific research" sometime in the future. (englishnews@chosun.com )
N. Korea Claims Nuclear Test
Geologists in the South Detect Man-Made Blast By Anthony Faiola, Glenn Kessler and Dafna LinzerWashington Post Foreign Service Monday, October 9, 2006; 3:52 AM
TOKYO, Oct. 9 -- North Korea declared on Monday that it had conducted its first nuclear test, a claim verified by monitoring authorities in China and South Korea that turns the Pyongyang government into the world's newest and most volatile nuclear power. Seoul government officials informed U.S. officials that the explosion, registering 3.58 on the Richter scale, had taken place at 10:36 a.m. local time. Minutes later, North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency announced the test, calling it "a historical event that has brought our military and our people huge joy."
The announcement brought a hailstorm of swift international condemnations and touched off a chain reaction of security jitters that caused the Japanese yen to fall to seven-month lows and sent the South Korean currency and stock market plunging. South Korean officials said they detected a significant man-made explosion in the barren northeast of the peninsula, substantiating the Pyongyang government's claim as the world's eighth proven nuclear power.
Wide Fallout From North Korean Test
Radiation from explosion may have been contained, but shockwaves will be felt elsewhere
Timothy Savage (yamanin)
Published 2006-10-09 16:18 (KST) Just after 10:30 this morning, North Korea apparently set off a nuclear explosion in an underground site in Hamhung province. North Korea's official announcement claimed that no radiation had leaked from the test site. This may or may not be true -- North Korea has never been renowned for its attention to safety -- but the political fallout from the test is likely to be widespread. The first victim, much to the delight of critics of engagement, is likely to be what remains of South Korea's Sunshine Policy. While often attacked as "appeasement," the Sunshine Policy was in fact a well-intentioned but sometimes badly executed attempt to achieve slow-motion reunification by increasing Pyongyang's dependence on the South. Over the long run, the policy is still in Seoul's best interest, and will likely be revived at a future date in some renewed form. But for the time being, continued economic cooperation will be politically impossible, both domestically and internationally, especially with a presidential election scheduled for next year. Instead, South Korea will have to turn its attention from trying to restrain the United States from military action in response to the test while projecting a public face of being in lockstep with Washington. Many have long predicted that a North Korean nuclear test might cause Japan to reassess its own nuclear options. While this is still possible in the long run, for the time being there's no reason to fear nuclearization of Japan. As long as Tokyo has faith in the reliability of the U.S. nuclear umbrella, it has no need to pursue an independent nuclear force.
N. Korea claims success in nuclear test
SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Yonhap) -- North Korea announced Monday that it successfully conducted an underground nuclear test.
In a report by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, the communist regime said the test earlier Monday was carried out safely and successfully.
"The nuclear test was conducted by 100 percent of our wisdom and technology," it said.
There was no danger including leaks of radioactivity, it added.
South Korea's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said the country's state intelligence agency detected a 3.58 magnitude seismic tremor in the North's remote area of North Hamgyeong Province at around 10 a.m.
"The intelligence was immediately reported to President Roh Moo-hyun," Roh's spokesman Yoon Tae-young said. "Related countries are in consulation on the issue." Roh immediately called an emergency meeting of related ministers to discuss countermeasures. lcd@yna.co.kr
N. Korea tests nuclear weapon at Hwadaeri near Kilju: Defense Ministry
SEOUL, Oct. 9 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is believed to have tested a nuclear weapon in the eastern part of the country Monday morning, a South Korean defense source said.
"We detected the explosive sound from Hwadaeri near Kilju in North Hamgyong Province at 10:36 a.m.(KST)," a senior Defense Ministry official said, asking to remain anonymous because of the sensitive nature of the information.
But South Korea's military has yet to raise its alert level beyond usual defense situations, he said. The troops are still maintaining a Watchcon 3 surveillance status and Defcon 4 defense readiness status.
ssj@yna.co.kr
U.N. Council Presses North Korea to Drop Plans for Nuclear Test
By WARREN HOGE Published: October 7, 2006 UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 6 - The Security Council urged North Korea Friday not to carry out a planned test of a nuclear weapon, saying it would endanger regional stability and provoke worldwide denunciation. Taking action three days after North Korea said it was preparing for an underground test, the Council said such action would "jeopardize peace, stability and security in the region and beyond." The statement, agreed to by all 15 members, was issued amid speculation that the test could come as soon as Sunday, the anniversary of the appointment of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, as head of the Communist Party. It urged Pyongyang to return to six-party talks on its nuclear program that include North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States. North Korea left the talks last year and claims it will return only if the United States lifts sanctions aimed at stopping counterfeiting and other illegal economic activities. [Spin] [Media] [Sanctions]
North Korea May Carry Out Nuclear Test This Weekend
(Update5) By Keiichi Yamamura
Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- North Korea may test its first nuclear bomb this weekend, Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi said in Washington, according to a government official in Japan. ``Regarding the nuclear issue, there are several views, but it is possible they will carry it out as soon as this weekend,'' Yachi told U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said today in Tokyo, speaking on condition of anonymity.
U.N. to slap North Korea over nuclear test plan
By Chisa Fujioka Reuters Friday, October 6, 2006; 12:51 AM
TOKYO (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council reached broad agreement on a statement warning North Korea against a nuclear test, but Washington backed off earlier language directed at Pyongyang, saying it was not threatening "lethal" action. U.S. officials said the reclusive communist state could conduct a nuclear test within days, but Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said there was no telling when it might come and Japan did not sense that tension was mounting.
"Unlike a rocket, we can't see it, so there is nothing we can say," he told reporters in Tokyo. The U.N. text -- which was sent to governments for possible changes before further discussions on Friday -- urges Pyongyang to cancel its planned test and return immediately to six-country talks aimed at persuading it to abandon nuclear arms. It also warns that a nuclear test, which Pyongyang vowed on Tuesday to carry out, would lead to unspecified consequences. [Media]
U.S. Report on N. Korea: 'Misleading and Dishonest'
[Analysis] House Committee evaluates strategic threat of nuclear program Ludwig De Braeckeleer (ludwig)
Published 2006-10-06 11:01 (KST) On Tuesday, the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence released a new report on the strategic and intelligence challenges posed by North Korea, but a careful reading revealed several inaccuracies.
The 36-pages report titled "Recognizing North Korea as a Strategic Threat: An Intelligence Challenge for the United States," [PDF] is aimed at informing the American people about the danger that North Korea represents to the United States. "North Korea's weapons proliferation and continued threats to America and its neighbours must be taken seriously," said U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-Michigan), the committee's chairman. This new report comes in the wake of a similar document describing the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear program. On Aug. 23, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence issued a 29-page document assessing Iran nuclear activities: "Recognizing Iran as a Strategic Threat: An Intelligence Challenge for the United States." That document had been harshly criticized by nuclear experts as it is filled with errors that betray a political agenda. Vilmos Cserveny, IAEA director for External Relations and Policy Coordination, wrote a letter to Hoekstra in which he describes the Report as "outrageous and dishonest," filled with "erroneous, misleading and unsubstantiated statements." The new report is unfortunately just more of the same. However, contrary to the previous report on Iran, the Democrats have refused to participate in the drafting of the new document which they have described as a "scare America plan." A second and key difference is that the report on North Korea has been checked and corrected by U.S. Intelligence analysts. "This report cites a significant amount of numerical data and estimates on North Korean's nuclear program and possible numbers of nuclear weapons. This data was reviewed by U.S. Intelligence analysts and the authors accepted all of their suggested changes to this data," the report states on page 13. And this fact is really worrisome considering that the report contains a faulty description of the North Korea military nuclear program. Although the report describes the plutonium operation in a way that most experts will not dispute, the characterization of the uranium enrichment program is flat out wrong.
Staff Report on Recognizing North Korea as a Strategic Threat: An Intelligence Challenge for U.S.
House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee, Recognizing North Korea as a Strategic Threat: An Intelligence Challenge for the United States, September 28, 2006
North's pledge wins warnings from all sides
October 05, 2006 ? North Korea's threat to test its nuclear weapons program quickly escalated tensions on the Korean Peninsula to a new pitch Wednesday as Washington warned Pyongyang of "a somewhat different world" and "a qualitatively different situation" as a consequence of a nuclear test. South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and other members of the international community also sent strong messages to the North that it must not cross the red line. "They are an active proliferator," U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday, traveling in Nicaragua. "And were they to test and were they then to proliferate those technologies, we'd be living with a proliferator and obviously we'd be living in a somewhat different world."
North endangers us all
[EDITORIALS] North Korea's announcement of its plan for a nuclear test is shaking up the situation on the Korean Peninsula from its foundations. Although North Korea announced last year that it possessed nuclear weapons, announcing possession is one thing and conducting a nuclear test is another. That announcement will likely create a domino effect of nuclear weapons expansion in Northeast Asia and international pressure against North Korea will increase more than ever before.
If North Korea proceeds with a nuclear test, South Korea has no choice but to think about possessing nuclear weapons because it would have no other way to keep itself safe from the aggression of the North. That would be the same for both Japan and Taiwan, who would be highly likely to join this trend.
North bluster, or chaos again?
[OUTLOOK] "The United States really doesn't know about us," a North Korean involved in a committee for national reconciliation I met in Pyongyang said Tuesday. It was the day when North Korea's foreign minister declared the North's intention to carry out a nuclear test. "The United States must believe that we would surrender if it pushes us with power and threatens us. But that is where it is wrong, because it does not know about our society and system," he said in a very serious tone. Another North Korean said he did not know much about the announcement, but said, "When we say we will do something, we mean it."
If North Korea carries out a nuclear test, South Korea will lose leverage to work between North Korea and the United States.
U.S. Warns North Koreans About Nuclear Test
By DAVID E. SANGER and JIM YARDLEY Published: October 5, 2006 WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 - The Bush administration sent a direct message to North Korea on Wednesday, warning it not to set off a nuclear test, and later declared that the United States was "not going to live with" a nuclear-armed North Korea.
The later statement came in a speech by Christopher R. Hill, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, reported by Reuters. "We are not going to live with a nuclear North Korea, we are not going to accept it," he said. Mr. Hill did not suggest what the American response would be and gave no hint of an economic or military response. But he said of North Korea: "It can have a future or it can have these weapons. It cannot have both." [Military option]
South Urges North Not to Cross Red Line
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter President Roh Moo-hyun instructed the government on Wednesday to ``cool-headedly and sternly'' deal with North Korea's threat to conduct a nuclear weapons test, Song Min-soon, the chief presidential security advisor, said.
North's Plan Ruffles Business Feathers
By Park Hyong-ki Staff Reporter Foreign businesspeople here are calling North Korea's move to test its nuclear weapon ``dangerous and provocative.'' However, their business commitments in South Korea remain the same. ``The further away from South Korea, the greater the panic. Although the North's nuclear vows won't affect investment plans made here, people living thousands of miles away may have second thoughts over investing in South Korea [due to the nuclear tension],'' Michael Breen, head of the public relations agency Insight Communications in Seoul told The Korea Times. Breen worked as a correspondent for U.S. and British newspapers before opening his consultancy. ``The main concern now is that the United States does not take action which might escalate the problem.''
Stock Market Falls After Test Threat
By Seo Jee-yeon Staff Reporter Seoul stocks edged down and the won closed slightly weaker against the dollar but the overall financial market remained calm despite North Korea's threat to conduct a nuclear test in the unspecified future, analysts said.
N.Korea's Nuke Threat Puts Cat Among the Pigeons
The Korean government has ruled that North Korea's declaration on Tuesday that it plans to conduct a nuclear test is a bargaining chip to bring further concessions from the U.S. On Wednesday, Seoul made plans to exert more effort in a "common and broad approach" to diplomacy. But ranking U.S. government officials warned that if the North goes through with the tests, it will take serious measures including military action. Already, in short, a new rift is opening between the U.S. and South Korea [Friction]
N.Korea Disappoints Roh Once Again
President Roh Moo-hyun was wrong-footed once again when North Korea on Tuesday announced plans to conduct a nuclear test. Roh has favored a friendly line with the North since taking office, but Pyongyang disappointed him time and again. When the North declared it has nuclear arms, test-fired missiles and pulled out of six-party talks on its nuclear program, the government said it was given "no prior notice by North Korea." And that is what Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok had to tell the National Assembly again on Wednesday.
N.Korean Nuke Threat Looms Over S.Korean Economy
Seoul shares plummeted after North Korea on Tuesday announced it plans to conduct a nuclear test. There are growing concerns that if it carries out the threat, it would shake the South Korean economy to its very foundation.
Pyongyang Warned on Weapon Testing
U.S. Won't Accept Nuclear N. Korea By Dafna Linzer Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, October 5, 2006; Page A20
The Bush administration delivered a secret message to North Korea yesterday warning it to back down from a promised nuclear test, and it said publicly that the United States would not live with a nuclear-armed Pyongyang government. North Korea "can have a future or it can have these weapons. It cannot have both," Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill said yesterday in remarks at Johns Hopkins University's U.S.-Korea Institute. It was the toughest response yet from the Bush administration, coming two days after Pyongyang announced plans to conduct its first nuclear test. Hill did not explain how the administration would respond to a test, but he said it is willing to sit with North Korean officials and diplomats from the region to discuss the crisis. "We will do all we can to dissuade [North Korea] from this test," he said. State Department officials said Hill is considering a trip to Asia to discuss options with key allies. "We are not going to live with a nuclear North Korea, we are not going to accept it," Hill said. He said the United States had passed along a private warning through North Korea's diplomatic mission to the United Nations in New York.
DPRK Foreign Ministry Clarifies Stand on New Measure to Bolster War Deterrent
Pyongyang, October 3 (KCNA) -- The Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea issued the following statement Tuesday solemnly clarifying the DPRK stand on the new measure to be taken by it to bolster its war deterrent for self-defence: The U.S. daily increasing threat of a nuclear war and its vicious sanctions and pressure have caused a grave situation on the Korean Peninsula in which the supreme interests and security of our State are seriously infringed upon and the Korean nation stands at the crossroads of life and death. The U.S. has become more frantic in its military exercises and arms build-up on the peninsula and in its vicinity for the purpose of launching the second Korean war since it made a de facto "declaration of war" against the DPRK through the recent brigandish adoption of a UNSC resolution
Answering North Korea
Editorial
It's up to South Korea and China to make clear that a nuclear bomb test by Pyongyang would be intolerable.
Thursday, October 5, 2006; Page A32 NORTH KOREA'S threat to conduct a nuclear test is first and foremost a threat to its closest neighbors, China and South Korea. Pyongyang's emergence as a nuclear power would create a grave danger for their people and would probably transform regional security in East Asia in ways that both Beijing and Seoul would find harmful. Among other consequences, Japan might choose to build its own nuclear arsenal. South Korea's policy of seeking closer relations with the North and China's complementary strategy of propping up the totalitarian dictatorship of Kim Jong Il will have produced not stability but a potentially far-reaching destabilization.
The United States would be threatened, too, because of the 30,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. But North Korea appears to be a long way from developing a missile that can reach the United States. Its provocative test in July, like a previous one in 1998, was a flop. A North Korean bomb test, meanwhile, is likely to empower those in the Bush administration who have been arguing for much tougher steps to isolate the North.
It follows that the South Korean and Chinese governments ought to be leading the effort to stop North Korea from going forward. They, more than the United States or the United Nations, have the means to exert pressure. Without the energy and food aid they supply, and China's willingness to close its borders to North Korean refugees, the Kim dictatorship would almost certainly collapse. Most experts believe the North is not bluffing when it says it could detonate a nuclear warhead, but whether it does will probably depend on international reaction to this week's threat. So far the Chinese and South Korean responses look weak. A spokesman in Seoul said a test would cause a "shift" in the government's engagement policy but hastened to add that it wouldn't abandon the policy altogether. Beijing, meanwhile, seemed to resist a U.S. and Japanese effort to have the U.N. Security Council issue a strong warning to Pyongyang. It's not hard to imagine Mr. Kim reading such reactions as a virtual green light. The North's latest provocation produced the usual claims that the United States was somehow at fault for failing to "engage" the dictatorship. Yet the Bush administration has made it clear that it will be open to a broad security dialogue if the North returns to the multiparty negotiations it has boycotted for the past year. Just last month the senior U.S. negotiator again offered to meet his North Korean counterpart to discuss how talks could resume. There was no response.
Instead of demanding that Washington answer the threats of a criminal regime with appeasement or bribery, those who want to prevent a North Korean bomb test should be insisting on action by the governments that now shirk their responsibility to stand up to that regime -- South Korea and China. [Japanese remilitarisation] [Nuclearisation]
North Korea Threatens Nuclear Test
David C. Kang Dartmouth College/Co-author, "Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Engagement Strategies" Wednesday, October 4, 2006; 2:00 PM
David C. Kang , an associate professor of government at Dartmouth College and co-author of "Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Engagement Strategies," was online Wednesday, Oct. 4, at 2 p.m. ET to discuss North Korea's announcement that it plans to test a nuclear weapon. The threat has draw strong reaction from around the world, including Japan, South Korea and the U.S.
Alexandria,Va.: Is North Korea going to try to put warheads on missiles on subs? Will they sell those to other states like Saudi Arabia or Iran? Is Pakistan working on the same thing? Will North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Palestinian Authority, Iran, new Iraq, Cuba, Venezuela, etc. have these subs in 5 to 10 years off the coasts of Europe, America and India? Will they form a new axis around this? Will they ask us for money as a group in a shakedown?
David C. Kang: North Korea's submarine force is small and technologically limited, as is its missile program. North Korea has not yet successfully tested a long-range ICBM (inter-continental ballistic missile), and most analysts think they are a decade away from having any type of working missile, much less one that can carry a warhead. Their subs are mainly small (7-10 person), and it is probably unrealistic to think they could not only develop nuclear-capable submarines, but the missile technology to go along with that. So this is not a major concern at this point [Bizarre]
MISGUIDED POLICIES OF CONFRONTATION MAKE DPRK NUKE TEST INEVITABLE
Friends of the Earth Australia
Misguided policies of confrontation have made the nuclear test promised by the DPRK inevitable, say Australian peace groups. A policy of threats and confrontation - on either side - is unhelpful in the highest degree, and will only escalate the crisis. What is needed now, and has been needed all along is a complete change in the nature of the relationship between the DPRK and the United States. A harder and harder line on either side will merely lead the DPRK to increase the efforts it makes to obtain nuclear weapons and more nuclear weapons, and to improve its delivery capability.
Peters condemns Nth Korea nuclear test threat
Rt Hon Winston Peters 4/10/2006
North Korea's statement that it is planning to test a nuclear weapon is inflammatory and completely incompatible with efforts to build security in the Asia-Pacific region, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said today. North Korea last night announced plans for a nuclear weapon test, although it gave no time frame. Pyongyang has previously said it has nuclear weapons, but is not known to have conducted any test to prove its claim. “North Korea’s statement is intolerable, and New Zealand joins others in the international community in condemning it,” Mr Peters said. “If this threat is carried out, North Korea can expect a harsh response from the international community. There will certainly be serious repercussions, undoubtedly stronger than those following North Korea’s missile tests in July. The patience of even North Korea’s closest friends must be wearing thin." Mr Peters said a nuclear test would go against North Korea’s commitments under the Non-Proliferation Treaty and would be contrary to the moratorium on nuclear testing that has been in place for the past eight years. "Any threat to this moratorium would be a threat to us all and a significant step back for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. “North Korea must reconsider its plan and refrain from taking any further rash steps. We urge it to return to dialogue at the earliest possible opportunity,” Mr Peters said. [Double standards] [Bizarre]
N.Korea Announces Future Nuclear Test
North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that “the field of scientific research” in the North will conduct a nuclear test in the future “under conditions where safety is firmly guaranteed.” The statement was published simultaneously via Korean Central Television Station, the North’s only nationwide TV network, the official Korean Central News Agency and Korean Central Broadcasting Station at 6 p.m. The ministry said the present situation, “in which the U.S. moves to isolate and stifle” North Korea has reached a stage “beyond extremity,” with the result that the North “can no longer remain an onlooker to the developments.” The statement says the U.S.’ “extreme threat of a nuclear war and sanctions and pressure compel [the North] to conduct a nuclear test, an essential process for bolstering its nuclear deterrent, as a corresponding measure for defense.”
It stresses several times that North Korea was compelled to conduct a nuclear test because of the pressures and sanctions from the U.S. but makes no mention of when and how. Some experts here say the statement could be a bargaining chip to urge the U.S. and others to lift their financial sanctions, rather than an announcement of an imminent test. They feel the announcement came out of consideration of the situation in general, including more sanctions against the North from the U.S. and Japan, the proposed Seoul-Tokyo and Seoul-Beijing summits, and a “common and comprehensive approach” by Seoul and Washington to the North Korean nuclear and missile issues. They expect that if the U.S. does not come forward to conduct negotiations, it will increase chances of Pyongyang actually carrying out the threat. The statement vows the North “will never use nuclear weapons first but strictly prohibit any threat of nuclear weapons and nuclear transfer” and “do its utmost to realize the denuclearization of the Peninsula and give impetus to worldwide nuclear disarmament and the ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons.” It recalls that the North officially announced it has modern nuclear weapons last year, and claims the announcement was based on a nuclear test.
North Korean Nuclear Test Would Be "A Very Provocative Act"
Test would undermine trust in Pyongyang's commitment to shed nuclear weapons
03 October 2006 By Stephen Kaufman Washington File Staff Writer Washington -- Should North Korea make good on its threat to test nuclear weapons, it would be regarded as “a very provocative act” that would “create a qualitatively different situation on the Korean Peninsula,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said October 3.
The Stalker State: North Korean Proliferation and the End of American Nuclear Hegemony
by Peter Hayes
October 4th, 2006
This essay is based on a chapter of the forthcoming book, Halting Nuclear Proliferation in the 21st Century, edited by the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs, to be published by Routledge in 2007.
Peter Hayes, Nautilus Institute Executive Director, writes "If as I have suggested, the DPRK has become a nuclear ‘stalker state’ that seeks to redress past wrongs and use nuclear leverage to force the United States to treat it in a less hostile and more respectful manner, then the United States will have to ask itself whether continued isolation and pressure on the regime is more likely, or less so, to ameliorate stalking behaviours in time of crisis, when the risk of nuclear next-use becomes urgent. Like a repeat offender, the DPRK is likely to continue to use nuclear threat to stalk the United States until it achieves what it perceives to be a genuine shift in Washington’s attitude. Unlike an individual who stalks, there is no simple way to lock up a state that stalks another with nuclear threat.”
Pyongyang defiant over nuclear test
Staff and agencies Wednesday October 4, 2006 Guardian Unlimited
North Korea is refusing to back down from its stated intention to carry out a nuclear test. Photograph: AP North Korea today stood firm against international pressure to abandon plans for a nuclear test. Officials from the Stalinist country said sanctions imposed by the US were a declaration of war, and had forced it to go ahead with plans for testing. "Now the situation around the Korean peninsula is very tense, it may be breaking out [into a] war at any time I think," Pak Myong-guk, a spokesman for North Korea's Australian embassy, told Reuters.
Levi: North Korea Nuclear Test Could Lead to Military Response from U.S.
Interviewee: Michael A. Levi, Fellow for Science and Technology Interviewer: Bernard Gwertzman, Consulting Editor * October 3, 2006 * Michael A. Levi, a CFR expert on nuclear weapons and technology, says North Korea may have decided to announce plans for a nuclear test to offset signs of “weakness” caused by the failure of its long-range missile. “To North Korea that probably means it needs to try something else and a nuclear test is their only real option to step things up a notch,” Levi says, adding it is an unusual development given the recent softening of the U.S. position on bilateral talks. * Levi says that if North Korea does go ahead with a nuclear test, it could lead to a military response from the United States and a worsening of relations between China and North Korea. [military option]
Comments on North Korea’s Nuclear Announcement
(October 4, 2006)
The Ministry of Unification expresses its sincere regret and concern at North Korea’s announcement that it would conduct nuclear weapons tests because such a statement implies a complete nullification of 1992 joint declaration on the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
In particular, it is deeply regrettable that such an announcement was made while the nations involved in the Six-party Talks were making their earnest efforts to resume the talks.
North Korea’s nuclear weapons tests will have critically negative effects on the peace on the Korean peninsula and inter-Korean relations. The international community will never tolerate it.
We strongly urge North Korea to withdraw its nuclear tests plan immediately and return to the Six-party Talks as soon as possible.
Spokesperson
Ministry of Unification
Republic of Korea
North promises a test of a nuclear weapon
October 04, 2006 ? The Korea Central News Agency in Pyongyang yesterday evening broadcast a statement by the North Korean Foreign Ministry that the communist regime would conduct a nuclear test "in the future" to bolster what it called its defenses against increasing U.S. hostility. The statement gave no indication of when the test might be conducted, but said it would be under conditions that guaranteed safety, presumably from nuclear fallout.
North Koreans Say They Plan a Nuclear Test
By DAVID E. SANGER Published: October 4, 2006 WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 - North Korea announced Tuesday that it intended to conduct its first nuclear test, prompting warnings from Tokyo to Washington that an underground explosion would lead to a sharp response and could undermine the security balance in Asia.
North Korea did not say when it would try to test a weapon, and experts inside and outside the Bush administration said the announcement itself was a negotiating ploy, intended to force the White House into lifting economic sanctions and holding one-on-one talks with North Korea. [Bilateral]
North Korea Plans to Conduct Nuclear Test
By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter North Korea said yesterday that it will conduct a nuclear test to bolster its self-defense against what it calls increasing U.S. hostility toward it. The North Korean Foreign Ministry, however, said the North would never use nuclear weapons first and remained committed to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. ``The DPRK is set to conduct a nuclear test in the future in which safety is firmly guaranteed,'' the ministry said in a statement carried by the (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). DPRK refers to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name.
'North's Nuke Test Won't Ignite Arms Race in Northeast Asia'
By Kim Sue-young Staff Reporter A possible nuclear test by North Korea will not ignite a nuclear arms race in Northeast Asia, a U.S. researcher said yesterday amid rising prediction that the possible test could affect neighboring countries. The communist North has been rumored to be preparing an underground nuclear test since missile tests in early July, which raised concerns about nuclear proliferation. Bonnie S. Glaser, a senior associate of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in the United States, however, disagreed, saying that it is not the ``only scenario.'' ``Northeast Asian countries, including South Korea and Japan, will consider what is in their best interests and, since they have an alliance with the United States, that should be in consultation with Washington,'' she said. [Nuclearisation] [US dominance]
N.Korea Announces Future Nuclear Test
North Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that "the field of scientific research" in the North will conduct a nuclear test in the future "under conditions where safety is firmly guaranteed." The statement was published simultaneously via Korean Central Television Station, the North's only nationwide TV network, the official Korean Central News Agency and Korean Central Broadcasting Station at 6 p.m. The ministry said the present situation, "in which the U.S. moves to isolate and stifle" North Korea has reached a stage "beyond extremity," with the result that the North "can no longer remain an onlooker to the developments." The statement says the U.S.' "extreme threat of a nuclear war and sanctions and pressure compel [the North] to conduct a nuclear test, an essential process for bolstering its nuclear deterrent, as a corresponding measure for defense."
N. Korea Pledges Nuclear Test
Need Cited to Deter Threat From U.S., But No Date Is Set By Anthony Faiola and Dafna Linzer Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, October 4, 2006; Page A01
TOKYO, Oct. 3 -- North Korea declared Tuesday that it would conduct a nuclear test to bolster its defenses against the United States, raising tensions in the region and marking the communist government's first unambiguous pledge to prove it has become a nuclear power. Though North Korea has previously said it possesses nuclear bombs -- U.S. intelligence officials have estimated it could have as many as 11 -- a test detonation would dramatically change the region's power dynamics. Analysts have said the United States and area neighbors including China, Japan and South Korea would be forced to deal far more harshly with the North Koreans.
A test would be a "very provocative act," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said during a visit to Cairo. It would create a "qualitatively different situation on the Korean Peninsula" that would spill over into the entire region, she said. Rice declined to predict what the U.S. response might be.
N. Korean Move Comes Amid Bid for Talks
With Plan to Conduct Nuclear Test, Pyongyang Again Dismisses U.S. Peace Feelers By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, October 4, 2006; Page A20
North Korea's announcement yesterday that it will conduct a nuclear test came just as the United States, along with South Korea, was launching a new effort to persuade the government in Pyongyang to return to long-stalled disarmament talks. Top aides to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have been shaping the new approach, which began after a summit meeting last month between President Bush and South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun. Rice has described the next six-week period as crucial, saying she hopes to make a trip to Northeast Asia soon to test her ideas.
But U.S. officials said yesterday that the government in Pyongyang, which closely monitors U.S. statements, appears to have concluded that there is no benefit in reaching a deal. Some analysts suggested that North Korea is bluffing to force the United States to begin bilateral negotiations, something the Bush administration has rejected as being a reward for bad behavior.
Heading of front page has N. Korea Appears Disinterested in Reaching Deal
[Media]
PRC Scholar Analyzes Implications of a DPRK Nuclear Test
by Shen Dingli
October 3rd, 2006
Shen Dingli, the Executive Deputy Director of the Institute of International Issues at the Fudan University, the director of the US Study Center of the Fudan University, and the director of the arms control and regional security research project, writes, "the DPRK considers its national interests to be greater than its relations with China. It will not give up the independent guarantee of national security gained through nuclear tests just because of China's concerns and the possibility of China applying pressure on it. Therefore the DPRK is bound to hold that the advantages of conducting a nuclear test outweigh the disadvantages; hence it will proceed with a nuclear test."
This article was published in the Beijing Qingnian Cankao the Internet version of weekly journal affiliated with Zhongguo Qingnian Bao, a daily paper sponsored by the China Youth League of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee.
Head of DPRK Delegation Reiterates DPRK's Stand on Denuclearization of Korea
Pyongyang, September 29 (KCNA) -- The DPRK government maintains its consistent position to resolve the issue of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula peacefully. Choe Su Hon, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs who is leading the DPRK delegation, declared this at the plenary session of the 61st General Assembly of the United Nations on Sept. 26. Referring to the necessity and justice of the Songun policy of Kim Jong Il, he said that the Songun policy provides a sure guarantee for safeguarding the sovereignty and security of the country and ensuring peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and the rest of the region, given the evermore undisguised U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK.
U.S. Urged to Create Atmosphere for Resumption of Six-Party Talks
Pyongyang, September 28 (KCNA) -- The Solidarity for Implementing the South-North Joint Declaration of south Korea reportedly made public a commentary on Sept. 21 to hold that the United States should drop its hostile policy toward the DPRK and create an atmosphere for resumption of the six-party talks. The U.S. has staged nuclear war exercises against the north one after another, ignoring the Sept. 19 joint statement while intensifying its moves to stifle the north through sanctions and others, the commentary said, stressing this is a violation of the spirit of the joint statement and the basic reason why the six-party talks have come to a standstill.

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SEPTEMBER 2006

Nuke Talks Reach Crucial Phase
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter The six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons programs will enter a ``crucial phase'' over the coming weeks, Christopher Hill, Washington's chief envoy to the denuclearization dialogue, said in Washington on Wednesday. His remarks came as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Monday that she will make an Asian tour in the next six weeks to see whether or not ``one last push'' to get the six-party talks back on can be made.
Pyongyang balky, Rice speaks of 'last chance' for talks
September 28, 2006 ? A trip to Asia in the near future by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice could determine whether Washington will make one last effort to get North Korea back to the stalled six-party nuclear disarmament talks, Ms. Rice told a U.S. newspaper. Ms. Rice told the Wall Street Journal earlier this week, "I suspect I'll go to Asia sometime in the next month to six weeks to take stock and see whether or not one last push to get the six-party talks back on can be made." Her implication of a deadline is at odds with Seoul's emphasis on a "broad and common" approach with Washington to getting Pyongyang back to the table. Although touted before the recent meeting of presidents George W. Bush and Roh Moo-hyun, that common approach to restarting the talks appears to have made little progress. Ms. Rice also said Washington would continue its policy of squeezing North Korean financing of its weapons and alleged black-marketing programs. "We are going to continue the financial measures because they do relate to illicit North Korean activities," she said. Choe Su-hon, North Korea's vice foreign minister, told the UN General Assembly on Monday that unless Washington lifted those sanctions, Pyongyang would not return to the six-way talks. Asked by the Associated Press to comment, the U.S. delegate to those talks, Christopher Hill, said he hadn't paid much attention to Mr. Choe, adding that he was focused on how to get the talks started again. by Brian Lee
U.S., N.Korea Swap Tough Talk as Deal Hopes Fade
North Korea Rejects Nuclear Talks, Blames U.S.
The U.S. and North Korea traded ultimatums in New York on Tuesday, with the U.S. hinting that its primaries on Nov. 7 are the deadline for the North to come back to talks on its nuclear program, and North Korea slamming the U.S. for what it calls "vicious, hostile policies" and demanding it lifts financial sanctions against it soon. Time is now running out to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the Wall Street Journal. She will visit Asia in late October to see whether "one last push" can be made on the North to get the six party talks back on. The remarks suggest Washington could take other action unless North Korea commits itself to returning to the negotiating table by the primaries six weeks from now In handling the North Korea issue. U.S. President George W. Bush is tipped to put more focus on his own legacy than on approval ratings after the primaries as his second and last term nears its end. [Sanctions]
Seoul, Beijing to Seek Nuclear Breakthrough
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Wu Dawei, China's top envoy to the six-party talks, will visit Seoul for talks on Friday with his South Korean counterpart Chun Yung-woo on North Korea's nuclear weapons programs, a Chong Wa Dae official said on Sunday. The two officials will discuss the result of South Korea-U.S. consultations on mapping out the ``common and broad approach'' on the North's nuclear standoff, Song Min-soon, chief presidential security advisor, told a KBS program.
North Korea avoids meeting of 8 nations
Associated Press NEW YORK - North Korea stayed away from a gathering of diplomats from the United States and seven other nations Thursday that focused on the specter of a nuclear North Korea. "They don't like to talk to people," Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said following the gathering on the sidelines of the annual United Nations opening session. China and Russia also skipped the meeting, although they are members of the international coalition that reached a breakthrough disarmament bargain with Pyongyang a year ago. That agreement has never taken effect and North Korea is boycotting further talks in protest of what it calls unfair U.S. financial sanctions. Hill called the North Korean complaint a pretext for ignoring its responsibilities to give up nuclear weapons ambitions under the 2005 agreement. He said the original coalition of the United States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea remains ready to resume negotiations with the North. Thursday's meeting involved foreign ministers from Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Canada and the Philippines, in addition to the United States, Japan and South Korea. Hill said several participants criticized China for failing to do enough to bring North Korea back to talks, but he said the United States was not among them. China is the North's closest ally and has served as an intermediary. North Korea seeks to normalize its relations with the U.S. but also says its nuclear program is a deterrent to fend off a possible U.S. invasion. [Spin] [Media] [Bilateral]
Star Wars Goes Online ... Crashes
September 23 / 24, 2006 Pie in the Sky By JEFFREY ST. CLAIR
On a chilly July morning on the Alaskan tundra, the first Interceptor missile was lowered into a silo at Fort Greeley. Over the following weeks, five more missiles were planted into their silos, as the Ballistic Missile Defense System, once known as Star Wars, went on line. As part of Bush's accelerated deployment scheme, the Pentagon is set to install a total of 10 missiles in Alaska and 10 more at Ft. Vandenburg Air Base in California in 2004, with dozens more to follow over the next two years. The scheme is so accelerated that the Pentagon admits that they have no idea how the missiles would be launched, who would give the order to launch them and whether they will have the even the remotest chance of hitting their target.
But if the objective was to intimidate North Korea into dropping its nuclear weapons program, the gambit must be considered a staggering failure. The Korean's response to the pre-emptive war on Iraq, launched on the bogus grounds that Saddam was pursuing nuclear weapons, and the mad rush to install the Interceptor missiles spurred Pyongyang into transferring 8,000 fuel rods to gear up. Did the plan backfire? Perhaps. But a more cynical view holds that this was the Bush administration's covert intent. They need a nuclear North Korea (and Iran and Pakistan) in order to have the requisite bogeyman to justify their imperial project and the annual disbursement of tens of billions to the weapons industry. [Missile Defense] [Threat]
North Koreans prod U.S. over talks
By Joseph Kahn The New York Times Published: September 24, 2006
BEIJING North Korea is planning to step up its production of nuclear weapons fuel unless the United States drops financial sanctions and returns to negotiations over its nuclear program, an American scholar with ties to the North Korean leadership said. The scholar, Selig Harrison, a longtime Korea specialist based in Washington, said top North Korean officials he visited on a trip there last week had told him the North intended to unload fuel rods at its Yongbyong reactor and extract plutonium for nuclear bombs earlier than had been expected. "It is a significant new development because it underlines that North Korea is enhancing its weapons capability," Harrison said in Beijing after his return from Pyongyang.
Harrison said that North Korean officials had repeated public demands that Washington drop the financial sanctions before nuclear negotiations resume. But he said they were also searching for ways that the two countries could resume talks even before the sanctions were dropped as a way to build trust. He argued that the financial sanctions, which he said the North Koreans interpret as an effort to further isolate the country and topple the regime of Kim Jong Il, were counterproductive to the goal of ridding the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons. "The U.S. will have to find a way to deal with illicit transactions without destroying North Korean intercourse with the outside world," Harrison said. "The policy of sanctions is completely counterproductive." The Bush administration has defended the sanctions as a vital law enforcement action. Administration officials have also maintained that they are unrelated to the nuclear talks and that the only significant obstacle to resuming those talks is North Korea's reluctance to give up its nuclear weapons. [Sanctions]
Hill Could Visit Pyongyang If NK Rejoins Talks: Amb.
SEOUL (Yonhap) _ Christopher Hill, Washington's chief nuclear envoy, could visit Pyongyang for bilateral talks with North Korea if the communist regime shows signs of rejoining the six-way talks on its nuclear program, the top U.S. envoy here said Thursday.
Russia Declines US Offer
Russia has decided not to participate in expanded North Korea nuclear talks the United States has been trying to arrange on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, the Yonhap News Agency reported yesterday. U.S. efforts to persuade England and France to attend also failed, Yonhap reported citing diplomatic sources. A meeting is scheduled for Thursday morning, and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is most likely to chair.
N.Korea seeks more plutonium for nuclear arms: scholar
By Chris Buckley Reuters Saturday, September 23, 2006; 4:44 AM
BEIJING (Reuters) - A senior North Korean official says his country plans to unload fuel rods from its nuclear reactor to obtain more weapons-grade plutonium and put pressure on Washington, a visiting U.S. scholar said on Saturday. Selig Harrison, just back from a visit to the North Korean capital, told a Beijing news conference he had held lengthy discussions with Kim Kye-gwan, Pyongyang's top negotiator at stalled six-party talks on its nuclear ambitions.
"He did make clear that the purpose of unloading the fuel was to obtain more plutonium for nuclear weapons," Harrison said. Harrison, director of the Asia Program at the Center for International Policy in Washington, said Kim had told him the North planned to unload the rods from the Yongbyon reactor "beginning during this fall, not later than the end of the year." "They want to use Yongbyon as leverage to get bilateral talks with the United States," Harrison said. He is one of a very few U.S. scholars with access to senior North Korean officials.
Washington has refused bilateral negotiations with North Korea, except on the sidelines of the six-party talks. U.S. officials say the financial restrictions are to deter drug trafficking and currency counterfeiting by Pyongyang, but Harrison said they were preventing legitimate trade. "They are seriously impeding North Korean efforts to open up to the outside world and carry out economic reforms," he said. [Bilateral][Sanctions] [Opening]
Tunnels called ready for nuclear test
September 22, 2006 ? North Korea has constructed an underground tunnel for possible use in a nuclear weapons test, a Grand National Party lawmaker with close ties to the intelligence community said yesterday. Chung Hyung-keun cited sources in the National Intelligence Service for his claim. He said a shaft 700 meters (0.4 miles) deep has been sunk into Mount Mantap in North Hamkyong province with a horizontal tunnel running nearby.
Mr. Chung was in Washington, where he was lobbying against the quick transfer of wartime control of the Korean military back to Seoul. [Pro-Americanism] [Sovereignty]
No Early Results in Nuclear Talks
By Christopher Carpenter Staff Reporter Top nuclear envoys from South Korea and the United States discussed concrete ways to restart the six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear program on Wednesday, but failed to reach an agreement, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
118 countries back Iran’s nuclear program
HAVANA (IRNA) - Member states of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) issued a separate statement supporting Iran’s nuclear program at the end of their 14th summit on Saturday night in Havana. They stressed that the resumption of unconditional talks was the only solution to Tehran’s nuclear standoff with the West. Following is the full text of the statement of the 118-nation body:
6-Way Statement Marks Anniversary Without Fanfare
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said yesterday that North Korea thinks the U.S. financial restrictions against Pyongyang are ``hostile policies'' politically linked to the joint statement issued in Beijing exactly one year ago. In a statement, which the ministry issued to mark the first anniversary, it said North Korea's stance is not to return to the six-party talks unless it can retrieve the $24 million frozen in Banco Delta Asia (BDA), a bank in Macau. But the ministry said Pyongyang apparently is willing to implement the Sept. 19 statement as it has frequently mentioned it would do so. [Camouflage] [JS050919] [Sanctions cost]
Several Countries to Slap Sanctions on N.Korea
Several countries will slap sanctions on North Korea in line with the UN Security Council resolution condemning North Korea's July 5 missile tests, with Japan first to go on Tuesday. The Japanese Cabinet looks set to approve additional sanctions in a meeting on the day, banning any withdrawals and overseas remittances from accounts by organizations and individuals suspected of links to North Korea and freezing North Korean assets. The measure targets some 10 individuals and organizations including the Korea Mining Development Corporation (KOMID) and Tanchon Commercial Bank already sanctioned by the U.S. The decision comes two months after Japan banned entry of the North Korean ferry Mangyongbong-92. It will effectively freeze any North Korean assets in Japan and discourage trade with Pyongyang. [Sanctions] [Legality]
Seoul Confirms Failure of Taepodong-2 Missile Test
By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter North Korea's test launch of a long-range Taepodong-2 ballistic missile in early July failed because of a technical disorder, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced Saturday. In a news conference at the Defense Ministry in Seoul, Maj. Gen. Park Soo-keun, chief of the JCS's defense analysis bureau, said the missile is believed to have broken up at an altitude of several kilometers about 40 seconds after the launch.
``The Taepodong-2 was confirmed to have crashed into a beach on the east coast about 2 kilometers from the launch site in North Hamkyong Province, after traveling for 40 seconds,'' Park said, adding that the conclusion was based on the JCS's two-month-long analysis of various intelligence reports on the North's missile launches on July 5. The general said the missile broke up mid-flight because of a ``serious technical problem.'' The multi-stage Taepodong-2, which was the third missile launched during the battery of missile tests on July 5, is believed to be capable of hitting Alaska and Hawaii. But the test-launch of six other missiles _ three intermediate-range Rodongs and three short-range Scuds _ were found to have been successful as they landed on targets 400 kilometers away from the launch site on the East Sea, Park said. The six missiles were fired from mobile launchers at a site located in Kitaeryong, Kangwon Province. The South Korean military's conclusion confirmed the initial analyses on the North's missile launches drawn by the United States and Japan, both of which already believed the missile-test was a failure. A day after the missile launches, however, a senior official of the JCS said the Taepodong-2 was believed to have flown 490 kilometers in almost 7 minutes. [Evidence] [Intelligence]
Missile test and aftermath
[EDITORIALS] Pyongyang's test launch of the Taepodong-2 missiles seems imminent, according to news reports from Washington. Reuters and AFP said the test launch might take place as early as next week, quoting U.S. officials. The South Korean government expressed deep concern over this matter. The worst case scenarios, including explosive side effects after a missile launch, are spreading among the people.
U.S. spreads nuclear arms, North asserts
February 03, 2006 ? North Korea yesterday accused Washington of proliferating weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear arms, apparently in response to U.S. President George W. Bush's categorization of the communist state one day earlier as "undemocratic." "Although the United States must lead the way in reducing nuclear arms in accordance with the requirements of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it is handing over nuclear substances to its allied forces and actively helping them produce nuclear arms," Radio Pyongyang, the North's official radio broadcaster, said in an editorial. The claim followed the U.S. president's annual State of the Union address Tuesday in Washington, in which Mr. Bush said "the peace of the world" required democratization. [NPT] [Proliferation]
UN attacks US nuclear report on Iran
David Fickling Thursday September 14, 2006 Guardian Unlimited
The International Atomic Energy Agency's headquarters in Vienna. Photograph: AFP The UN's nuclear watchdog has made a stinging attack on the US Congress over an "outrageous and dishonest" report on Iran's nuclear programme. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that the congressional report published last month contained "erroneous, misleading and unsubstantiated information", and that it took "strong exception" to "incorrect and misleading" claims in the report that the IAEA was covering up some of its doubts about Iran's nuclear intentions. A letter from the IAEA to Peter Hoekstra, chairman of the intelligence select committee in the house of representatives, was leaked to the Washington Post today.
U.S. Sub-Critical Nuclear Test Assailed
Pyongyang, September 13 (KCNA) -- The U.S. recently conducted the 23rd sub-critical nuclear test since 1997 in the underground nuclear test ground in Nevada despite strong rebuff and protest of the international community. Rodong Sinmun Wednesday in a signed commentary terms this a challenge to humankind's desire for peace and an anti-peace act of sparking off a nuclear arms race. It is sheer sophism for the Bush administration to assert that the sub-critical nuclear test does not violate the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty, the commentary says, and goes on:
Acting upon the doctrine of a preemptive nuclear attack, the U.S. is working hard to manufacture smaller nuclear weapons of high explosive power and use them as conventional weapons in all wars. The U.S. continues conducting sub-critical nuclear test to develop new type nuclear weapons after setting up a comprehensive nuclear substance production centre. This is part of its moves to modernize nuclear weapons and bolster them as required by the doctrine of preemptive nuclear attack, contain other nuclear powers and dominate the world by retaining an unchallenged nuclear edge [Double standards]
U.N. Inspectors Dispute Iran Report By House Panel
Paper on Nuclear Aims Called Dishonest By Dafna Linzer Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, September 14, 2006; Page A17
U.N. inspectors investigating Iran's nuclear program angrily complained to the Bush administration and to a Republican congressman yesterday about a recent House committee report on Iran's capabilities, calling parts of the document "outrageous and dishonest" and offering evidence to refute its central claims. Officials of the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency said in a letter that the report contained some "erroneous, misleading and unsubstantiated statements." The letter, signed by a senior director at the agency, was addressed to Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), chairman of the House intelligence committee, which issued the report. A copy was hand-delivered to Gregory L. Schulte, the U.S. ambassador to the IAEA in Vienna.
The IAEA openly clashed with the Bush administration on pre-war assessments of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Relations all but collapsed when the agency revealed that the White House had based some allegations about an Iraqi nuclear program on forged documents.
After no such weapons were found in Iraq, the IAEA came under additional criticism for taking a cautious approach on Iran, which the White House says is trying to building nuclear weapons in secret. At one point, the administration orchestrated a campaign to remove the IAEA's director general, Mohamed ElBaradei. It failed, and he won the Nobel Peace Prize last year.
Yesterday's letter, a copy of which was provided to The Washington Post, was the first time the IAEA has publicly disputed U.S. allegations about its Iran investigation. The agency noted five major errors in the committee's 29-page report, which said Iran's nuclear capabilities are more advanced than either the IAEA or U.S. intelligence has shown.
Among the committee's assertions is that Iran is producing weapons-grade uranium at its facility in the town of Natanz. The IAEA called that "incorrect," noting that weapons-grade uranium is enriched to a level of 90 percent or more. Iran has enriched uranium to 3.5 percent under IAEA monitoring.
Hoekstra's committee is working on a separate report about North Korea that is also being written principally by Fleitz. A draft of the report, provided to The Post, includes several assertions about North Korea's weapons program that the intelligence officials said they cannot substantiate, including one that Pyongyang is already enriching uranium. The intelligence community believes North Korea is trying to acquire an enrichment capability but has no proof that an enrichment facility has been built, the officials said. [Disinformation] [Evidence] [HEU]
U.S. Urged to Implement Sept. 19 Joint Statement
Pyongyang, September 12 (KCNA) -- The Youth and Students Solidarity of south Korea to Implement the June 15 Joint Declaration reportedly made public a statement on Sept. 7 urging the U.S. to properly understand the will of the Korean nation for peaceful reunification, immediately stop the moves for a war against the north and opt for implementing the Sept. 19 joint statement. It noted that the U.S., talking about "dialogue and peace", conducted a north-targeted provocative interceptor missile test-fire on Sept. 1 after staging military exercises for a preemptive attack on the north including the recent "Ulji Focus Lens" joint military exercises of bellicose nature. This clearly indicates who is chiefly to blame for threatening peace on the Korean Peninsula, the statement added, and continued: We will not remain passive onlookers to the U.S. acts of threatening peace on this land with dangerous provocations for a war against the north in violation of the spirit of the September 19 joint statement calling for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula agreed upon at the fourth six-party talks. [JS050919]
U.S. envoy says delay in talks 'excessive'
September 12, 2006 ? Christopher Hill, Washington's point man to the North Korean nuclear talks, told reporters yesterday that there has been an "excessive delay" in the nuclear negotiations, and urged Pyongyang to return to the stalled talks. [Camouflage]
US Concludes North Korea Has No Will to Talk
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Washington intends to place more sanctions on North Korea as it has concluded that Pyongyang has no willingness to negotiate with its six-party talks partners, an official in Seoul said on Tuesday. He said the United States has already notified South Korea and China of its intention to impose more pressure on the North under a recently adopted U.N. Security Council resolution unless Pyongyang returns to the talks. [Camouflage]
US Agents Lend Nuclear Expertise
By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter A group of 11 U.S. defense experts arrived in Seoul Monday to give inspection training on nuclear and conventional weapons to South Korean officials, sources at the Defense Ministry said. The six-day training program by officials from the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) draws attention as it appears to confront an imaginary scenario in which North Korea abandons its nuclear weapons program, complying with its commitment last November to scrap its nuclear programs. [Joint US military] [Double standards]
Convening of Bilateral, 6-Way Talks Possible Option
By Park Jae-kyu President of Kyungnam University Park Jae-kyu President of Kyungnam University The sixth summit meeting between Presidents Roh Moo-hyun and George W. Bush on Sept. 14 will occur at a time when tensions on the Korean Peninsula are rising. North Korea's multiple missile launches on July 5 have not only dampened the prospects for the resumption of the six-party talks but also plunged inter-Korean relations to a new low. The summit meeting therefore offers a rare opportunity to make a serious attempt to break the impasse.
'Pyongyang's Attitude More Worrisome Than Sanctions'
SEOUL (Yonhap) _ Christopher Hill, the chief U.S. nuclear negotiator, said Monday that North Korea's recalcitrant attitude is more worrisome than Washington's sanctions against the communist state. "They (related countries) should worry about the excessive delay between the fourth and fifth round ... and worry about the fact that the DPRK (North Korea) doesn't seem to be ready to implement its obligations (rather than U.S. sanctions against it). There is a lot of reasons to worry," [Camouflage]
'Pressuring Pyongyang One Way to Resume 6-Way Talks'
By Ryu Jin Korea Times Correspondent
President Roh Moo-hyun, center, and other Asian leaders attend a summit on the sidelines of the two-day Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Helsinki, Finland, Sunday. /Yonhap HELSINKI, Finland _ President Roh Moo-hyun is trying to take the initiative ahead of talks with U.S. President George W. Bush next week as their summit may be significant in restarting the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programs. In the latest in a series of remarks, apparently intended to play down Pyongyang's moves to escalate tensions, Roh said on Saturday pressures on the isolated North should be considered ultimately in the light of the resumption of the multilateral negotiations.
Diplomats in N. Korea Believe Underground Nuke Test Highly Probable
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter North Korea is determined to carry out an underground nuclear test, a British newspaper reported, quoting diplomats in Pyongyang. Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader, is said to have made clear his intention to explode a nuclear device during recent talks with Russian and Chinese officials in Pyongyang, the Telegraph reported on its Web site on Saturday. ``Russian diplomats believe it is now highly probable that North Korea will officially join the nuclear club by carrying out its first underground test of an atomic device,'' the daily said. A Russian diplomat was quoted as saying that Kim has been ``irritated'' by financial sanctions imposed last year by the United States for North Korea's alleged money laundering and other illegal actions such as trade in drugs.
Reviving 6-Way Talks
It's Too Early for US to Give Up Dialogue
Christopher Hill, Washington's chief negotiator on North Korea's nuclear standoff, expressed skepticism about the six-party talks in Beijing this week. During his stay in Tokyo, Hill noted the need for a more multilateral conference, such as the one attended by 10 regional powers on the sidelines of the Asian Regional Form early this month, to which Pyongyang did not send a delegation. We cannot agree with Hill's suggestion, particularly if it calls for a need to work out a new multinational forum to pressure Pyongyang in the belief that the existing six-way meeting has lost all of its effectiveness. Of course, Washington would find it hard to blindly stick to the current dialogue format, as the communist regime has boycotted it for more than 10 months, demanding the lifting of U.S. financial sanctions. Still, America has lots of responsibility for the current stalemate in the regional disarmament talks. If Washington really wants to resolve North Korea's nuclear and missile crises, it had better exercise some flexibility in coping with Pyongyang's alleged financial misbehavior, such as the counterfeiting of the U.S. dollar and money laundering. The U.S., however, has just stepped up pressure, turning a deaf ear to the North's death agonies. [Friction] [Camouflage]
Roh calls missile tests 'political'
September 09, 2006 ? HELSINKI ? President Roh Moo-hyun repeated to reporters here that the test launch of a long-range missile by North Korea in July was not a "military attack," but was done for political purposes. He was speaking after a meeting with Finland's president, Tarja Kaarina Halonen. Speaking of Pyongyang's Taepodong-2, Mr. Roh said, "That missile is too poor to reach the United States and too big to fire at South Korea. The press, which sees it as a military threat, is saying it is a bigger problem. But I do not consider it a political threat." The timing of Mr. Roh's comments, shortly before his scheduled Sept. 14 meeting in Washington with U.S. President George W. Bush, caused some raised eyebrows here. Only two days earlier, in Bucharest, Mr. Roh had vowed to make U.S.-Korea relations "trouble-free." The United States has supported Japan in its efforts to sanction North Korea for its missile tests. In November 2004, Mr. Roh said in Los Angeles just before another meeting with Mr. Bush, "North Korea has a point; it has nuclear programs for self-protection." [Friction]
Missile launch political?
EDITORIALS] President Roh Moo-hyun said, "The launch of the Taedopong missile test-fire happened not for the purpose of military attack but for political purpose, I think." How are we to understand Mr. Roh's comment? Mr. Roh made his position clear at a joint press conference with the Finnish president in Helsinki. Mr. Roh appears to have next week's meeting with President George W. Bush in mind. It is aimed at putting an end to the recent move of the United States to strengthen the sanctions against North Korea. In November 2004 Mr. Roh said, "North Korea has a point that it has nuclear programs for self-protection," right before meeting with Mr. Bush in Washington D.C.
Roh Plays Down NK Nuclear Threat
By Ryu Jin Korea Times Correspondent HELSINKI, Finland _ President Roh Moo-hyun cautioned Thursday against reckless speculation about a possible North Korean nuclear test, warning that it would only hurt inter-Korean relations. At a joint press conference with Finnish President Tarja Halonen, Roh also stressed that North Korea's missile launches on July 4, which prompted the adoption of a resolution by the United Nations Security Council, seemed to be motivated by political reasons rather than being a real military threat. Asked about the possibility of North Korea taking more steps to further escalate tension in the region, Roh said South Korea has no evidence whether or when North Korea would conduct a nuclear test.
Roh Explains 'Political' Nature of N.Korea Missile Tests
President Roh Moo-hyun on Thursday downplayed the threat North Korea's missile tests in July imply. The Taepodong-2 missile it unsuccessfully launched "was not capable of reaching U.S. territory but its range was too long to target South Korea," Roh told reporters after meeting his Finnish counterpart Tarja Halonen. "This is why I think the missiles were not for any actual military attack but for political purposes."
'North Korea-Iran Missile Connection Very Strong'
Arms connections between North Korea and Iran are very strong, with the former regime being the main supplier of ballistic missile technologies to Tehran, a senior U.S. non-proliferation official said Wednesday. Undersecretary of State Robert Joseph, in charge of arms control and international security, was cautious about going into intelligence, the Yonhap News Agency in Seoul reported.
US envoy in new N Korea diplomacy
Mr Hill said North Korea had nothing to gain from boycotting talks A senior US diplomat has arrived in Japan for fresh talks aimed at reviving stalled negotiations on North Korea's nuclear programme. Christopher Hill, who will also hold talks in China and South Korea, said his visit came during a "very difficult period" in relations with Pyongyang. He said North Korea had shown no interest in returning to multilateral talks on its nuclear ambitions. Tensions have remained high since the North's missile tests in early July. Mr Hill is due to meet officials in the Chinese capital, Beijing, on Tuesday, followed by talks in Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shanghai. He will then move on to Seoul, a US embassy statement said.

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AUGUST 2006

Nuclear test fears called plausible but unproven
U.S. network says North may explode a weapon
August 19, 2006 ? Reacting to a U.S. news report suggesting that a North Korean nuclear test could be imminent, an official here said yesterday that such a test is a "logical possibility" but that there appears to be no evidence one is near. Citing unidentified U.S. officials, ABC News reported Thursday that Pyongyang may be preparing for an underground test. The U.S. network cited "suspicious" vehicle movements at a purported North Korean test site, where large reels of cable were being unloaded. That suggested, the network said, work on a monitoring system for an underground blast. The site is in the northeastern North Hamgyeong province of North Korea.
Seoul Monitors North's Move
A South Korean government official said Friday there is no evidence that North Korea has been preparing a nuclear bomb test. ``South Korea and the United States have been closely monitoring a few suspected North Korean test sites, but no suspicious movement has been detected,'' said the official, who requested not to be named. Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok also attended a National Assembly panel meeting later in the day, discounting the report.
What Would Happen If N.Korea Tests a Nuclear Bomb?
What would happen if North Korea really carries out a nuclear test? The Chosun Ilbo asked foreign affairs and security experts, who predicted devastating results for the whole of Northeast Asia. What Would Happen If N.Korea Tests a Nuclear Bomb? North Korea's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday the country successfully removed 8,000 spent fuel rods from the nuclear power station in Yongbyon. "We have been taking steps to increase our nuclear arsenal," it added. Reprocessing of spent fuel rods produces weapons-grade plutonium. The announcement adds nothing we did not suspect and therefore hardly represents a qualitative change in the nuclear dispute. But the countries involved in getting North Korea to give up its nuclear arms program are now concentrating their efforts to revive the six-party talks amid talk that the North is preparing to test a nuclear bomb.
North Korea: Salami or Hedgehog?
North Korea has announced it removed 8,000 spent fuel rods from its reactor in Yongbyon, presumably to reprocess them into weapons-grade plutonium. Ten years ago, that would have caused a major commotion with talk that a red line has been crossed, No longer. All nations involved in six-party nuclear disarmament talks are playing it cool, with South Korea, the U.S., China and even Japan reacting as if it is no big deal.
Missiles and sanctions: Has a watershed been reached in the Korean nuclear crisis?
James Cotton
Austral Policy Forum 06-27A 10 August 2006
Introduction James Cotton of the University of New South Wales at The Australian Defence Force Academy writes that "there are at many reasons for considering UNSC 1695 to constitute a watershed in the Korean nuclear crisis." He notes that in particular "not only is China now on record as critical of North Korean weapons and missile proliferation, but Beijing has even expressed support for financial strictures on North Korea to the end of containing that proliferation." Cotton concludes that "North Korea's rejection of UN authority is unprecedented in modern times; it is also a serious reverse both to multilateral diplomacy as well as to the prospects for confidence-building in Northeast Asia."
DPRK Long Range Missile Test
Media Release FA073 - 5 July 2006
Australia strongly condemns the test launch of a Taepo Dong-2 long range intercontinental ballistic missile by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on 5 July. The DPRK also test-fired four short-range missiles. I have expressed deep disappointment to the DPRK Ambassador today about these developments, which cast serious doubt over the DPRK's genuine willingness to engage the international community and to resolve the nuclear issue. The missile test has placed additional strain on an already deadlocked six-party process, and undermined rather than enhanced DPRK's security. [Double standards]
North Korea: diplomatic efforts
Australian Parliamentary Library
The 5 July 2006 missile tests by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (hereafter North Korea) heightened tension in what is now a long-running diplomatic impasse over North Korea’s pursuit of a nuclear-weapons capability. The current impasse commenced in October 2002, when the United States (US) alleged North Korea had admitted to a nuclear-weapons program during a visit to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, by US Assistant Secretary of State, James Kelly.1 The situation rapidly deteriorated with North Korea’s withdrawal from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) and the recommencement of nuclear programs.2 This Research Note looks at North Korea’s aims, its methods of achieving these aims and the ongoing efforts at further diplomacy with North Korea.
N. Korea Watched for Possible Nuke Test
By BO-MI LIM The Associated Press Friday, August 18, 2006; 2:26 AM
SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea said Friday it is continuing to monitor North Korea, but declined to confirm or deny a report citing alleged evidence that the communist nation is preparing for an underground nuclear test. "We are monitoring movements in North Korea in preparation for any possibility of a nuclear test," Lee Yong-joon, head of the South Korean Foreign Ministry's task force on the North Korea nuclear issue, told The Associated Press. He declined to comment directly on the report about a possible test, citing protocol.
South Koreans walk by displays of North Korea's Scud-B missile at Korea War Memorial Museum in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Aug. 18, 2006. South Korea said Friday it was maintaining regular monitoring of North Korea, but declined to confirm a report citing alleged evidence of the communist nation's preparations for an underground nuclear test. (AP Photo/ Lee Jin-man) (Lee Jin-man - AP) The United States and South Korea "share all intelligence and evaluations" related to North Korean movements, Lee said.
Israel, North Korea, Iran
Seeking invulnerability bBy Gwynne Dyer
| Morocco TIMES 8/14/2006 | 12:55 am The three most ill-considered (and probably doomed) political enterprises on the international political scene today are the Israeli assault on Lebanon, the US campaign to force Iran to renounce its alleged nuclear weapons programme, and the similar campaign that has been mounted against North Korea. What common theme unites these three enterprises? The quest for invulnerability for one side, at the expense of total vulnerability for the other. [Bilateral]
After North Korea’s Missile Launch: Are the Nuclear Talks Dead?
International Crisis Group
Asia Briefing N°52 9 August 2006
OVERVIEW The North Korea nuclear negotiations have stalled, and the prospects for future progress are dim. Meanwhile, Pyongyang continues to produce weapons-grade plutonium and now has a stockpile large enough to build as many as a dozen nuclear weapons. On 5 July 2006, it defied international pressure and test-fired seven missiles in the direction of Japan, including one of a type that could eventually be capable of reaching the U.S. Seoul faces difficult security choices at a time when relations with Washington and Tokyo are deeply strained. The only real chance of breaking out of the downward spiral is for the U.S. to adopt a new approach, including more readiness to talk bilaterally and less rhetorical vitriol, in order to test the North’s willingness to return to the six-party talks and work toward a deal. [Bilateral]
Iran’s UN website
Website of the Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations
The Economic Implications of a North Korean Nuclear Breakout
by Marcus Noland
August 8th, 2006
Marcus Noland, Senior Fellow at the Institute for International Economics (IIE), writes, “In short, the economic implications of a nuclear test for the region while not catastrophic, would not be benign. However, the likelihood of adverse economic repercussions is unlikely to pose a significant constraint on North Korean actions, and it is not difficult to come up with a scenario in which North Korean behavior does indeed convey large negative economic spillovers to its neighbors. This simply underscores the importance of cooperation to deter provocative behavior on the part of North Korea.”
Pyongyang and Washington: Roaring Mouse vs. Squeaking Lion
John Feffer, IRC | August 1, 2006
Foreign Policy In Focus www.fpif.org
North Korea's missile launches in early July created a stir in the U.S. media. Journalists went to great lengths to warn the American public of the North Korean threat, even to the point of predicting, hyperbolically, the outbreak of World War III. The Bush administration, however, has been rather cautious in its response. White House spokesman Tony Snow immediately dismissed the way the U.S. media had blown the missile launches out of proportion and reminded reporters that the government was working to calm the situation.
The Nagasaki Principle
By James Carroll
[Japan Focus 7 August 2006]
Today is the anniversary of what did not happen. Sixty-one years ago yesterday, the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The scale of nuclear devastation was apparent at once. The next day, no decision was made to call off the bombing of Nagasaki. Why? Historians debate the justification of the Hiroshima attack, but there is consensus that Nagasaki, coming less than three days later, was tragically unnecessary. President Harry Truman's one order to use the atomic bomb, given on July 25, established a momentum that was not stopped.
PEACE DAY SPEECH 6 August 2006
Speech by Kambiz Sheikh-hassani, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to New Zealand
Wellington, 6 August
Kiaora, Good afternoon, salam va asr be kheyr, Asalamu-alaikum greetings to you all
Mr. Barney President of New Zealand Peace Council of Aotearoa, Hon. Marian Street MP Labor, Colleagues of the Diplomatic Corp, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
I would like to register my thanks to the Peace council of New Zealand for giving me the opportunity to speak at this august gathering in the name of peace.
Sa'di, Famous Iranian Poet, said in the 13th century
All human beings are in truth akin; All in creation share one origin.
When fate allots a member pangs and pains, No ease for other members then remains.
If, unperturbed, another's grief canst scan, Thou are not worthy of the name of man.
'UN Resolution on Pyongyang's Missile Difficult to Implement'
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter
The U.N. Security Council's resolution banning missile transactions with North Korea is just symbolic and will be difficult to implement, a U.S. defense expert said on Friday. John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, told Radio Free Asia (RFA) that what North Korea is currently trying to sell is not missiles but technologies that can produce weapons of mass destruction. ``This U.N. resolution is a declaratory policy,'' he said. ``This is going to be very difficult to translate into actual implementation.'' Pike chose Iran as the most likely contender in the Middle East to buy the technologies. ``Iran, particularly with the current price of oil, has got a lot of money to spend and North Korea obviously has a lot of things they would like to sell to them,'' he said.
Hiroshima Peace Declaration 2006
Radiation, heat, blast and their synergetic effects created a hell on Earth. Sixty-one years later, the number of nations enamored of evil and enslaved by nuclear weapons is increasing. The human family stands at a crossroads. Will all nations be enslaved? Or will all nations be liberated? This choice poses another question. Is it acceptable for cities, and especially the innocent children who live in them, to be targeted by nuclear weapons?
The answer is crystal clear, and the past sixty-one years have shown us the path to liberation.
The keynote is, "The only role for nuclear weapons is to be abolished." And yet, the world's political leaders continue to ignore these voices.
'Flexibility Needed to Reopen Talks'
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter
North Korea and the United States need to exercise flexibility to find ways to resume the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons programs, Liu Jianchao, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman, said in Seoul Friday. He said in a meeting with South Korean reporters that Beijing disapproves of a proposed format for denuclearization talks that excludes North Korea as they would not help reopen the six-party talks, which have been stalled since November. Liu visited Seoul on Wednesday at the invitation of South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He returns to Beijing Saturday.
Taepodong removed from launch site From news reports
North Korea may have removed a Taepodong-2 missile from a launch site where the secretive state fired one of the long-range rockets in July, Yang Chang-seok, spokesman for the Unification Ministry, told reporters. It was one of two Taepodong-2 missiles assembled at the launch site, where the first missile was launched on July 5. Six other short- and mid-range missiles were launched from other sites. "The (second) Taepodong-2 seems to have disappeared from Musudan-ri," he said. The Defense Ministry said it was still "uncertain" whether the North has in fact removed the missile. If found to be true, the missile removal is expected to help soothe tensions between North and South Korea.
Relocation of Second Missile Uncertain
North Korea may have relocated a long-range missile from a launch site from which it test-fired a similar missile last month, but the reason for its removal and new location were not immediately known, Yonhap News Agency reported Friday. The purported missile was one of two Taepodong-2 missiles assembled at the launch site in the eastern district of Musudan-ri, North Hamgyong Province, where the first missile was launched on July 5 along with six other short- and mid-range missiles from other launch sites. ``The (second) Taepodong-2 seems to have disappeared from Musudan-ri in mid-July,'' an official at the Unification Ministry told reporters.
Underground military base part of buildup
Construction of launch pads going on throughout the North August 04, 2006 ? North Korea is building a large underground military base capable of launching long-range missiles as part of a build-up of bases and silos along its East Coast and northern border, a recent report by a South Korean government think tank said yesterday. The goal, apparently, is to target Japan and U.S. military bases there with mid- to long-range missiles, according to Yun Duk-min, a professor at the South's state-funded Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, who used information culled from the government and other think thanks. Mr. Yun wrote in the report that many of the bases have been constructed since the late 1990s.
S. Korea's Launch of Spy Satellite under Fire
Pyongyang, August 1 (KCNA) -- South Korea launched a satellite aimed at spying on the north at a time when the situation is getting extremely tense on the Korean Peninsula due to the U.S. reckless sanctions and moves for a nuclear war against the north. This is a grave provocative act of straining the regional situation. A spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland said this in an answer given to a question put by KCNA on Tuesday. The satellite Arirang-2 launched by south Korea on July 28 is equipped with high resolution image cameras capable of discerning anything up to one meter size on the ground. The satellite with resolution less than one meter is subject to international control as it can be used for a military purpose, the spokesman noted, and continued [Double standards]
Strange Tempests Follow Missile Tests
by Kim Tae-kyung
August 1st, 2006
Kim Tae-kyung, a staff writer at OhmyNews specializing in Northeast Asia regional issues, writes "Thus, this event should be an issue between North Korea and the U.S. Of the many concerned countries, Japan has taken the hardest stance in response to North Korea's missile launch. Indeed, Japan acts as if it had been attacked by North Korea."
UN Security Council resolution 1696
Response of Iranian Representative Zarif
Statement by H.E. Dr. M. Javad Zarif, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran before the Security Council New York, July 31, 2006
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Mr. President, In my letter of 28 July 2006, I had requested to be given an opportunity to speak before the Council takes action, so that the Council would be appraised –for the first time, of the views of the concerned party before it adopts a decision. You may recall that my previous request to speak before the Council, when it adopted its Presidential Statement on March 29th, had also been denied. It is indeed indicative of the degree of transparency and fairness, that the Security Council has adopted a presidential statement and a resolution without even allowing the views of the concerned party to be heard. Be it as it may, I will make, for the record I presume, the statement that was intended for presentation before action.
This is not the first time that Iran’s endeavors to stand on its own feet and make technological advances have faced the stiff resistance and concerted pressure of some powers permanently represented in the Security Council. In fact, contemporary Iran has been subject to numerous injustices and prejudicial approaches by these powers.
The Iranian people's struggle to nationalize their oil industry was touted, in a draft resolution submitted on 12 October 1951 by the United Kingdom and supported by the United States and France, as a threat to international peace and security.1 That draft resolution preceded a coup d’etat, organized by the US and the UK -- in a less veiled attempt to restore their short-sighted interests. The coup, which was obviously no longer disguisable in the language of the Charter or diplomatic subterfuge, restored the brutal dictatorship. The people of Iran did, nevertheless, succeed in nationalizing the oil industry, thus pioneering a courageous movement in the developing world to demand their inalienable right to exercise sovereignty over their natural resources.
More recently, Saddam Hussein's aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran on 22 September 1980, and his swift advancement to occupy 30000 sq. kilometers of Iranian territory, did not trouble the same permanent members of the Security Council enough to consider it a threat against international peace and security, or even to make the routine call for a cease-fire and withdrawal. [Double standards]
'Taepodong Missile Exploded in Midair'
A North Korean long-range Taepodong-2 missile exploded in midair, without detaching from its booster, much closer than the previously estimated 499 kilometers from its launch site this month, an informed South Korean defense source confirmed Monday. ``South Korea and the United States have analyzed various data. Our previous estimation was based on initial data, so there is some difference in distance,'' the source said, asking not to be named.
The reports run counter to a top South Korean intelligence officer's testimony at a National Assembly hearing that the Taepodong-2 traveled for about seven minutes after liftoff before it plunged into the East Sea. [Intelligence]
North Korea's only option is 6-way talks
[LETTERS to the editor] North Korea's launch of seven missiles resulted in the United Nations Security Council passing a resolution imposing limited sanctions. The resolution condemns North Korea's provocative action, warns it to stop further provocation and urges it to return to the six-way nuclear talks. Particularly noticeable was China joining in the resolution. With the DPRK-China Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, China has been one of North Korea's few allies. But even though the five permanent Security Council members favored different approaches, they raised a unified voice against North Korea. If North Korea had expected to get the United States to agree to bilateral talks by inflicting this missile crisis, it seems to have failed. The North might have succeeded in getting attention, but its main purpose was hardly served.

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JULY 2006

'N.K. missile broke up soon after launch'
From news reports The Taepodong-2 long-range missile test-fired by North Korea on July 5 broke up and fell back to earth just after its launch, making its flight much shorter than previously believed, Japanese media reports said on Sunday. The Japanese government had previously said the Taepodong-2 fell into the Sea of Japan about 640 km from the launch site. Sources quoted by Kyodo news agency said the missile exploded in mid-air within 1.5 km of the launch site, either in a northeastern region of North Korea or in its territorial waters on the edge of the Sea of Japan [Intelligence]
North Korea Plunges Into Deeper Isolation
Recalcitrant Communist Regime May Face Tougher Sanctions
North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun, rear center, looks down as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice walks in front of him during a group photo session before a meeting at the ASEAN Regional Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Friday. From left are Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, Bangladesh's Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan, Paek, Rice, Brunei's Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Lim Jock Seng and China's Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing. /Reuters-Yonhap North Korea is expected to face further isolation and possibly tougher sanctions from the international community as it turned down appeals to join talks on its nuclear and missile programs on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, over the weekend.
Alert Over Peace and Stability
[Times Forum] By Heo Mane
It is regrettable that North Korea test-fired missiles on July 5 without prior notification to its neighbors and international organizations such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The missile launches were clearly provocative and likely to disturb peace and stability in Northeast Asia, particularly on the Korean Peninsula.
On the other hand, once missile are in the hands of terrorists, it will of course be even more terrible as shown by Osama bin Laden and Al Qaida's attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and many other sites around the world. Civilized countries and their leaders must continue working together to prevent missiles from reaching the hands of terrorists anywhere in the world. [Bizarre]
Arirang-2 satellite,
July 29, 2006 ? Korea's ninth satellite, Arirang-2, successfully lifted off from a spaceport in Plesetsk, Russia, about 800 kilometers (500 miles) northeast of Moscow, at 4:05 p.m. (Korea time) yesterday. The satellite will use a high-resolution camera to capture images of geographical features and for military surveillance. [NEWSIS]
Arirang-2 on Orbit
By Kim Tae-gyu Staff Reporter
Rockot, the Russian rocket that carries South Korea's multi-purpose satellite Arirang-2 on board, Friday lifted off from a spaceport in Plesetsk, about 800 kilometers northeast of Moscow. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) that developed Arirang-2 said the three-stage rocket took off on Friday 4:05 p.m. (Korean Time) as planned. The rocket, converted from an intercontinental ballistic missile, is designed to travel to the sky in roughly 55 minutes to deploy the multi-sensing satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 685 kilometers.
Nuclear little brother: North Korea's next test
Peter Hayes 21 - 7 - 2006
The Pyongyang regime's seven missile tests on 5 July may be only a prelude to a far more challenging act of military and political showmanship, says Peter Hayes of the Nautilus Institute.
North Korea is heading rapidly for a nuclear test. The government of "dear leader" Kim Jong Il is undeterred by the condemnation it received after it fired a salvo of seven short, intermediate and long-range missiles on 5 July 2006. What is prompting the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK's) missile-test strategy vis-à-vis its adversaries (the United States and Japan), neighbours (South Korea and Russia) and erstwhile partners (China), and what governs their reaction to the Pyongyang regime's latest spectacle?
What North Korea's Missile Test Means"
by Leon V. Sigal
July 27th, 2006
Leon V. Sigal, Director of the Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Project at the Social Science Research Council, writes "The hard-liners believe Pyongyang is determined to arm and will never trade away its weapons. Their conviction is not just faith-based: it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Without a serious U.S. effort to negotiate, they are certain to be right."
The unanimous U.N. Security Council resolution condemning North Korea's Taepodong-2 missile test give both North Korea and the Bush administration an excuse not to negotiate. As such, it misses the point.
The Taepodong-2 test is no bolt from the blue just to get attention. It is Pyongyang's reaction to backtracking by Washington in the ten months since a breakthrough was reached in six-party talks.
Last September, under pressure from Japan and South Korea to negotiate in earnest, the Bush administration grudgingly accepted a joint statement drafted by China that embraces the main goal it sought, a strategic decision by Pyongyang to abandon "all nuclear weapons and existing weapons programs."
Does North Korea mean what it says? Nobody knows, with the possible exception of Kim Jong-il. But the surest way to find out is sustained diplomatic give-and-take to implement the accord. That requires Washington to take phased reciprocal steps to reconcile -- end enmity -- as Pyongyang eliminates its nuclear programs, as agreed in the joint statement.
That is just what hard-liners in the Bush administration refuse to do. When China first circulated a draft of what would become the September joint statement before the February 2004 round of six-party talks, it was rejected by Vice President Dick Cheney. "We don't negotiate with evil," he told a meeting of top officials. "We defeat it." [Bilateral] [JS050919] [Sanctions]
U.S. Extremely Hostile Act and UN "Resolution" against DPRK Rejected
Pyongyang, July 26 (KCNA) -- It was a sheer brigandish act for the U.S. to have used the UN arena for branding the DPRK's missile launches as "a threat to the global peace and security" and got it to adopt a "resolution" calling for international pressure aimed to force the DPRK to disarm itself and stifle it, Kim Il Chol, minister of the People's Armed Forces, declared this in a report made at a national meeting to mark the 53rd anniversary of the victory in the great Fatherland Liberation War. He went on: The army and people of the DPRK find it hard to repress their towering hatred and resentment at the U.S. and the Japanese reactionaries who are working hard to form an international alliance against the DPRK in a bid to provoke another Korean war of aggression after painting the issue between the DPRK and the U.S. as one between the DPRK and the UN.
Arirang-2 to Monitor North Korea
By Kim Tae-gyu Staff Reporter
South Korea's multi-purpose satellite Arirang-2, which is scheduled to lift off this Friday in Russia, will be able to keep a closer watch on North Korea's missile launch preparations and other military activities.
Five-Party Talks: Impossible, Eight-Way Talks: Maybe
The opportunity provided by the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Kuala Lumpur to discuss reviving talks on the North Korean nuclear weapons programs without the reclusive state looks now remote. Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing reportedly expressed concern that going ahead without North Korea will only further alienate the renegade nation and said he was not on board. Since North Korea holds firm to the position that it will not return to the six-party talks unless US$24 million frozen in accounts at the Banco Delta Asia in Macau due to U.S. sanctions is returned, the talks are "realistically impossible," according to a government official in Seoul.
Military Statistics > Expenditures > Dollar figure (per capita) by country
#1   Israel $1,429.03 per person
#2   Singapore $1,009.94 per person
#3   United States $935.64 per person
# 27   Japan $310.16 per person
#28   Belgium $296.89 per person
#29   Korea, South $269.20 per person
#30   Canada $239.63 per person
#31   Korea, North $227.72 per person
Pakistan launches huge nuclear arms drive
Randeep Ramesh, Julian Borger in Washington Tuesday July 25, 2006 The Guardian
Pakistan appears to have embarked on a dramatic expansion of its nuclear arsenal with the construction of a new heavy water reactor capable of producing enough plutonium for up to 50 warheads a year, according to a report released yesterday by a US thinktank. The report by the Institute for Science and International Security (Isis), is largely based on commercially available satellite images showing a large building site at a nuclear production complex at Khushab, in Pakistani Punjab. Isis, a non-governmental nuclear watchdog, estimates that the huge rectangular building under construction and the circular structure inside it almost certainly represent the early stages of a 1,000MW reactor capable of generating more than 200kg (440lbs) of weapons-grade plutonium per year. When completed it would be 20 times the size of the existing reactor at Khushab
U.S., South Korea are also at fault
[LETTERS to the editor] North Korea test-fired missiles over the East Sea, causing much uproar and instability in the already volatile East Asian region. It is highly regrettable that North Korea ignored warnings from its neighboring countries and fired the missiles anyway. However, South Korea and the United States should also be blamed. The true motive behind the test-firing is not yet clear. Considering North Korea's past actions, it is highly probable it is using the military threat as a strategy to pursue its interests. In the mid-1990s, the fear that the North might develop nuclear weapons enabled it to receive oil and aid for electricity from the Clinton administration. However, if North Korea plans to use the same strategy again, it is seriously mistaken. The Bush administration is not going to give in easily. What North Korea is doing right now is undermining South Korea's hard-earned trust in the North, harming both. The South Korean government should also be criticized for having failed to nurture trust and close relations with the North. If both Koreas had a more solid relationship, it might have been easier to bring North Korea back to the stalled six-party talks or to find alternatives. The hawkish policies of the United States are also largely responsible for causing the missile test. When North Korea demanded bilateral talks with the U.S., it should have at least tried to listen to what the North really wanted. Also, the U.S. kept worsening the tension by naming North Korea in an "axis of evil" and calling it "a rogue state." by Lim Hye-Song [Bizarre]
Arirang-2 to Monitor North Korea
By Kim Tae-gyu Staff Reporter South Korea's multi-purpose satellite Arirang-2, which is scheduled to lift off this Friday in Russia, will be able to keep a closer watch on North Korea's missile launch preparations and other military activities. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute on Sunday said the multi-spectral camera (MSC) aboard the Arirang-2 satellite, which weighs about 900 kilograms, is capable of identifying an object that is 1 meter in diameter. [Intelligence]
Pakistan Expanding Nuclear Program
Plant Underway Could Generate Plutonium for 40 to 50 Bombs a Year, Analysts Say By Joby Warrick Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, July 24, 2006; Page A01
Pakistan has begun building what independent analysts say is a powerful new reactor for producing plutonium, a move that, if verified, would signal a major expansion of the country's nuclear weapons capabilities and a potential new escalation in the region's arms race. Satellite photos of Pakistan's Khushab nuclear site show what appears to be a partially completed heavy-water reactor capable of producing enough plutonium for 40 to 50 nuclear weapons a year, a 20-fold increase from Pakistan's current capabilities, according to a technical assessment by Washington-based nuclear experts.
The Jungle Law
Stephen Gowans Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Less than a week after North Korea test fired missiles, sparking an explosion of histrionic warnings about a gathering threat to the United States and its allies from an “unpredictable dictator” [1] who was “amassing the world’s most dangerous weapons” (though in nowhere near the quantities of the United States or any other permanent member of the UN Security Council) “India test-fired its longest range nuclear capable missile…for the first time.” [2]
In these days of missile mania, you would think the UN Security Council would immediately spring to action to issue a condemnatory resolution.
After all, that’s what it did to North Korea after that country test fired a few, not so menacing missiles, that “American officials had never considered…a serious threat.” [3]
Pyongyang, which has long existed under a US nuclear sword of Damocles, was ordered in no uncertain terms to abandon its nuclear program. And all other countries were commanded to abjure trade in missile-related items with the DPRK.
But the professedly proliferation-adverse Security Council remained silent on India’s missile test. Worse, the Bush administration announced plans to sign a deal with New Delhi to allow US nuclear technology to be transferred to India, even though India refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. [4] [Double standards] [China confrontation]
Iranians present during N.K. missile tests: Hill From news reports
Washington accused Iranian officials Thursday of being present at North Korea's latest missile launches, escalating U.S. suspicions of military cooperation between the Islamic state and Pyongyang. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill, the U.S. envoy to stalled six-nation talks on the crisis, told a congressional hearing it "is our understanding" that one or more Iranian officials were present at the July 5 launches [Spin] [Double standards]
Roh, Hu Urge Resumption of Six-Way Talks
By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter President Roh Moo-hyun and Chinese President Hu Jintao Friday agreed to strengthen diplomatic efforts to resolve North Korean missile and nuclear issues, Chong Wa Dae said. The two presidents called for an early resumption of the stalled six-way talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear ambitions during a 30-minute telephone talks. The shared the view that the six-party process is the best option.
US Warns of More Sanctions Unless Pyongyang Rejoins Talks
By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill discusses U.S. policy options with North Korea during an appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, Thursday. /AP-Yonhap Washington added pressure to Pyongyang on Thursday, warning that North Korea would face additional economic sanctions if it continues to boycott the multilateral talks on its nuclear weapons programs. [Sanctions]
US says Iran witnessed N. Korean missile tests
By Carol Giacomo Reuters Friday, July 21, 2006; 12:32 AM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Thursday Iran had attended North Korean missile tests this month, increasing U.S. concern about ties between two countries Washington accuses of having secret nuclear weapons programmes.
North calls alert, U.S. and Korea plan 5-way talks
July 19, 2006 ? North Korea has ordered wartime mobilization preparation for its soldiers and citizens, a senior intelligence official said yesterday. The order was delivered to military and civilian leaders just after midnight Sunday, four hours before the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution condemning the North's arms and missile programs. President Roh Moo-hyun convened a meeting of his security officials today to discuss that mobilization order and other issues stemming from the UN resolution. The order, which was not broadcast by radio or television, was the first in 13 years. In March 1993, readiness was increased as North Korea pulled out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The intelligence official said he assessed the order, in Kim Jong-il's name, as an effort to rally the nation behind him. He said soldiers were recalled to barracks, camouflage was being rolled out and civilian travel had been restricted.
DPRK Foreign Ministry Refutes "Resolution of UN Security Council"
Pyongyang, July 16 (KCNA) -- The Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea issued today the following statement vehemently denouncing and totally refuting the "resolution" of the UN Security Council against the DPRK, a product of the U.S. hostile policy toward it: The vicious hostile policy of the United States towards the DPRK and the irresponsibility of the UN Security Council have created an extremely dangerous situation on the Korean Peninsula where the sovereignty of the Korean nation and the security of the state have been seriously infringed. The U.S. has recently kicked up much row after bringing the issue of the missile launches conducted by our army as part of the routine military training for self-defence to the UN under the motto of reacting to it in one voice. It was against this backdrop that the U.S. forced the UN to adopt a UN Security Council resolution taking a serious note of our exercise of its right to self-defence on July 15.
DPRK Foreign Ministry Statement Denounces UNSC Resolution Over DPRK Missile Launch
July 18th, 2006
This statement was issued by the DPRK Foreign Ministry on July 16, 2006 in response to UN resolution 1695 condemning in the DPRK’s July 5th missile test. The statements says “First, our Republic strongly denounces and fully condemns the UNSC resolution, a product of the US hostile policy toward the DPRK, and will not be bound to it in the least… Second, our Republic will strengthen its self-defensive war deterrent by all means and methods now that the situation has reached the worst phase due to the extremely hostile act of the United States.”
The North Korea Missile Standoff: Direct Negotiations Remain the Only Path
Peter Beck on ABC News Online 7 July 2006 ABC News Online
Now that the North has fired a series of missiles and could launch more in the coming days, we are faced with difficult choices. It is already clear that China and Russia will not support U.N. sanctions on North Korea for testing its missiles. South Korea is also not keen to squeeze Kim Jong-Il's regime too hard lest it have to pick up the pieces if the country collapsed, or worse, lashed out. No one outside of North Korea can be happy about the North's provocative act, but the missile firings have not been in breach of any international law, nor have they changed the security situation enough for these nations to take the tough action being urged by the Bush administration.
Not only would direct talks be more likely to succeed but they would open up other policy options if they failed, unlike the current situation in which the choices get more limited by the day. If Washington was seen to have put its heart into negotiations, any breakdown would be firmly blamed on Pyongyang and the three neighbours would be more likely to ratchet up the pressure. Only by talking directly can the United States get the unity it needs in North East Asia to deal with the threat from Pyongyang [Bilateral]
North's propaganda machine goes after UN decision
July 18, 2006 ? North Korea continues to denounce the United Nations Security Council resolution on its missile programs, both in its external and internal propaganda.
Launch of 1st Military Satellite Delayed
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South Korea's planned launch of its first military communications satellite has been postponed by 10 days until Aug. 20 at the request of the U.S. launching company, South Korean officials said Tuesday. The Mugunghwa 5 satellite, jointly funded by the Defense Ministry and KT Corp., had originally been scheduled to lift off from a U.S. vessel in high seas south of Hawaii on Aug. 10. "We accepted the request from U.S. Sea Launch. As far as I know, there is no other problem than their schedule readjustment," said Park Woo-chul, chief of the satellite project team at the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA). [US military dominance] [Military balance]
N.Korea May Have Tested New Longer-Range Missiles
Intelligence services in Seoul and Washington are analyzing suspicions that the seven missiles North Korea test-fired on July 5 include two new intermediate-range ballistic missiles with a range of 2,500-4,000 km. A government source said spy agencies detected electronic signals different from the North's Rodong or Scud missiles from two of six medium-range missiles the North test-launched on July 5.
Intelligence services considered whether they could be Scud-ERs with a range of up to 1,000 km, but additional analysis produced the suspicion that they could be a whole new type of IRBM, the source said. If so, they are based on Soviet Navy SS-N-6 submarine-launched ballistic missiles and are 12 m long and 1.5 in diameter, shorter than the Rondong-1, which is 15 m long and the Taepodong-1, which measures 23 m. U.S. reconnaissance satellites spotted some 10 such missiles at the Mirim Airbase near Pyongyang ahead of the communist state's Foundation Day in September 2003. Signs that the missiles were deployed in Sangnam-ri and Heocheon County in North Hamgyeong Province were spotted in 2004 and there have been rumors that Pyongyang exported them to countries in the Middle East late last year. So far, no test launches were known to have been conducted. The missiles are believed to be capable of reaching the U.S. regional base in Guam.
ASEAN Forum to Condemn N.Korea Missile Tests
The ASEAN Regional Forum on July 28 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia will adopt a chairman's statement criticizing North Korea's recent missile tests, officials said Monday. The move follows a UN Security Council resolution on Saturday and Group of Eight (G8) Summit statement on Monday both condemning Pyongyang's firing of missiles.
North Korea's Missile Test
Washington has misjudged Pyongyang's intentions
Cheong Wook-sik (cnpk) javascript:memo_send('at_code=345115')javascript:memo_send('at_code=345115') Email Article Print Article
Published 2006-07-11 17:32 (KST) As North Korea test fired its test missiles and South Korea, the U.S., Japan, and other countries responded with firm attitudes, the situation on the Korean peninsula appeared to be rapidly deteriorating. First, it is very unfortunate that North Korea continued with the missile test despite the concerns of South Korea and the international community. Whether the North Korean missile test was a diplomatic card aimed at opening a direct dialogue with the U.S. or at extracting a military response from it, is open to debate. In either case, the action was inadvisable because it increased the crisis on the Korean peninsula and strengthened the ground for American and Japanese hardliners. However, the Bush administration is largely responsible for the North Korean decision to continue with the missile test
UN Resolution Affects NK's Nuke Programs
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter b The U.N. Security Council's resolution on North Korea's missile threats will serve as a milestone for the international community in addressing Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs, an official in Seoul said Monday. ``It is the first resolution adopted by the Security Council demanding the North scrap its nuclear weapons programs,'' a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade official said, requesting not to be named.
UN body calls for sanctions on the North
Security Council tells nations to block missile help or sales
July 17, 2006 ? The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution condemning North Korea for its missile tests and imposing limited sanctions on the country. The approval of the resolution, which came early yesterday morning Seoul time, was eased by a compromise between China and Russia on one hand and the United States and Japan on the other. The final wording dropped references to a chapter of the UN Charter allowing the use of force in some circumstances to enforce the sanctions, and also made small but diplomatically significant wording changes that gave added weight to the condemnation.
Atomic Balm?
By JON GERTNER Published: July 16, 2006 A Nuclear Renaissance?
Workers at the Alvin W. Vogtle nuclear-power generating station sometimes describe it as being in the middle of nowhere, and in many respects they're right: situated on a bend in the Savannah River, in the thick pine forests of central Georgia, the plant is an hour south of Augusta and a two-hour drive, if you disobey the speed limit, from the outskirts of Atlanta.
Seoul Backs UN Resolution on N. Korean Missiles
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter
South Korea urged Pyongyang on Sunday to stop aggravating the security situation any further, saying it supports the U.N. Security Council's adoption of a resolution condemning North Korea's missile launches
UN Imposes Sanctions on North Korea
South Korea Supports Security Council Resolution The U.N. Security Council on Saturday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning North Korea over its recent test-firing of missiles and urging it to suspend all ballistic missile-related activity and reinstate its moratorium on missile launches. The resolution, passed by a vote of 15-0, bans all U.N. member states from selling material or technology for missiles or other weapons of mass destruction to North Korea, and from receiving missiles, banned weapons or technology from the communist country.
North Korea's Ambassador to the United Nations Pak Gil-yon
North Korea's Ambassador to the United Nations Pak Gil-yon, right, leaves the United Nations Security Council after speaking in reference to a vote on the North Korea missile crisis at the United Nations in New York, Saturday. [PHOTO]
Strange Tempests Follow Missile Tests
Japan's response has been furious
[Brief on Northeast Asia]
Kim Tae-kyung (internews) Published 2006-07-16 16:10 (KST)
India recently test fired the Agni III, an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering nuclear warheads at a range of 4,000 kilometers. The event provoked criticism that the U.S. applies a double standard in dealing with the missile program of North Korea. Responding to the criticism, Tony Snow, the White House spokesman, argued that India is a significantly different country from North Korea. He emphasized that India has developed its missile program in an acceptable way by not threatening neighboring countries.
U.S. President George W. Bush signed an agreement promising a transfer for nuclear technology from the U.S. to India during his trip to India last April. Meanwhile, India, a nuclear power, has not ratified the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The U.S. argues that North Korea's missile program is another matter because of its threats. However, North Korea has not made war since the end of the Korean War in 1953. The U.S., however, has been involved in many wars: the Vietnam War, the invasion of Cambodia, the invasion of Grenada, the Iraq War, etc. India has made war three times against Pakistan because of Kashmir issues and has had border conflicts with China. [Double standards]
SECURITY COUNCIL CONDEMNS DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA’S MISSILE LAUNCHES, UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTING RESOLUTION 1695 (2006)
Demands Suspension of All Related Ballistic Missile Activity; Urges Country to Return Immediately to Six-Party Talks Without Precondition
The United Nations Security Council today condemned the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s recent test-firing of a series of missiles, and demanded that the North-East Asian country suspend all ballistic missile related activity and reinstate its moratorium on missile launches.
Acting “under its special responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security”, the Council unanimously adopted resolution 1695 (2006), by the terms of which it also required all Member States to prevent the transfer of missile and missile-related items, materials, goods and technology to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s missile or weapons of mass destruction programmes, as well as procurement of such items and technology from that country. It also addressed the transfer of financial resources in relation to those programmes.
U.N. Demands End to North Korean Missile Program
By WARREN HOGE Published: July 16, 2006 UNITED NATIONS, July 15 - The Security Council condemned North Korea's missile launchings on Saturday and demanded that the country suspend its ballistic missile program, in a resolution that was weakened at the 11th hour to forestall a veto by China.
All 15 members voted for the measure, which requires all countries to prevent North Korea from receiving or transferring missile-related items and "strongly urges" North Korea to abandon its nuclear program and return to the six-party talks on that program. Japan and the United States, the principal sponsors of an original tougher draft, eliminated the main impediment to passage on Saturday by agreeing to drop language citing Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter that expands the reach of sanctions and makes measures enforceable by armed action.
North Korea's ambassador, Pak Gil Yon, told the members afterward that his country "resolutely condemns the attempt of some countries to misuse the Security Council for the despicable political aim to isolate and put pressure on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and totally rejects the resolution." Mr. Pak then rose from the horseshoe-shaped panel and left the chamber, prompting Mr. Bolton to say: "This has been a historic day. Not only have we unanimously adopted resolution 1695, but North Korea has set a world record in rejecting it 45 minutes after its adoption."
Seoul Backs UN Resolution on N. Korean Missiles
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter South Korea on Sunday urged Pyongyang to stop aggravating the security situation any further, saying it supports the U.N. Security Council's adoption of a resolution condemning North Korea's missile launches. Seoul's reaction came hours after the 15-member Security Council unanimously adopted the resolution, following 10 days of debate that eventually deleted a reference to Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter enabling military enforcement.
Council Limits North Korean Access to Weapons Technology
The following is the full text of the draft resolution adopted by the U.N. Security Council in New York on Saturday. _ ED. The Security Council, Reaffirming its resolutions 825 (1993) of 11 May 1993 and 1540 (2004) of 28 April 2004, Bearing in mind the importance of maintaining peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in north-east Asia at large,
UN Imposes Sanctions on North Korea
South Korea Supports Security Council Resolution The U.N. Security Council on Saturday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning North Korea over its recent test-firing of missiles and urging it to suspend all ballistic missile-related activity and reinstate its moratorium on missile launches.
Key Points of UN Resolution
The U.N. Security Council condemns the launches by the DPRK (North Korea) of ballistic missiles on July 5, 2006. Demands the DPRK suspend all missile activities and re-establish its pre-existing commitments to a missile moratorium.
Security Council Rebukes N. Korea
Nations Agree To Demand End Of Missile Program By Colum Lynch Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, July 16, 2006; Page A13
UNITED NATIONS, July 15 -- The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Saturday to approve a resolution demanding that North Korea cease its ballistic missile program and requiring states to help prevent Pyongyang's import or export of ballistic missiles. The 15 to 0 vote ended an 11-day diplomatic deadlock that pitted the United States, Japan and Europe against Russia and China. The vote represented the strongest international rebuke of North Korea since 1993, when the council adopted a resolution urging North Korea to reverse a decision to withdraw from the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
New North Korea Resolution Offered
By WARREN HOGE and JOSEPH KAHN Published: July 13, 2006
UNITED NATIONS, July 12 - China and Russia introduced a draft resolution on North Korea in the Security Council on Wednesday and asked the Council's members to consider it in place of a Japanese-sponsored resolution, to which they both have objected, that would have allowed for military enforcement and sanctions. In offering the new measure, Wang Guangya, the Chinese ambassador, said he had instructions from his government to veto the Japanese resolution if it were put to a vote.
Arirang-2 to Take to Skies
Arirang 2 satellite South Korea will launch a satellite for geographical updates, natural resource searches and environmental observation from a Russian spaceport late this month, government officials said Wednesday. The multipurpose Arirang 2 satellite is scheduled to lift off July 28 from a launch pad in the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, about 800 km northeast of Moscow, the Ministry of Science and Technology said
If the new satellite is successfully launched, South Korea will have a total of nine satellites in space. [Double standards]
UN Delays Vote on Sanctions for North
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter The U.N. Security Council on Monday deferred voting on a Japanese-led punitive resolution over North Korea's recent test-firing of seven missiles, in the hope that Beijing's diplomatic efforts could bring Pyongyang back to the negotiating table
DPRK Foreign Ministry Spokesman on Its Missile Launches
A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry gave the following answer to a question put by the KCNA on July 6 as regards the missiles launches by the DPRK: In the wake of the missile launches by the Korean People's Army the U.S. and some other countries following it, including Japan, are making much ado about it a serious development. They are denouncing the missile lunches as a violation of international agreements and provocation, calling for "sanctions" and "referral to the UN Security Council."
N.Korea Has Eight Medium-Range Missile Pads: NIS
The secret service says it has spotted eight launch pads for medium range missiles in North Korea. National Intelligence Service Director Kim Seung-gyu told a parliamentary committee Wednesday the launch pads were believed to be for Rodong-2 or Scud missiles. The NIS believes the missiles can be fired from the pads within three or four hours of preparation but the likelihood that they will be is small, a member of the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee said.
N.Korea Can Book Missile Tests as Diplomatic Success
If North Korea's missile tests were a ploy to divide the isolated country's neighbors, they succeeded beautifully, experts say. Above all, they succeeded in giving Pyongyang a bargaining chip in negotiations with the U.S. The missile test has shaken up the cooperative triangle of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan. Despite U.S. calls for the allies to "speak in one voice," Washington and Tokyo are pursuing UN Security Council sanctions, while South Korea opposes them, as does China. "We oppose any action that may worsen the situation on the Korean Peninsula," Chinese President Hu Jintao said Tuesday. President Roh Moo-hyun simply said, "I can't understand North Korea, no matter how hard I try."
Second Long-Range Missile Launch not Imminent: Seoul
Prior to the Wednesday's launch of a Taepodong-2 missile, North Korea had moved two such missiles to the area surrounding the launch site. The second missile is believed to be stored at a missile assembly building in Taepodong, in North Hamgyeong Province, a government official said. The presumed missile assemble facility is 54 m long and 24 m wide and therefore capable of accommodating the 29-32 m Taepodong-2.
China to Block Vote Condemning N. Korea
Competing Text on Missile Tests Offered
By Colum Lynch Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, July 13, 2006; Page A20
UNITED NATIONS, July 12 -- China and Russia presented the U.N. Security Council Wednesday with a draft resolution that "strongly deplores" North Korea's July 4 missile tests. But it endorses only voluntary measures aimed at restraining Pyongyang's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs. The move threatens to head off a U.S.-backed effort to impose mandatory sanctions on North Korea, and places the United States, Japan and their European allies in the difficult position of having to offer concessions to secure Beijing's and Moscow's support or face a certain veto of their tougher sanctions resolution.
Allies Confirm Common Stance on Missile Issue
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter
Christopher Hill, the top U.S. delegate to the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, said in Seoul on Sunday that South Korea and the United States are in sync in dealing with the North's test firing of missiles. Hill said he did not come to South Korea to discuss sanctioning North Korea and reiterated that Washington would hold a one-on-one meeting with Pyongyang only within the framework of the six-party talks.
Before heading for Japan, Hill told reporters at Incheon International Airport that the U.N. resolution proposed by Japan does not include a naval blockade of North Korea. Previously, it was reported that the resolution focused on how to block the North from shipping missiles to other rogue states. Meanwhile, Chon Jae-hong, the North's ambassador to Canberra, said in a letter to the Sunday Herald Sun that breaking the balance of power, proven by the Iraqi crisis, ``is bound to ... spark a war.'' [Bilateral] [Spin] [Friction]
South Korea Seeks to Build Long-Range Missile
By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter
To counter North Korea's short and medium-range ballistic missile arsenal, South Korea seeks to develop a sophisticated, long-range cruise missile with a firing range of over 300 kilometers, Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung said. ``We are considering the development of the long-range cruise missile and the United States is already aware of the plan,'' Yoon said in a meeting with reporters at the ministry last Friday. He expects the missile to have a clear advantage in terms of accuracy compared with the North's. [Double standards]
India Test-Fires Nuclear-Capable Missile
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: July 9, 2006 Filed at 4:19 a.m. ET
NEW DELHI (AP) -- India test-fired its nuclear-capable Agni III missile Sunday for the first time, the Defense Ministry said. The launch took place at India's main missile testing center in the eastern state of Orissa, Defense Ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar told the Associated Press. The launch of India's longest-range missile, able to fly 1,865 miles, has been viewed as a routine test -- not saber-rattling with the country's nuclear-armed archrival and neighbor, Pakistan. New Delhi and Islamabad regularly test-fire missiles, but normally only give each other prior notice for long-range launches. It was not immediately clear whether India informed Pakistan ahead of Sunday's test. The missile was launched at 11:03 Indian time and ''took off successfully,'' Kar said. ''Details of the flight performance are being analyzed by the mission team.'' The missile splashed down near the Nicobar islands in the Bay of Bengal. Indian Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee was at the launch complex, on Wheeler Island off Orissa, to witness the test, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. The Agni III further boosts India's homegrown missile arsenal, which includes the short-range Prithvi ballistic missile, the medium-range Akash, the anti-tank Nag and the supersonic Brahmos missile, developed jointly with Russia.
S. Korea Wavers on N. Korea Sanctions
By HANS GREIMEL The Associated Press Sunday, July 9, 2006; 10:01 AM TOKYO -- A top U.S. envoy arrived Sunday in Tokyo to rally a united international front against North Korea's recent missile tests, but cracks were already appearing over a Japanese proposal for sanctions against the communist state. The visit comes ahead of a pivotal U.N. Security Council showdown over the stern wording of the proposed resolution, which Japan vowed Sunday not to temper _ despite resistance to sanctions from China and apparent wavering by South Korea.
Reviving Disarmament: An Interview With Hans Blix
Wade Boese, Paul Kerr, and Daryl G. Kimball * The WMD Commission at a Glance Hans Blix for the last two years has served as chairman of the WMD Commission, an independent international body launched by the Swedish government to explore ways to reduce threats posed by biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons. Blix, who was formerly head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the UN Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) in Iraq, shared the commission's findings and recommendations during a June 6 interview with Arms Control Today.
DPRK Energy Experts Working Group Meeting
June 26th and 27th San Francisco, CA
The energy sector is a critical dimension of the insecurities posed by the Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea (hereafter the DPRK) within the Northeast Asia region and beyond. If the Republic of Korea (ROK), the United States, and their partners manage to negotiate a non-violent resolution to North Korea's nuclear challenge, then energy will form a substantial fraction of the on-going negotiation and implementation agenda, both in bilateral relations between the ROK, the United States, and the DPRK, and in multilateral arrangements made to address the DPRK's energy needs.
DPRK Foreign Ministry Spokesman on Its Missile Launches
Pyongyang, July 6 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry gave the following answer to a question raised by KCNA Thursday as regards the missile launches in the DPRK: In the wake of the missile launches by the Korean People's Army the U.S. and some other countries following it, including Japan, are making much ado about a serious development. They are terming them "violation" and "provocation" and calling for "sanctions" and "their referral to the UN Security Council." The latest successful missile launches were part of the routine military exercises staged by the KPA to increase the nation's military capacity for self-defence. The DPRK's exercise of its legitimate right as a sovereign state is neither bound to any international law nor to bilateral or multilateral agreements such as the DPRK-Japan Pyongyang Declaration and the joint statement of the six-party talks.
Bush Rules Out Direct Talks With Pyongyang
By Christopher Carpenter Staff Reporter
U.S. President George W. Bush said Thursday that invading North Korea before the communist nation has a chance to hit the United States with missiles was one scenario the United States could follow, although not the best one. During an interview with CNN's Larry King, which fell on Bush's 60th birthday, King said ``You've often said to me that ... you always hold options open. Is one of those options to go in (to North Korea) first?'' ``We want to solve all problems diplomatically,'' Bush replied. ``That's our first option. But, of course, the president has got other options.''
The United States is not considering one-on-one talks with the North, even if that is what Kim wants, Bush said. ``The problem is we tried that and that didn't work,'' he said. The United States has dealt more generously with Iran than North Korea recently because North Korea had a history of rejecting generosity, Bush said.
At present, the United States has joined other nations in offering Iran incentives to give up its nuclear program, but is taking a harder line with North Korea. ``There's just different circumstances,'' Bush said. ``The situation in North Korea is, you know, we tried incentives before. A president looks not only at what his administration has tried, but what others have tried. And there have been incentive packages laid out for the North Koreans, which they took and then didn't honor the commitment they made. And so the history in each case is different and you deal with each case based upon the current conditions.'' [Bilateral]
Air Routes Changed to Avoid Missiles
By Kim Rahn Staff Reporter
To avoid possible catastrophe, the government has belatedly ordered airlines to change their air route over the East Sea following North Korea's missile tests. However, the authorities still face criticism for the belated measure as it comes more than a day after the missiles were fired. North Korea fired the missiles early Wednesday morning but the government order was made late Thursday evening.
The authorities said planes on the North Pacific route would not be exposed to the missiles as the route does not pass through North Korean airspace over the East Sea.
In Between Missile Blasts
Allies Should Mix Sticks and Carrots More Subtly
After test-firing missiles, North Korea is getting increasingly defiant and even escalating tension, but early U.S. reactions are strangely composed. Washington's calmer-than-expected response is welcome, considering the dire consequences a possible overreaction might have brought about. Or, the diplomatic approach was inevitable, as the only other alternative might be a military one, which should be used as a last resort. Rather, it was a carefully calculated move, by taking all factors and situations into account.
Imposing further sanctions under the pretext of the test firing of the missiles would only complicate things. The firing of the missiles was a tit-for-tat against the current financial sanctions, so the U.S. needs to first solve this - bilaterally. Then the two can reopen the six-party talks, in which Pyongyang could withdraw its demand for a light-water nuclear reactor as a precondition. It would be best if Seoul can lead this process, but unfortunately, chances of this seem to be increasingly slimmer. [Bilateral]
Why Won't Anyone Listen to NK?
Tom Plate
Professor at University of California, Los Angeles Director of Asia Pacific Media Network
LOS ANGELES _ The North Korean multi-missile launch caught the U.S. media's attention, but in fact Americans have little to fear, in the foreseeable future at least, from North Korea. That fact that the Communist government selected the auspicious occasion of America's Fourth of July as the time to launch its own fireworks display was no coincidence, to be sure. During the very hours that we Americans were celebrating our Declaration of Independence with family-style cook-outs and silly firework displays, the North Koreans were celebrating their own independence as a sovereign nation-state by setting off a whole different kind of fireworks.
Even so, North Korea is more pathetic than poisonous, more juvenile than jaundiced, more needy than threatening. It throws its rattle out of its playpen whenever it needs the attention of the watching adults. This time, its prime-time tantrum included the throwing up of a half dozen missiles or so, one of which disintegrated shortly after launch. That was indeed pathetic. But what is also pathetic in this situation is the evident inability of the surrounding adults to provide the baby-state with the reassurances it needs. [Bizarre] [Bilateral]
Missiles Shroud NK Human Rights
[Times Forum ] By Jason Lim After a few weeks of playing coy with its intentions, North Korea finally launched six of its missiles, including the much ballyhooed Taepodong-2 that experts fear could reach the U.S. with a light payload. It's truly ironic that the biggest fireworks display on the Fourth of July was perpetrated by North Korea, something that was surely planned to maximize the missile tests' defiant symbolism. Perhaps it's only poetic justice the Taepodong-2 failed just 35 seconds into its launch
Government Criticized for Delayed Reaction
Long-Range Taepodong-2 Missile Flew 7 Minutes, Not 42 Seconds, Military Intelligence Official Says
By Lee Jin-woo Staff Reporter The government came under fire from governing and opposition party lawmakers Thursday for the way it responded to missile launches conducted by North Korea a day earlier. At the National Assembly, the legislators also criticized the government for lacking intelligence capability and being dependent on foreign sources for information about North Korea.
At the Assembly's Defense Committee, a military intelligence official said North Korea's long-range Taepodong-2 missile, which is capable of hitting Alaska and Hawaii with a light payload, flew a total of seven minutes Wednesday, not 42 seconds, as reported. ``We believe news reports claiming the test-firing of Taepodong-2 missile lasted only 42 seconds are not based on accurate intelligence,'' Lt. Gen. Lee Sung-kyu of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. ``The missile did fly for some 42 seconds without technical problems, but it went ahead some 390 kilometers more until it exploded in midair,'' Lee added. ``Under normal conditions, it should have reached Mach 7 within a minute, but it failed.''
Just a reminder: Seoul's cruise missiles
July 08, 2006 ? Although the Roh administration has been slow in articulating a reaction to the North Korean missile launches, Yoon Kwang-ung, the defense minister, reminded reporters yesterday that South Korea was not defenseless against a North Korean attack.
The ministry has been developing cruise missiles, Mr. Yoon said, that are extremely accurate and well-tested. The current versions, he said, can consistently strike within 3 meters (10 feet) of a targeted area. Mr. Yoon was apparently attempting to calm domestic fears about the safety of South Korea.
In negotiations with the United States in 2001, Seoul agreed to limit the range of its ballistic missiles to 300 kilometers, with warheads of 500 kilograms of explosives or less. Those restrictions do not apply to cruise missiles, he said. "While the North has a long-range missile capacity, our precision accuracy is far more advanced than the North's," Mr. Yoon said. "Over the past three years, we probably have test-fired them more than 10 times." The last such test was in December. [Military balance] [Double standards]
Doing nothing
[EDITORIALS] It seems that a passenger flight of Asiana Airlines was flying over the East Sea (Sea of Japan) 20 minutes before North Korea fired its first missile Wednesday morning. This indicates that the South Korean government failed to fulfill its most important duty ? protecting its people and assets. On the morning of July 4, the South Korean government learned that North Korea had sent a warning message on an international frequency for maritime communications to keep ships away from the sea area where its missiles would land. Although it received clear notice of missile launches, the government took no measures in response.
China, Russia call for diplomatic resolution
China and Russia on Friday called for diplomatic resolution regarding Pyongyang's missile launch crisis amid Japan's push for sanctions against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). China believes that instead of seeking sanctions against Pyongyang, the UN Security Council can best make a unanimous and firm response to DPRK's missile launch "through a presidential statement with strong messages", said Wang Guangya, Chinese Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Besides such strong messages, the UN Security Council, as the most important world organization, should take actions responsibly by taking into account all possible negative consequences that they might lead to, said Wang. "All actions taken by the Security Council, if we are going to take one, would be conducive to the diplomatic effort which is now underway," said the Chinese diplomat. Earlier, Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Russia had "serious concerns" over DPRK's actions.
President Keeps Mum on N.Korea' Missile Launch
President Roh Moo-hyun maintained his public silence Friday about North Korea's test launch of seven missiles two days earlier. Roh appeared in public for the first time since the test launches to preside over a forum for innovation in public organizations, but did not mention the missile issue. Including the time since intelligence about an imminent launch became more concrete in mid-June, Roh has been silent on an issue that drew condemnation from global leaders for 19 days now. At a celebration for Korean War veterans on June 25, he merely said, "As the North Korean missile issue shows, the security situation on the Korean Peninsula can change at any time."
Cheong Wa Dae says the lack of response is rooted in a strategic decision. "President Roh's response to the issue is a result of a hard decision not to exaggerate the security tensions the North's missile launches have created in the eyes of the public," said Suh Choo-suk, the senior presidential secretary for security policy on Thursday. "North Korea's intention is to inflate the issue, and a cool-headed and reasonable response can be a proper and effective way to thwart that intention." Another official close to the matter said the missile test "gave the U.S. a justification to further isolate North Korea, and Japan to pursue military expansion. It's only natural that we take a different position."
Public Servants and the N.Korean Missile Threat
President Roh Moo-hyun showed up for a forum on innovation in public organizations on Friday morning, his first public appearance since North Korea test-fired seven missiles on Wednesday. "Rather than looking at the size of the government and how many civil servants it hires, we need to look at what services it offers to the public," the president said. He had no comment about the missile launch. Before the forum, Suh Choo-suk, the senior presidential secretary for security policy, asked if it makes sense to expect the president to convene a dawn meeting, which would only attract attention, in response to the missile launches, which started in the small hours. "If President Roh himself comes forward to address the issue, it would only build up more tension and anxiety," he said. That suggests Roh has good reasons for his silence.
Seoul's Late Response to Missile Launch Draws Flak
The government's tardiness in responding to Wednesday's North Korean missile launch has prompted critics to ask whether Seoul is becoming cavalier about the country's security. They concede that past governments tended to be obsessed with security but say the present administration is going too far the other way. President Roh Moo-hyun was told of the missile launch at 5 a.m. on Wednesday, one minute after the North launched a Taepodong-2 missile believed to have a 6,700 km range. He was not told of the launch of a 500 km Scud missile at 3:32 a.m. and a 1,300 km Rodong-1 at 4 a.m.
However, critics point out that North Korea last launched a Scud in May 1995. [Double standards]
An Urgent Problem, a Leisurely Response
At 4 a.m. on Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi received a report that North Korea had test-fired its first missile 28 minutes earlier. The first report to the Korean president came at 5 a.m., by which time Tokyo had convened an emergency meeting. A similar meeting started in Seoul at 7 a.m. Half an hour after that, Japan convened a Security Council meeting presided over by the premier, which in Korea did not happen until 11 a.m
N.Korea May Try Launching Another Long-Range Missile
North Korea has another long-range Taepodong-2 missile of the kind that crashed into the ocean after launch on Wednesday, according to a confidential report by South Korea's National Intelligence Service. That means another test launch is likely once the North figures out how to fix the defect that scuppered the first attempt. Officials also contradicted reports Wednesday that the missile blew up in midair 42 seconds after launch, saying it actually traveled for seven minutes after veering from its original trajectory. A military official told reporters the Taepodong-2 launched Wednesday at dawn maintained its planned trajectory for 42 seconds but then suffered engine problems and continued for another seven minutes off course, traveling 499 km in all, before crashing into the sea. Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry in a report to the National Assembly's Defense Committee announced it plans to introduce 48 Patriot missiles between 2008 and 2009 as part of the SAM-X project. After 2009, it will introduce SM-2 Block-IV sea-to-air interceptor missiles to be carried on Aegis ships to counter the North Korean missile threat. [Evidence] [Military balance]
N.Korea's Missile Launch 'Part of Regular Drills'
North Korea said Thursday its missile launches the previous day were part of routine military drills to improve its defense capabilities. It said it would continue test-firing missiles.
A Bad Misjudgment From North and South
In the face of repeated warnings from the international community, North Korea on Wednesday fired a long-range Taepodong-2 missile and several medium-range Scud-type and Rodong missiles into the East Sea at dawn, and another one in the afternoon for good measure. Although the Taepodong-2 failed 40 seconds after launch, the action was a dangerous provocation. It was timed to coincide with the U.S.' launch of the space shuttle Discovery in commemoration of Independence Day, and the range of the three types of missile make them capable of reaching the U.S., Japan and South Korea: it was tantamount to throwing down the gauntlet to the international community. It also put paid to this government's North Korea policy and Pyongyang's one-nation rhetoric in one fell swoop. [Dilemma]
Unwelcome Fireworks for U.S. Independence Day
It was still the Fourth of July, Independence Day, in the U.S. when North Korea started firing off a series of mid- and long-range missiles on Wednesday morning. The launch also coincided with another in the U.S., that of the NASA space shuttle Discovery. North Korea watchers sway that was no coincidence, and Pyongyang timed its provocation to maximum effect. They say the reclusive country kept putting off the launch demanding bilateral negotiations with the U.S., but once it decided to go ahead, it did so with a bang. By way of the Chosun Shinbo, published by the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, or Chongryon, the North called the missile crisis a "fabrication," and the deputy chief of North Korea's mission to the UN in New York, Han Song-ryol, publicly requested discussions with the U.S. In addition, North Korea ignored two basic rules for missile launches: they should happen in daylight and ideal weather. But apparently Pyongyang decided to defy all expectations to the last.
Bush rules out incentives for N.K.
U.S. can take 'other options' beyond diplomacy to end missile crisis
U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday ruled out any new incentive packages for North Korea and said that he had "other options" beyond diplomacy to end the ongoing missile crisis. "We want to solve all problems diplomatically. That's our first option. But, of course, the president has got other options," Bush said in an interview with CNN television days after Pyongyang fired seven missiles into the East Sea.
Asked whether he was hopeful of ending the crisis, which has competed with the Iraq war and Iran's nuclear programs for his attention, Bush replied: "Absolutely. I'm optimistic that all problems will be resolved. "We will succeed in Iraq, we will deal with the Iranian issue, we will help the person in North Korea understand the wisdom of working in the international community," he said. The U.S. president also flatly rejected any direct talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, saying: "I think he'd love to have the United States sit down at the table alone. "The problem is we tried that and it didn't work," said Bush, who has insisted that the best way to tackle the crises was six-party talks grouping the United States, the Koreas, China, Russian and Japan. "You know, we tried incentives before. A president looks not only at what his administration has tried, but what others have tried," Bush said according to a transcript released by CNN. "And there have been incentive packages laid out for the North Koreans, which they took and then didn't honor the commitment they made," said the president.
U.S. officials say they do not know why North Korea decided to launch the missiles, and cannot read the mind of its reclusive leader, Kim Jong-il. But Bush said the United States cannot afford to misjudge the situation. [Bilateral] [Spin] [military option]
Mixed signals over more launches
Reports yesterday varied regarding the possibility of an additional missile launch by North Korea, as South Korea and its allies looked for signs after Pyongyang's test-fire of seven missiles earlier this week. South Korean Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung said yesterday another Taepodong-2 missile has been moved to the missile launch pad in Musudan-ri of North Hamkyung Province. "We received intelligence information that two sets of Taepodong-2 missiles were being moved, and one of them was fired on July 5," Yoon told reporters.
Yoon explained it was customary to produce several sets of missiles for test-launches. "If the first missile failed, there needs to be a period where they evaluate what went wrong and to fix it, all of which would take several weeks," he said. Reports claim that North Korea targeted waters near Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean when it fired the Taepodong-2. According to Japan's conservative mainstream daily Sankei, Japanese and U.S. defense officials reached this conclusion after analyzing intelligence data. The newspaper did not identify the Japanese and U.S. government officials quoted in the article. From the angle of its nose cone, the missile was pointed at Hawaii immediately after its launch, the officials agreed after analyzing data collected by Aegis-equipped destroyers and RC-135S electronic reconnaissance aircraft, the newspaper said. [Evidence]
N. Korea missile not a direct threat
[Guest Column] North Korea's botched attempt to launch a long-range Taepodong-2 missile is not primarily relevant as a direct threat to U.S. national security. Few observers fear a North Korean rocket attack from out of the blue, particularly when there is an obvious return address. The United States should be able to reliably deter such a brazen move. Rather, the cause for concern is the leverage that such a weapon could bestow upon North Korea in deterring the United States. Coupling a nascent North Korean nuclear arsenal with an intercontinental delivery mechanism will require American strategists to take into account more than the devastation of Seoul when analyzing war scenarios on the Korean Peninsula.
The worry is that the proliferation of nuclear weapons may force the United States into similar accommodations with states like Iran and North Korea. Future conflict with these states could turn into a series of deadly games of "chicken" - imagine opposing cars speeding toward one another with bombs on their bumpers, each trying to intimidate the other into backing down. This is a particularly dangerous game to play with leaders seen as detached from reality (such as Kim Jong-il) or suspected of holding messianic beliefs (such as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad).
But the greatest strengths of the United States are its values and fundamentally peaceful nature, which can serve as an impetus for change in even the most repressive states.
Rather than call for an international response to North Korea's missile tests, the United States should recognize that the reason for the tests begins and ends with itself. North Korea wants to deter the United States, and it will do what is necessary to accomplish that objective so long as it feels threatened. A nonproliferation policy centered solely on buying time and not changing the underlying relationship is ultimately an exercise in futility if the future is as dim as the present. Derek D. Smith is author of "Deterring America: Rogue States and the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction." - Ed. [Bizarre] [Imperialism]
U.S. and Russia to Enter Civilian Nuclear Pact
Bush Reverses Long-Standing Policy, Allows Agreement That May Provide Leverage on Iran
By Peter Baker Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, July 8, 2006; Page A01
President Bush has decided to permit extensive U.S. civilian nuclear cooperation with Russia for the first time, administration officials said yesterday, reversing decades of bipartisan policy in a move that would be worth billions of dollars to Moscow but could provoke an uproar in Congress. Bush resisted such a move for years, insisting that Russia first stop building a nuclear power station for Iran near the Persian Gulf. But U.S. officials have shifted their view of Russia's collaboration with Iran and concluded that President Vladimir Putin has become a more constructive partner in trying to pressure Tehran to give up any aspirations for nuclear weapons.
Bush Rejects Solo Talks With North Korea
President Wants to Wait for Allies to Unite Over Nuclear Arms Program, Testing
By Michael A. Fletcher Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, July 8, 2006; Page A02
CHICAGO, July 7 -- President Bush on Friday defended his response to the budding crisis spawned by North Korea's missile tests, saying he will not "get caught in the trap of sitting alone with North Korea at the table."
Asked whether he believes the U.S. missile defense system could have intercepted a missile aimed at this country, Bush said: "Yes, I think we had a reasonable chance of shooting it down. At least that's what the military commanders told me." Some experts speculate that North Korea is stoking a crisis in hopes of drawing the United States into direct negotiations. "It's an interesting question: Is he trying to force us to do something by defying the world? If he wants a way forward, it's clear," Bush said of North Korean President Kim Jong Il. "If he wants to have good relations with the world, he's got to verifiably get rid of his weapons programs." [Bilateral] [Sequencing]
Stop Hyperventilating, Start Talking
by Peter Hayes July 7th, 2006
Peter Hayes, Nautilus Institute Executive Director, writes, "North Korea's missile test was a strategic non-issue. Making a big deal out of it simply enabled the United States to delay dealing with the real issue and made it more likely that North Korea will now test its nuclear weapons. Thus, the outcome of North Korea's nuclear challenge once again hangs in the balance."
The United States should stop huffing and puffing and threatening to blow down the North Koreans house. This will not work and simply makes America look like a big, bad wolf, albeit one who blew and blew but nothing happened.
Sure, Japan, Australia and the UK will line up with the United States, show grimly concerned, stern faces and dutifully denounce North Korea for firing a missile. But the rest of the world knows that the United States is hyperventilating and that it has no strategy to bring North Korea's nuclear threat to heel.
Let's begin with a few basic facts about the North's missile test. So far, North Korea has its long-range missile twice, once in 1998, and once in 2006. Two tests in eight years, both dismal failures. At this rate, it will take them 160 years to test 40 missiles, which is the number for the United States to bring a missile from development into operational levels of reliability. [Rocketry] [Bilateral]
North Korea's Missile Tests: Malign Neglect Meets Brinkmanship
The Brookings Institution, July 6, 2006
Wonhyuk Lim, Nonresident Fellow, Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies When diplomacy is stalled, North Korea escalates tension to break the deadlock. The latest example is its missile tests on July 4. Firing a barrage of short-, medium-, and long-range test missiles on America's Independence Day is a rather unconventional way to seek dialogue, but the North Koreans have reasons to believe it will work.
In 1994, when its nuclear negotiations with the U.S. hit a snag, North Korea threatened to reprocess plutonium. This pushed the Korean peninsula to the brink of war, but the two sides soon resumed the talks and signed the Geneva Agreed Framework. North Korea agreed to the phased dismantlement of its nuclear program in exchange for multilateral energy assistance and the normalization of relations with the U.S. In 1998, when U.S. concerns about North Korea's missile program and underground facilities at Kumchangri delayed the implementation of the Agreed Framework, North Korea launched a multi-stage rocket and shocked the world. This prompted an extensive review of the U.S. policy toward North Korea (known as the Perry Process), and led to a series of bilateral talks and meetings to speed up and broaden engagement, including negotiations to stop North Korea's missile development.
Deputy Minister Lee Kwan-sei's Briefing on North Korea's Missile Launches
(July 6,2006)
Deputy Minister Lee Kwan - sei gave a briefing concerning North Korea ' s missile launches in the afternoon on July 5. Responding to reporters 'questions on the South Korean government ' s position , Deputy Minister Lee said that " the government would consider several factors comprehensively and take countermeasures at an appropriate level by stages after going through consultations and coordination with relevant countries . "
North Korean Fireworks?
John Feffer, IRC | June 30, 2006 Editor: John Feffer, IRC
No foreigner, with the possible exception of Simon Cowell, can get the attention of Americans like North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. In the middle of June, the North Korea government began preparations to launch a long-range rocket. Though Pyongyang's intentions were far from clear-even to the point of whether it would go through with the test-some otherwise level-headed people went ballistic. William Perry, the architect of the better-late-than-never engagement policy of the Clinton administration, recommended that the Bush administration take out the missile site with a preemptive attack. The epitome of sober politics, Walter Mondale, seconded the motion. It was up to Dick Cheney, no friend of North Korea, to urge that calmer heads should prevail.
N. Korea plays missile card
International tension, pressure on Pyongyang mount
Bluntly defying international warnings, North Korea yesterday test-fired at least seven missiles, including the long-range Taepodong-2, immediately creating security concerns in the region and elevating the voices of hard-liners against the reclusive state. Following the series of launches in the morning, North Korea test-fired another intermediate range missile from Anbyun at around 5:20 p.m., South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed. North Korea appeared to be trying to maximize its "missile effect" through the consecutive missile test-firing, observers said. In an apparent attempt to add a symbolic aspect to the move against Washington, North Korea launched the missiles within a few minutes of the liftoff of the U.S. space shuttle Discovery, as the United States celebrated its Independence Day. Seoul confirmed in the morning that North Korea had test-fired the Taepodong-2 and several Scud and Rodong missiles in Anbyun, Gangwon Province, and Hwadae, North Hamkyung Province in steps begining at 3:32 a.m. One of the missiles, presumed to be the long-range Taepodong-2, failed within a minute after blastoff. It was not immediately known whether this was due to technical failures. At press time, North Korea had yet to officially announce the test launches.
Japan bans N. Korean ferry, to impose economic sanctions
From news reports Japan yesterday banned a North Korean ferry from entering its ports for six months and will impose economic sanctions against the communist country after it fired several missiles into the East Sea. North Korea's Mangyongbong-92 ferry, which runs between Wonsan and Niigata, Japan, and is the main communications link between the countries, was stopped this morning from entering its port of call in northern Japan. The ship will be banned for six months from yesterday, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's office said. [Sanctions]
Market calm following missile launch
The local currency weakened and local stocks shed points in the morning session, but Seoul's financial markets reacted relatively calmly following North Korea's missile launch yesterday.
Controversy engulfs N.K. missile technology
With the failure of North Korea's test-launch of the long-range Taepodong-2 missile yesterday, controversy has risen again regarding the North's missile capabilities. The North launched a total of seven missiles, including a Taepodong-2 missile that is believed to be capable of reaching the United States, but all of the missiles crashed shortly after takeoff, the South Korean government said. North Korea had observed a self-imposed moratorium on long-range missile launches since 1999. The long-range ballistic Taepodong-2 missile is said to be the North's most advanced missile with a range of up to 14,996 kilometers. Some military experts say the missile, carrying a small payload, could hit the U.S. mainland. However, the exact capabilities of the missile are unknown outside of North Korea. Since there have been no successful tests of the missile, predictions of its range have been largely guesswork. Some experts have predicted that its two-stage variant would have a range of about 4,000 kilometers. The three-stage variant would be capable of reaching as far as 4,500 kilometers. Future variants of the missile could have a range of approximately 9,000 kilometers. It is also known to use a liquid propellant-driven engine, while its second stage is based on the Rodong short-range missile. However, experts doubt Pyongyang has managed to develop a nuclear warhead small enough to mount on its long-range missiles.
When the South Korean government determined yesterday's test-fire of the missile was a failure, some analysts claimed it disclosed the North's less-than-advanced level of missile technology. However, others raised speculation that Pyongyang's failure was intentional with a purport aimed at implicitly pressuring Washington to open bilateral talks on its nuclear program. They said the North attempted to deliver a message to the United States that the bilateral negotiation should be begun before the missile capability is completed. Irrespective of Pyongyang's intentions, many experts say the North's threat should not be underestimated despite the failed test. They said it is still uncertain whether the missile failed due to mechanical problems or was detonated via remote control.
Missile test launch
[EDITORIAL]
Pyongyang showcased its brinkmanship by test-launching a mix of at least six short-, intermediate- and long-range missiles early yesterday morning. It conducted the tests just a week after U.S. President George W. Bush issued a stern warning against it. "Launching the missile is unacceptable," he said during a news conference with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on June 29. But the long-range Taepodong 2, believed to be capable of reaching U.S. territory, fizzled less than one minute after lift-off. That should be embarrassing to Kim Jong-il and the North Korean military. But they will do well to regard it as a blessing in disguise.
In addition, the South Korean government will be well advised to coordinate any punitive action with the United States and Japan if it is deemed necessary. At the same time, it will have to consult with them on how to bring Pyongyang back to the long stalled six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
NZ condemns North Korean tests
05 July 2006
Foreign Minister Winston Peters today joined international condemnation over North Korea's missile tests. Mr Peters said the tests showed wanton disregard for the warnings issued by the international community and showed it acting like a rogue state.
Mr Peters said North Korea was "paranoid" about its security but the tests would only harm its reputation and could be raised at the United Nations Security Council.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard condemned the act as "extremely provocative" and called on the five nations negotiating with Pyongyang to resolve nuclear tensions on the Korean Peninsula to unite in their condemnation. "I hope that what North Korea has done is condemned as provocative not only by Australia and Japan but also by other countries in the six-power group," he said. "North Korea is in total breach of international obligations in doing this and I hope that North Korea feels isolated and feels the condemnation not only of Australia, the United States and Japan but also of China and naturally of South Korea," he added. [Double standards] [Legality]
North Korea Tests Long-Range Missile
Controversial Rocket Fails as Other Types Are Fired; U.N. Session Set After U.S., Japan Condemn Action
By Dana Priest and Anthony Faiola Washington Post Staff Writers Wednesday, July 5, 2006; Page A01
North Korea test-fired at least six missiles yesterday, including its long-range Taepodong-2, senior U.S. officials said, defying strong warnings from the United States and regional powers in Asia. The controversial long-range missile failed less than a minute after launch, falling into the Sea of Japan, along with the other, less-sophisticated missiles. Diplomatic and military officials played down any imminent threat, but Stephen J. Hadley, President Bush's national security adviser, called the display of firepower on the Fourth of July "provocative behavior."
The Taepodong-2 was the third of at least six missiles launched beginning at 2:33 p.m. EDT and ending four hours later. They included two short-range Scud missiles and three medium-range Nodongs, another type of Scud, Hadley said. It was the first time in recent memory that North Korea had launched so many missiles at once. All the missiles apparently landed within 400 miles of the Japanese coast, with the last landing approximately 312 miles northwest of Japan's western city of Niigata, Japanese officials said. U.S. surveillance observed all the launches, said an official at the Pentagon, who spoke on condition of anonymity. [Double standards] [Spin]
''Intelligence Brief: North Korea's Missile Tests''
orth Korea's decision on Wednesday morning to test six to ten missiles demonstrates Pyongyang's assessment that the United States will not react decisively to its new show of force. Instead, Pyongyang sees these latest missile tests as an opportunity to demonstrate its perceived threat potential, which it presumes can be used at a later date to extract concessions from the United States and its allies. Indeed, the timing of the tests was meant to coincide with the Independence Day holiday in the United States, and also possibly with the Discovery space shuttle launch in Florida. The last time North Korea tested a ballistic missile was in 1998, which rocketed over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean. This time it fired a series of short- and medium-range missiles and also apparently tested its new Taepodong-2 multi-stage missile with a range of 3,500-4,300 kilometers (2,190-2,690 miles), enough to hit Alaska -- that rocket, however, failed shortly after launch.
More revealing will be the response by China and South Korea. If Beijing does not take significant action against Pyongyang after the tests, it will demonstrate that Beijing will maintain its current status-quo policy toward North Korea. If Seoul refrains from harshly criticizing Pyongyang, it will demonstrate that it does not see the missile tests as a significant threat to its interests and will continue to pursue its policy of increasing economic ties with the North. The missile tests could, however, weaken moderates in South Korea and result in the country moving back toward the more hard-line U.S.-Japan policy toward Pyongyang. The coming days will be critical to assess changes in the power balance in this festering East Asian conflict.
Missiles, Interest Rates Worry Investors
By Chris Kirkham Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, July 6, 2006; Page D03 U.S. stock markets fell yesterday over concerns about North Korea's testing of missiles and worries that inflation may prompt further interest rate increases. As investors woke up to news of the missile launches, stocks took an initial dive but stayed mostly flat during the day and closed down slightly.
Pyongyang faces united criticism at UN meeting
Japanese resolution calls for sanctions and block on funds and technology
Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington, Justin McCurry in Tokyo and Jonathan Watts in Beijing
Thursday July 6, 2006 The Guardian
North Korea faced united condemnation of its missile tests at the UN security council yesterday, with the US and Japan pressing for a strong response to the launch of seven missiles in 24 hours.
But hopes of maintaining a tough and united front to what the Bush administration has described as a "provocation" were tempered by the awareness that there was limited support for the ultimate censure - a security council resolution - from Russia and China.
As North Korea underlined its disregard for international opinion by the launch of a seventh missile yesterday morning, speculation mounted that the country was about to conduct more missile tests. "We think they probably intend to launch more missiles in the next day or two," Alexander Downer, Australia's foreign minister, said after a conversation with Pyongyang's ambassador to Australia.
Attention-seeking Kim may have overplayed his hand
Jonathan Watts, east Asia correspondent Thursday July 6, 2006 The Guardian
A professed nuclear-armed state launches an intercontinental missile and six other rockets in defiance of almost the entire international community. Is it a prelude for war, a bargaining tactic or a warning? In the long run North Korea's test firing may prove to be one or all of the above, but in the short term it can be understood as a cry for attention. [Media] [Spin]
Nation bound together by state paranoia Jonathan Watts Thursday July 6, 2006 The Guardian While North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il was making headlines around the world yesterday, the vast majority of the 22 million population probably had no idea that their small, impoverished country had made one of its most provocative military gestures in 50 years. [Media]
Perspective on provocation
Leader Thursday July 6, 2006 The Guardian North Korea's reckless and provocative firing of missiles over the Sea of Japan has brought a stale but unmistakable whiff of cold war days. The difference between now and a few decades ago is the near universal condemnation of the "hermit kingdom" by the US, Japan, Russia and Europe. Only China's reaction was muted, though it had publicly called on Kim Jong-il not to go ahead with his plans. But with the UN security council convening in special session, Pyongyang has been left in no doubt that the international community will not stand by and watch while it threatens the stability of Asia.
Not a missile - a salvo
North Korea fires at least 7; Taepodong-2 explodes after 40 seconds
July 06, 2006 ? Apparently with an eye on the U.S. Independence Day holiday and the launch of the U.S. space shuttle Discovery, North Korea lit up its night skies early yesterday with a salvo of six missiles. One of the six was the Taepodong-2, the subject of international conjecture, warnings and threats over the past six weeks as it sat on a launch pad in northeast North Korea. A few hours after Discovery lifted off, so did the Taepodong, along with several short-range Scuds and intermediate-range Rodongs. An intelligence source in Seoul said the North Koreans may have also fired several shipboard missiles, although that assertion could not be confirmed. The Taepodong's flight lasted only about 40 seconds before the missile exploded and fell into the sea. Late yesterday afternoon, Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed Japanese media reports that the North had launched a seventh missile at 5:22 p.m. The military chiefs did not identify the missile type, but said it was probably a Rodong or a Scud. The blatant pyrotechnics were widely seen as North Korea thumbing its nose at the nations that had tried to discourage it from testing the Taepodong, especially China, Japan, South Korea and the United States. The launches were in particular a severe embarrassment for Seoul, which has tried doggedly to keep rapprochement with Pyongyang alive despite a series of provocations
Indifference?
Subway passengers in Seoul yesterday seem indifferent to a TV report showing North Korea's latest missile test. The impact of the test on local stock markets was not serious as many had expected. By Kim Hyung-soo [photo]
First analyses: Pyongyang is a clear winner
July 06, 2006 ? The initial reaction from many political analysts in South Korea was that despite the failure of North Korea's Taepodong-2 missile to hang together for more than 40 seconds, the North will probably be the big winner in the international game of "chicken" it seems to thrive on. The consensus is that the flood of threats from other countries to impose sanctions are hollow; the country has been essentially cut off from the rest of the world for decades. The launches, they agreed, also put Seoul in an extremely difficult position. While the Roh administration's instincts are to swallow almost any provocation from Pyongyang to keep its relations with the North on an even keel, it will find it hard to do so in the face of public outrage and pressure from conservatives. "Kim Jong-il gambled that Beijing and Seoul will not change their stances toward the North despite what happened, and it's likely that his gamble will pay off," said Kim Tae-hyo, a political scientist at Sungkyunkwan University. He said it was unlikely that China, a member of the United Nations Security Council, would agree to any sanctions the United States or Japan might propose. "China wants to maintain its status as mediator in the region, so it won't distance itself from Pyongyang," he said.
Official Seoul appeared to be floundering yesterday in efforts to forge a response. Many officials ducked questions on the subject of sanctions, saying only that they would be devised in cooperation with Seoul's allies. [Dilemma]
Egg on Seoul's face
[EDITORIALS] North Korea test-fired missiles in defiance of warnings from international society. According to the South Korean government, seven missiles, including an intercontinental ballistic missile, a Taepodong 2, had been fired since early yesterday morning.
In the early morning yesterday, North Korea sent messages to warn ships away from a sea area where its missiles would land, using an international frequency for maritime communications.
The South Korean government has lost enormous face and its foothold in international society, because Seoul consistently defended Pyongyang in an attempt to bring it back to the six-nation negotiations. Now stronger sanctions will be imposed on the North and it will be even more isolated in the international community [Dilemma] [Aid weapon] [Sanctions]
Roh, Bush Stress Diplomatic Solution
By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter President Roh Moo-hyun and U.S. President George W. Bush Thursday discussed the North Korean missile issue and agreed to make joint efforts along with other relevant nations for a diplomatic solution, Chong Wa Dae announced. ``President Roh and President Bush held telephone talks between 7:50 a.m. and 8 a.m. and agreed to make joint diplomatic efforts to resolve the North Korean missile issue,'' Roh's spokesman Jung Tae-ho said in a press briefing.
Jung said the two heads of state would maintain their close cooperative ties to deal with pending issues of mutual concern. Roh and Bush have had a total of five bilateral summit meetings and 13 telephone conversations since Roh's election in late 2002. [In denial] [Dilemma]
Government Criticized for Delayed Reaction to Missiles
Long-Range Taepodong-2 Missile Flew 7 Minutes, Not 42 Seconds, Military Intelligence Official Says
By Lee Jin-woo Staff Reporter The government came under fire from governing and opposition party lawmakers Thursday for the way it responded to missile launches conducted by North Korea a day earlier. At the National Assembly, the legislators also criticized the government for lacking intelligence capability and being dependent on foreign sources for information about North Korea. They criticized the Roh Moo-hyun administration's lukewarm, delayed response to the missile launches, calling for the resignation of Cabinet ministers involved in national security.
At the Assembly's Defense Committee, a military intelligence official said North Korea's long-range Taepodong-2 missile, which is capable of hitting Alaska and Hawaii with a light payload, flew a total of seven minutes Wednesday, not 42 seconds, as reported. ``We believe news reports claiming the test-firing of Taepodong-2 missile lasted only 42 seconds are not based on accurate intelligence,'' Lt. Gen. Lee Sung-kyu of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. ``The missile did fly for some 42 seconds without technical problems, but it went ahead some 390 kilometers more until it exploded in midair,'' Lee added. ``Under normal conditions, it should have reached Mach 7 within a minute, but it failed.'' During the panel session, Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung did not rule out the possibility of North Korea launching more test missiles, citing intelligence data. But he did not specify what type of missiles they would be. [Evidence] [Dilemma]
North Korea Says Sanctions Will Backfire
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Han Song-ryol, deputy chief of North Korea's U.N. mission in New York, said on Thursday that Pyongyang will be forced to take ``all-out countermeasures,'' if U.N. sanctions are put on the North due to the missile tests, according to Japanese broadcaster TBS. He also argued that the missile launches were part of a regular military drill. Han's remarks are interpreted as a strong determination to continue test-firing missiles despite intensifying international pressure, North Korea experts in Seoul said. Earlier in the day, North Korea's Foreign Ministry claimed that Pyongyang launched missiles on Wednesday as part of a routine military drill which was not in violation of any agreements, but rather an exercise of the state's sovereignty.
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said the North's statement is a paradox that clarifies its readiness to have a fight with the United States, while calling on the resumption of a face-to-face dialogue with its foe. ``This statement is a strong expression of Pyongyang's intention to continue test-firing its missiles, unless Washington accepts its requests, including the resumption of direct talks,'' Yang told The Korea Times. He said Pyongyang wants to use the direct talks with Washington as a way to find a political solution to the U.S. financial sanctions that were imposed on a bank in Macau in September for its suspicious financial services for North Korea.
Korean-Owned Firm to Provide Supercomputer for US Nuke Project
By Cho Jin-seo Staff Reporter A Korean-owned company has won a contract to supply a top-end supercomputer to a nuclear weapons research lab in the United States [Double standards]
NK Fires Missiles
Pyongyang's Defiance of International Concerns Regrettable
North Korea test-fired six missiles including a Taepodong-2 early yesterday morning, defying a flurry of warnings from the United States and other concerned nations that the tests would be regarded as a provocation. The missiles, fired toward the East Sea between Korea and Japan, also included smaller missiles like Scuds, shortrange missiles targeted against the South. It is a serious problem that may disrupt the peace and stability not only of this region but also of the international community.
The reckless move by Pyongyang has made it clear that it is impossible for Seoul to defend the North under any circumstances. Our government has no choice but to fundamentally revaluate its North Korean policy. Concerned authorities are asked to consult closely with the U.S. and Japan for relevant countermeasures, including the level of sanctions to be slapped on the North for the launchings.
Allies Plan Sanctions Against North Korea
Military on High Alert As Pyongyang Continues Missile Test
By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter
North Korea test-fired at least six missiles early Wednesday morning, including a long-range Taepodong-2, drawing Seoul, Washington and Tokyo back into a united front to deal more firmly with the communist state.
N. Korea Test-Fires 10 Missiles
North Korea test-fired 10 Scud, Rodong and Taepodong missiles early Wednesday morning, a senior South Korean military intelligence source said. ``North Korea launched a total of 10 missiles. The Scud, Rodong and Taepodong missiles were test-fired on 10 different occasions,'' the official said, asking to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the information. ``The missiles were launched from various places, including the Musudanri missile base.'' The official noted that North Korean was capable of launching various types of missiles from different missile bases because of their interoperable system. [Intelligence]
North Korea Tests Long-Range Missile
Controversial Rocket Fails as Other Types Are Fired; U.N. Session Set After U.S., Japan Condemn Action
By Dana Priest and Anthony Faiola Washington Post Staff Writers Wednesday, July 5, 2006; Page A01
North Korea test-fired at least six missiles yesterday, including its long-range Taepodong-2, senior U.S. officials said, defying strong warnings from the United States and regional powers in Asia. The controversial long-range missile failed less than a minute after launch, falling into the Sea of Japan, along with the other, less-sophisticated missiles. Diplomatic and military officials played down any imminent threat, but Stephen J. Hadley, President Bush's national security adviser, called the display of firepower on the Fourth of July "provocative behavior."
Launch A First For the Fourth
Without Incident, Discovery Heads To Space Station
By Guy Gugliotta Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, July 5, 2006; Page A01
CAPE CANAVERAL, July 4 -- Space shuttle Discovery, trailing a tail of yellow fire and billowing gray smoke, launched into central Florida's dazzling summer sky Tuesday like an outsize Independence Day Roman candle. After two weather delays over the weekend and questions about lost insulation foam from the orbiter's external fuel tank, Discovery enjoyed an incident-free countdown on its way to the first launch of a space shuttle on the Fourth of July.
Koizumi, Bush give message to North
07/01/2006 BY HIROSHI ITO, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
WASHINGTON--Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and President George W. Bush, in likely their last summit together, agreed Thursday to send a "clear message" to Pyongyang about the abduction, nuclear and missile issues. Bush said North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has an obligation to explain his intentions to the international community concerning a Taepodong 2 ballistic missile being prepared for launch.
Missile successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base
National June 14, 2006 6:19 AM VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) - The Air Force successfully tested an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile early Wednesday, officials said. The missile was launched at 1:22 a.m. and traveled 4,800 miles in about 30 minutes before its three warheads struck targets at the Kwajalein Missile Range in the western chain of the Marshall Islands, according to a news release from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The purpose of the launch was to test the weapon's effectiveness. The Air Force has about 500 Minuteman weapons in Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota. AP-WS-06-14-06 0914EDT [Double standards]
Britain's nuclear-weapons fix
Paul Rogers 29 - 6 - 2006
The determination of Britain's political elite to maintain the country as a nuclear-weapons state is rooted in a half-century of military planning to which the possibility of tactical and first use of nuclear weapons is central.
In just five words, Gordon Brown, the United Kingdom's chancellor of the exchequer and would-be successor to Tony Blair, has intentionally reignited the debate over the future of Britain's nuclear weapons. In a wide-ranging speech on 21 June 2006 focusing on global markets, financial services and economic policy, he included as part of his prognosis for UK security in the 21st century the commitment to "retaining our independent nuclear deterrent". [Double standards]
Kazakhstan satellite enters orbit
Updated 6/18/2006 11:07 AM ET By Vyacheslav Oseledko, AFP/Getty Images BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AP) - Kazakhstan launched its first satellite into orbit Sunday, the first step in the ex-Soviet republic's plan to join the exclusive club of spacefaring nations. The oil-rich Central Asian nation of 15 million people is home to the world's largest space center, the Baikonur cosmodrome. It has been leasing the Soviet-built facility to Russia, but President Nursultan Nazarbayev wants his nation to build its own space industry. Russian President Vladimir Putin joined the Kazakh leader early Sunday as they watched the KazSat 1 satellite, mounted on a Russian built Proton-K rocket, soar into the pre-dawn skies. The rocket's fiery tail disappeared into the sky, turning pink before sunrise. [Double standards]
Launch, not missile, recedes over horizon
June 29, 2006 ? Officials from Tokyo and intelligence sources in Seoul have been pouring cold water on Washington's assessments of the imminence of a North Korean missile launch. A U.S. senator said somewhat the same thing. An intelligence official here told the JoongAng Daily that Washington had alerted countries in this region in May that a missile launch might take place before the end of the month; ensuing reports picked three days in June as possible launch dates. Those predictions all turned out to be incorrect. In Tokyo, a government official told the press that nothing in the available intelligence suggested that a launch was imminent. He added that there had also been no pick-up in radio chatter in the missile test site area that would suggest unusual activity. There was a sudden burst in the amount of traffic, the official said, before North Korea launched a missile from there in 1998. Satellite images, he continued, were still inconclusive about whether the missile had been fueled; even the identification of some objects at the site as fuel containers had not been verified. He said there was, however, a marked increase in truck traffic in the complex. "There is a growing opinion," he said, "that the movement by the North is for negotiating purposes rather than an actual launch. On Tuesday, John W. Warner, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, said that preparations at the test site appeared to be those for a launch, but conceded that satellite intelligence showed that infrastructure that would be removed before a launch was still in place. Asked about his assessment of U.S. intelligence, an official here said that you never could tell about North Korea. "Activity at the launch site could pick up at any moment. There is no single datum that can be dismissed light-handedly," he said. Also in Washington, the White House spokesman, Tony Snow, said of those test preparations, "Well, if it's a bluff toward direct negotiations, it's a non-advisable way to do it."
The Fog of Truth
The media once again misses the boat on North Korea's supposed missile test preparations
Kim Tae-kyung (internews) Published 2006-06-28 17:12 (KST)
Speculations on North Korea's missile programs were circulated around the world last week. The media in South Korea, Japan, and the U.S. have competitively postulated hypotheses on the issues: "The North has completed fuel injection," "Their missiles can reach at least Alaska in the U.S.," "The U.S. has already operated the Missile Defense System (MD) in order to intercept the missiles of North Korea," etc.
Several media in South Korea even estimated an exact time at which North Korea would launch a missile: at 4 or 5 p.m. on June 18. However, nothing has happened. Indeed, it was misinformation. According to the government of South Korea, it is still unclear that launch vehicles, which North Korea is currently preparing, carry missiles or rockets for manmade satellites. [Intelligence]

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JUNE 2006

U.S. rejects N.K. talks offer
The United States ruled out direct talks with North Korea over test firing a long-range ballistic missile as worldwide concern intensified over Pyongyang's readiness for a launch. North Korea has offered talks with Washington over its plans but U.S. President George W. Bush said the Stalinist state must honor agreements against testing missiles. "This is not the way to do business in the world," Bush said during a U.S.-EU summit in Vienna, Austria. "The North Koreans have made agreements with us in the past and we expect them to keep their agreements, for example on test launches," Bush said. [Spin] [Bilateral] [Double standards]
North Korea offers to halt missile launch
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington Published: 22 June 2006
In a new bout of brinkmanship with Washington, North Korea has suggested it would halt its apparent plans to test-fire a long-range missile if the US agreed to direct talks with the reclusive Communist regime. (sic)
This latest gambit from Pyongyang comes amid escalating tensions in the region, as a former South Korean president dropped plans for a rare visit to the North, and Pentagon officials hinted that if a missile was launched, the US might try to shoot it down. Speaking at the US-European Union summit in Vienna yesterday, President George Bush condemned the idea of "non-transparent regimes, who have announced they have nuclear warheads, firing missiles," adding that "this is not the way you conduct business in the world". European leaders also appealed to the North to cancel any launch, while China urged all parties not to destabilise the region. [Media] [Spin] [Double standards]
Coming to senses?
Tension on the Korean Peninsula is escalating to the highest levels seen in recent years, with North Korea reportedly preparing to test a long-range Taepodong 2 missile, and the United States seriously considering shooting it down.
North Korea is entertaining the idea that it has a sovereign right not only to test missiles but also to develop, deploy and even export them. A top North Korean diplomat assigned to New York made remarks to that effect in a recent interview with a news agency. From the legal point of view, there is nothing wrong with North Korea making such an assertion, because it is not bound by any international treaty. It is not even a party to the Missile Technology Control Regime, an informal international political arrangement to control the proliferation of rocket and unmanned air vehicle systems capable of delivering weapons of mass destruction.
Not only the United States but also South Korea and other neighboring countries are making it clear that they would not tolerate another test launch, be it for a missile or for a satellite. [Legality]
Empty Threats Over North Korean Missiles?
Analysis: Just as the U.S. missile-defense system has yet to prove itself effective, so too have Washington's policies for dealing with the reclusive regime By TONY KARON
Posted Tuesday, Jun. 20, 2006 To say that the Bush Administration is exasperated by North Korea's provocations is an understatement. After all, the only thing worse than watching a charter member of President Bush's "Axis of Evil" thumb its nose at the international community is not having an effective means to respond. And despite all the tough talk emanating out of Washington, the U.S. has few good options for responding to the latest bit of saber-rattling from the hermit Stalinist regime in Pyongyang, this time involving an all-too-real saber: A Taepodong 2 long-range missile, which some analysts believe may be capable of hitting Alaska, while others suggest its range may be far more limited. The U.S. has warned North Korea against test-firing the missile, and has hinted that it may even consider trying to use its own missile-defense interception system to bring it down - although both technical and geopolitical considerations militate against such an action.
North Korea's latest missile posturing has been widely interpreted as an effort to reclaim the international spotlight from the standoff over Iran's nuclear program - by warning the international community that if the six-party talks over its own nuclear program remain stalled, it can cause plenty of trouble. That perception was reinforced Wednesday by reports that North Korean officials had responded to concerns over its planned launch by calling for direct talks with the U.S. over the issue. Pyongyang has long sought such talks, but Washington insists that the six-party process remains the forum for addressing international concerns over North Korea's nuclear ambitions. [Media] [Double standards] [Spin]
Study: N. Korea lifts nuke arsenal
Bush calls for Pyongyang to say what's on missile Tuesday, June 27, 2006 Posted: 0050 GMT (0850 HKT)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- During U.S. President George W. Bush's administration, North Korea has gone from having enough plutonium for one or two nuclear weapons to having enough for as many as 13, a study released on Monday said. It concluded that the reclusive communist state, whose threat to test a long-range ballistic missile has spread concern in Washington and in Asia, could have more than 17 such weapons by the time Bush leaves office in early 2009. The study, authored by former U.N. weapons inspector David Albright, was based on analysis of satellite imagery indicating activity at the five megawatt nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, media reports and statements by North Korean officials. It said Pyongyang probably did not have enough plutonium stock for its own deterrence and so was unlikely to sell it. [Evidence] [Nuclear weapons] [Terrorism]
Chinese leader urges N. Korea against missile launch
The Associated Press Published: June 28, 2006 SHENZHEN, China Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao urged North Korea on Wednesday to refrain from launching a missile, saying such an act would aggravate regional tensions. Speaking at a joint news conference with visiting Prime Minister John Howard of Australia, Wen said that China was concerned about recent events in North Korea. "We are paying close attention to the information showing that there might be a possible missile-testing launch by North Korea, and we are following the developments of the situation very closely," Wen said. "We hope that the various parties will proceed for the greater interest of maintaining stability on the Korean Peninsula and refrain from taking measures that will worsen the situation," he said. Wen was the highest level Chinese official to speak out in the two weeks since intelligence reports showed that North Korea had placed a long-range Taepodong-2 missile on a launch pad, perhaps in preparation for a launch. China is a critical ally of North Korea, providing food, fuel and other economic and financial assistance. Washington, Tokyo and,on Wednesday, Australia's Howard have all urged Beijing to take an active role in pressuring Pyongyang to back down from testing a missile. [Media]
Bush says unacceptable for N.Korea to test missile
Reuters Jun 29, 2006 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush on Thursday warned North Korea against test-firing a long-range missile and underscored concerns about its nuclear ambitions. "We both agreed that it's very important for us to remain united in sending a clear message to the North Korean leader that, first of all, launching a missile is unacceptable," Bush said at a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. "There's been no briefings as to what's on top of the missile," he added. "They haven't told anybody where the missile's going." [Spin] [Bilateral] [Double standards]
Russia successfully launches ballistic missile
The Russian Northern Fleet's nuclear-powered submarine on Friday successfully launched a ballistic missile from the Barents Sea in combat training, navy press service said. The RSM-54 missile was fired from the submarine at 10:25 Moscow time (0625 GMT) from the Barents Sea in the direction of the Kura testing range on the Kamchatka Peninsula, the press service said. "The missile's warhead arrived at the range exactly at the planned time," it said. "The successful launch confirmed the high readiness of the maritime strategic nuclear forces and the efficiency of the tactical control system," the press release said. The launch of the sea-based missile has been the second of its kind so far this year. The first was launched on May 26, when the Northern Fleet shot into space a Kompas-2 satellite on the carrier rocket Shtil. [Double standards]
S. Korea to launch first military satellite
UPDATED: 16:24, June 27, 2006
The South Korean Defense Ministry announced Tuesday that the country's first military communications satellite is scheduled to be launched on Aug. 10 from a vessel in the South Pacific. The satellite, named as the Mugunghwa 5 satellite, is being made with its transmitter by France's Alcatel and will be launched to an orbit of 36,000 km by the U.S.-based Sea Launch, the ministry said. According to the Yonhap News, the first military communications satellite is expected to significantly improve South Korea's military communications network, which has depended on land lines alone, and help promote the military's combat capability by shortening the time between a command and its execution. On Monday, South Korea's military deployed a new military command system, known as "C4I," as a part of its efforts to take back wartime operation control of its forces from the United States. [Double standards]
China urges N. Korea not to test missile
(AP/chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2006-06-29 09:38 China's premier urged North Korea on Wednesday to desist from firing a long-range missile, while South Korea called on the United States to talk directly with North Korea to forestall a launch. Premier Wen Jiabao said China was paying close attention to information that North Korea may be preparing a test-launch and urged Pyongyang to avoid any actions that would aggravate regional tensions and further derail long-stalled negotiations on the North's nuclear fuel programs.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (L) shakes hands with Australian Prime Minister John Howard ahead of their bilateral meeting in Shenzhen June 28, 2006. Howard promised China on Wednesday that his country would be a reliable supplier of the energy Asia's number two economy needs to fuel its booming growth. [Reuters] "We hope that the various parties will proceed from the greater interest of maintaining stability on the Korean Peninsula and refrain from taking measures that will worsen the situation," Wen said at a joint news conference with visiting Australian Prime Minister John Howard. Wen's remarks Wednesday were the first time the senior Chinese leadership acknowledged concerns about a possible missile launch in the two weeks since intelligence reports detected North Korean preparations.
Direct Talks between DPRK and U.S. Urged
Pyongyang, June 21 (KCNA) -- Voices accusing the U.S. administration of its Korea policy and calling for DPRK-U.S. direct talks for a solution to the nuclear issue are growing louder in the U.S. political circles these days. Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Armitage in an interview with the Kyodo News of Japan criticized the Korea policy of Bush, advising the U.S. administration to put forward a package compensation proposal to the DPRK and promote negotiations on the nuclear issue. David Strube, former section chief for Korean affairs of the U.S. State Department, told a reporter that Bush was unwilling to have dialogue with the DPRK, judging from the abuses he hurled on its leadership. At the six-party talks, he noted, Bush insisted on the strategy of putting pressure on the DPRK while convincing it that it was "isolated" in the international community. But, in actuality, it is the U.S. and Japan that were isolated at the talks. He ridiculed the U.S. act of ignoring the reasoning of other countries participating in the six-party talks. U.S. Senator Joseph Biden told a reporter that Bush's Korea policy had come a cropper. The U.S. needs to have direct talks with the DPRK for a solution to the nuclear issue, he said. [Bilateral] [Dissension]
U.S.-N.K. talks crucial: minister
Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok yesterday said reopening dialogue between the United States and North Korea was crucial to solving the tension over Pyongyang's missile launch threat. "(No side) should be stingy when it comes to communication. The Seoul government believes that the U.S. administration should be a little more enthusiastic in engaging in dialogues," Lee said in a speech before a National Strategy Institute forum. Lee said the Seoul government was continuously persuading the North to return to the six-party talks which it is currently boycotting due to Washington's financial sanctions. North Korea raised tensions in Asia and the Pacific through reports that it was preparing to test-launch a long-range missile. The North has not officially admitted the reports. [Bilateral]
Missile Mania: US and Japan Threaten North Korea
by Gregory Elich
June 27, 2006 GlobalResearch.ca
The hysteria surrounding the potential launch of a North Korean missile has generated an artificial crisis. For all the ballyhoo of a threat, there is in fact no danger other than that of U.S. reaction. It is claimed that North Korea's Taepodong-2 missile has a range that would allow it to strike Alaska and possibly the U.S. west coast. The Federation of American Scientists, however, estimates its range as far less. (1) Little concrete information is known about the as yet untested Taepodong-2 missile, and its range is a matter of conjecture. For that matter, U.S. officials have admitted that they cannot be certain that the missile in question is a Taepodong-2. (2) And some reports have indicated that the missile is estimated at just over 30 meters in length, whereas the Taepodong-2 is thought to be 35 meters long. Mention of a Taepodong-2 missile is based on supposition, not evidence.
Vice President Dick Cheney has rejected calls for a cruise missile attack on the North Korean missile, responding, "Obviously, if you're going to launch strikes at another nation, you'd better be prepared to not just fire one shot." (11) It is recognized that the North Korean military would be a tough opponent, and any attack is likely to trigger a responding strike at a U.S. military target. Events could rapidly escalate into military conflict, which the U.S. could ill afford at a time when the Iraqi resistance is tying up so many troops. Yet the situation remains precarious. Other mooted actions, such as shooting down the missile after launch or imposing a naval blockade, are acts of war and as such, risk inviting war. In the days to come, the Bush Administration may find pressure from the media and Democrats for military action impossible to resist. Cooler heads are needed, but those are in short supply among a political leadership accustomed to saber rattling.
U.S.-N. Korea: To Talk or Not to Talk?
Cheong Wook-Sik CNPK Representative
As the possibility of a North Korean missile test looms over the Korean peninsula, a proposal by reputable U.S. experts for a preemptive strike is causing a controversy. The shock wave for the Koreans is great especially as the writers had been soft-liners who served as high officials in the Clinton administration. [Bilateral]
A South Korean View of the Sign of the North's Ballistic Missile Test-Fire
Dr. Suh Bohyuk
As North Korea was known to have completed and prepared to test a long range ballistic missile in the middle of June that could reach the territory-obviously Alaska- of the United States, South Korea and its neighboring countries have become very concerned. The North's preparation of test-fire reportedly has begun since last May. In a hotline call between the Chinese President Hu Jin Tao and President Bush, they both expressed their concern about this test. On June 12, the U.S. identified the sign of the North's launch pad being ready for a Taepodong-2 and anticipated the North would launch the missile within a week. On 16th of the same month, there was an analysis that the seclusive country had injected the liquid fuel to the missile, which is the last stage for the test and subsequently three countries including South Korea, the U.S. and Japan came together and were determined to take actions on the North's move.
U.S. set to use warning to its advantage to get support for missile defense system
South Korean and international media are reporting that North Korea has fueled their missiles and is ready to test them. Of the all information gathered on North Korea by the United States and Japan, the governments of both nations are said to be concerned the most with North Korea's missile movement. Those governments confirmed they believed the North is about to do a test launch to send a warning message. The South Korean government is also reportedly concerned about the situation. [Threat] [Missile defense]
Seoul Mulls Measures Against NK Missile Fire
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter
South Korea is considering ``clear'' measures to deal with North Korea's suspected plan to test-fire a long-range missile, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki-moon said on Monday. During a National Assembly session, Ban also reconfirmed Seoul's readiness to link missile test with its provision of assistance to Pyongyang.
In a related development, a ranking official in Seoul told reporters on condition of anonymity that the government thinks the current situation is ``not much different'' than it was in mid June. ``I can't say there is no move in the North, regarding the missile,'' he said. ``Even though we think negotiation is necessary, we can't say we've already entered a negotiation phase.''
Asked if South Korea will continue to send aid goods to North Korea, even should Pyongyang go ahead with the test, Ban reconfirmed the North's move will affect Seoul's aid programs for Pyongyang. ``Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok has already said it will be difficult for Seoul to continue assisting the North if it launches the missile, and I think it is our government's stance,'' Ban said. [aid weapon] [collusion]
Bluffing Match
NK, US Should Stop Brinkmanship, Resume Dialogue
The tension over North Korea's threatened missile test has eased somewhat with Pyongyang backing away to propose talks with Washington. As expected, the North's message behind the latest saber rattling seems to be: ``We can be as lethal as any, say, Iran. Will the United States still keep ignoring us?'' Or, Pyongyang actually might want to test its long-range missile with a view to exporting it to help alleviate its economic hardships aggravated by U.S. sanctions. Either way, the gamble cannot work. Already, the U.S. is rejecting Pyongyang's offer for dialogue with respect to the missile issue. Unlike official concerns expressed by Washington, and Tokyo, however, there appear to be groups in the two countries that ``enjoy'' this situation. From the beginning, the U.S. and Japanese conservatives were busy escalating tension as if the missile launch was imminent, by bloating what a White House official acknowledged later was ``incomplete intelligence.'' Now, others say it could really be a rocket for a satellite launch.
Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok's warning of a suspension of rice and fertilizer aid was also appropriate. The North should stop biting the hand that feeds it. Pyongyang has always wanted a grand deal with Washington, while regarding Seoul as some sort of a temporary lifeline. In the course of doing this, however, it has made the position of its biggest and most willing helper untenable. Unfortunately, the U.S. will not yield to either threats or appeals but only to progress along the terms it has set. Instead of playing with fire, the North should hasten preparations for former President Kim Dae-jung's second visit to Pyongyang and discuss its return to the six-way talks and other peace process. The missile is a gamble, the stakes of which become zero as soon as it is launched. The greatest beneficiaries of Pyongyang's adventure will be U.S. arms makers.
North Korea Missile Test
[Pacific Perspective]
By Ralph A. Cossa
Tokyo _ Will they or won't they? That seems to be the big question dominating the news these days. Will North Korea launch a Taepodong missile, either as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test or in an attempt to launch a satellite (as they claimed during their last launch in 1998). No one knows! And, trying to predict Pyongyang's behavior is a fool's task. But I, for one, hope they do conduct a test, for a number of reasons. Before explaining, it is worth pointing out an unpleasant fact most critics seem to be ignoring: North Korea, like the U.S. or China, or even Kazakhstan (which launched its first communications satellite earlier in the month with little or no fanfare) has a right to conduct missile tests or satellite launches. There are certain international protocols that should be followed (notice to mariners, airspace closures, prior notifications, et cetera.) but a missile launch per se is not an illegal or necessarily hostile act. Keep in mind also that North Korea's current moratorium is self-imposed; it was initiated in 1999 and was to run as long as missile talks between Washington and Pyongyang continued . . . which they have not.
For what it is worth, while it does reaffirm the 2002 Pyongyang Declaration, there is really absolutely nothing in the September 2005 Six-Party Talks Joint Statement regarding missile tests. Nonetheless, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has claimed a missile test puts that agreement in jeopardy since the moratorium ``is clearly a part of the framework agreement that was signed in September of this past year between the six parties.''
So, if a test, while legal, would be so provocative, why am I for it? Primarily because it would, perhaps for the first time in several years, bring Washington, Tokyo, and Seoul back into agreement on dealing more firmly with North Korea. It would no doubt compel Seoul to cancel the planned trip of former President Kim Dae-jung to North Korea, a trip that can only add to the illusion of (false) progress in North-South relations, even though little is being accomplished beyond increased handouts and non-reciprocated gestures.
US to deploy interceptor missiles in Japan
Justin McCurry in Tokyo Monday June 26, 2006 The Guardian
The US will deploy advanced Patriot interceptor missiles on Japanese soil this year for the first time as the region braces itself for a possible test launch by North Korea of an intercontinental ballistic missile, local media reports said today. Under the agreement, reached this month, US bases on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa will host US Patriot advanced capability-3 missiles, which are said to be capable of intercepting ballistic missiles of the type being developed by Pyongyang, as well as cruise missiles and aircraft.
Today it emerged that South Korea had urged Washington to reconsider its stance, saying that North Korea's invitation to the chief US nuclear negotiator, Christopher Hill, to visit Pyongyang was a sign that it would take the talks seriously, the South Korean Yonhap news agency said.
Last week the US said it would retain the option of destroying the missile. [Threat][ Missile defense][ Friction]
North Korea, Iran, the Difference
William M. Arkin on National and Homeland Security
I'm away today at a family wedding, but if I were writing, it would be about North Korea or Iran.
North Korea seems off the hook for now -- no missile launch -- and the proposal of former Clinton Secretary of Defense Bill Perry to undertake a preemptive strike even before all of the facts are in, seems to have cleared everyone's sinuses. If this was Perry's underhanded goal, to show how intellectually appealing "global strike" can be in Washington while in reality, it means war and catastrophe far greater than just a puny missile test, he did a nice job. North Korea will probably back down, that is, they will probably recognize that the cost of breaking their 1999 testing moratorium is too great, if in fact that is what they were preparing to do. The country seems to have gotten what it wanted, which is attention and a recognition that perhaps the Bush team should actually speak to them. This just goes to show that North Korea is rational, as I've argued in these pages. Weird yes; but also rational. Maybe Perry's super double Top Secret agenda was to convey to North Korea that if even someone as normally as level headed as him could suggest an American first strike, they should really watch out.
Japan Agrees to US Deployment of Missiles
By MARI YAMAGUCHI The Associated Press Monday, June 26, 2006; 2:33 AM
TOKYO -- Japan and the United States have agreed to deploy advanced Patriot interceptor missiles on U.S. bases in Japan for the first time, officials said Monday.
The agreement earlier this month came amid concerns that North Korea may be about to test-fire a long-range ballistic missile. The U.S. plans to deploy the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles _ designed to intercept ballistic missiles, cruise missiles or aircraft _ as soon as possible, a Japanese Defense Agency spokeswoman.
There has been speculation that the U.S. could try to intercept the missile if it is fired. [Threat] [Missile defense] [Japanese remilitarisation]
You Can Dress Him Down, but You. . . .
By Al Kamen Monday, June 26, 2006; Page A19
They Zig Hard, We Zag Soft
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sometimes you need a program to know who's playing hard-line and who's on the diplomatic team. Off-season trades make things very confusing.
For example, back in 1995, deputy national security adviser J.D. Crouch , formerly in the Bush I administration and then in academia, was blistering the Clintonites -- singling out then-Secretary of Defense William J. Perry and "his chief assistant on these matters, assistant secretary Ashton Carter ," for endless negotiating that "the North Korean regime has used . . . over the past year to buy time to complete development of its first nuclear devices" and the missiles to go with them. They were clearly on the softy diplomatic team.
Crouch demanded that Washington "redeploy American nuclear weapons to South Korea" and "set a firm deadline for the destruction of North Korea's nuclear complex and its long-range missile production facilities." Okay, so he's the hard-line team.
On Thursday, Carter and Perry, in an op-ed in The Washington Post about reports that the lunatic North Korean regime was about to test a long-range missile, insisted that if necessary, the United States must "strike and destroy" that missile with a cruise missile and should move U.S. forces into the area in the event of war if the North Koreans responded by invading South Korea. Okay, so they're clearly on the hard-line team with Crouch.
Oops! Not so fast. Crouch, now top deputy to national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley , apparently has been traded to the diplomats. Both Hadley and Vice President Cheney said Thursday that they are pursuing diplomatic options to get the North Koreans to back off. "I think the issue is being addressed appropriately," Cheney said.
Program! Get your program here! Can't tell the players without a program! [Partisan]
Asia Watches U.S. in Korea Missile Impasse
By WILLIAM FOREMAN The Associated Press Saturday, June 24, 2006; 6:15 PM
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Many Asian nations would cheer if the Americans shot down a long-range missile tested by North Korea, but a failure would raise unsettling questions for allies that rely on the U.S. military umbrella. The response to North Korea is being watched by U.S. allies as a barometer of how committed Washington is to protecting them. Some already worry the drawn-out conflict in Iraq may make the United States wary of getting involved in other foreign conflicts.
If the U.S. shot down the missile, "the Japanese would see it as proof that the Japan-U.S. alliance is reliable, and feel confident that the United States will come to the rescue," said Takehiko Yamamoto, international politics professor at Waseda University in Tokyo. A successful strike would also lead to more calls for a stronger U.S.-Japan security alliance, he said. But if the U.S. interceptor missile missed the target, Japanese public opinion could become split, Yamamoto warned. Some would want more military spending to improve the system, but others would call for more diplomacy and perhaps looser ties with America, he said.
"South Korea probably wouldn't support it openly," said Kenneth Wells, director of the Center for Korean Studies at Australian National University. "There would be some division in the government, but if they were forced to make a comment one way or another, I suspect it would be that it wasn't a helpful thing to do."
Hugh White, head of the Strategic and Defense Studies Center at Australian National University, said there are other non-diplomatic factors being considered by the Americans. He said that while it would be gratifying for the Americans to knock down the missile, they might be better off letting the North Koreans launch it. "They'll learn a lot about the state of North Korean technology," White said. "A lot of my friends in the CIA are saying: 'No, no, no. Let it fly.'" [US-Japan alliance] [Missile defense] [Friction] [Threat]
North Korea's missiles bring it cash and clout
By Jon Herskovitz and Jack Kim Reuters Friday, June 23, 2006; 7:28 AM
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea started its missile program in part to deliver a first strike on the South but it has grown into a source of cash and a possible way for a poor state with an obsolescent air force to deliver a nuclear strike. Experts say Pyongyang lacks the technology to miniaturize a nuclear weapon for missile delivery, but it does have an arsenal capable of hitting all of South Korea and almost all of Japan. [Media] [Double standards]
Missile Threat Strengthens U.S.-Japan Ties
By JOSEPH COLEMAN The Associated Press Friday, June 23, 2006; 8:45 AM TOKYO -- Many Japanese in the aftermath of the Cold War seriously questioned their country's security alliance with the United States. A decade later, those voices are a lot softer, and one nation deserves much of the credit: North Korea. The fears this week that the mercurial communist regime is preparing for its first test of a long-range missile since 1998 have again illustrated one of the premier rationales for Tokyo's enduring partnership with Washington.
Japan is firmly under the U.S. nuclear umbrella, and Washington bases some 50,000 troops on Japanese soil and waters. The two are progressively melding their militaries for greater cooperation. [Threat] [Missile defense] [US-Japan alliance] [Japanese remilitarisation]
U.S. Calls to Keep Up Pressure on N. Korea
By EDITH M. LEDERER The Associated Press Friday, June 23, 2006; 6:30 PM UNITED NATIONS -- U.S. Ambassador John Bolton expressed concern Friday at North Korea's silence over a possible missile launch and called for sustained international pressure on Pyongyang, especially from China, to stop it. "I think the level of diplomatic activity that's been engaged in is quite extensive," Bolton said, "and we're continuing that activity
Bolton has stressed that there are many unknowns about the missile. Asked Friday whether the North Koreans had attempted to reassure anyone about it, he said, "I'm not aware that they have said anything one way or the other as to what's under the nose cone." "I'm not aware that they've said anything at all, and that's a matter of concern," he added. That's "not just the way you conduct business when you're contemplating a test like this." The North has said it is willing to talk to Washington about its missile concerns, repeating its long-held desire for direct meetings with the Americans. Washington, however, has refused, and insists it will meet the North only in the framework of six-nation talks aimed at ridding Pyongyang of its nuclear weapons program which have been stalled since September.
Bolton, an arms control expert, said the possible North Korean missile launch demonstrates why President Bush was right to withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002 "to develop a limited (missile) defense capability for the United States against attacks from rogue states." "We're not as far along as we might have been because the program was essentially terminated after President Clinton took office, but we've made extensive progress now and precisely this threat shows why we need more," he said. [Media] [Bilateral] [Double standards] [Threat]
Official: U.S. Can Hit N. Korea Missile
By ROBERT BURNS The Associated Press Friday, June 23, 2006; 6:27 PM
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon's missile defense chief predicted on Friday that interceptor rockets would hit and destroy a North Korean missile in flight if President Bush gave the order to attack it on a path to U.S. territory.
Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry A. Obering III, director of the Missile Defense Agency, told reporters he has little doubt that the interceptor system would work, even though it has never been used in a real emergency and even though the U.S. government knows relatively little about how the North Korean missile would perform.
Obering refused to say whether the U.S. missile defense system is ready now for a possible intercept mission, but noted that it has been designed specifically to defend U.S. territory against known missile threats from North Korea [Missile defense] [Threat]
U.S. Rejects Suggestion to Strike N. Korea Before It Fires Missile
By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, June 23, 2006; Page A21
Senior Bush administration officials tried to ease tensions yesterday over a possible North Korean missile launch, playing down the idea of using the nascent missile defense system and brushing aside a provocative proposal to launch a preemptive strike against the missile site.
The officials, including Vice President Cheney and national security adviser Stephen J. Hadley, said they were pressing diplomatic options to persuade North Korea not to launch a long-range missile for the first time since 1998. "We think diplomacy is the right answer, and that is what we are pursuing," Hadley told reporters who were with President Bush in Budapest. Cheney minimized the threat posed by North Korea to the United States, saying that its "missile capabilities are fairly rudimentary" and that "their test flights in the past haven't been notably successful." [Partisan] [Spin] [Dissension] [Evidence] [Friction]
No, Don't Blow It Up
A Saner Approach to a North Korean Missile Test
By Charles L. "Jack" Pritchard
Friday, June 23, 2006; Page A25
For 1,971 days the Bush administration ignored North Korea's missile program as unimportant and unthreatening to the security of the United States. Then it woke up. Unfortunately, the alarm clock was North Korea's preparation to test a long-range missile. By simply putting a Taepodong ICBM on the launch pad, North Korea has managed to turn truly smart people into foolish ones.
In the week or so since word spread that Pyongyang was erecting and then fueling a Taepodong, we have seen a spate of opinion pieces declaring the following: that North Korea is in violation of its own missile moratorium and the Sept. 19, 2005, Beijing Joint Statement; that the Chinese and South Koreans are at fault for coddling the enemy; and that South Korea is a runaway ally full of appeasers, and we should work around it.
But the most egregious suggestion comes from an American treasure whom I admire beyond words: William J. Perry, former defense secretary and special assistant for North Korea policy. Perry and co-author Ashton B. Carter advocate a preemptive military strike against North Korea's missile while it sits on the launch pad. While criticizing President Bush's preemption in Iraq, Perry justifies a strike against North Korea as a prudent policy before mortal threats to U.S. security can develop. He argues that because we will forewarn North Korea that South Korea had nothing to do with it, Pyongyang is unlikely to attack the South. But just to be prudent, he says we should beef up our military forces in South Korea. That way, if war does break out, we will prevail swiftly with less cost in lives.
If you were Kim Jong Il and saw a buildup of American forces on the Korean Peninsula before an announced preemptive airstrike, would you be thinking that it would be only a limited strike and not the start of an effort to bring down your regime?
The U.S. negotiating team began a concentrated effort to walk back Pyongyang's missile program, and the result was the missile moratorium of September 1999. The moratorium specified that North Korea would not launch a long-range missile of any kind while talks about its missile program were going on between Washington and Pyongyang. North Korea subsequently extended the moratorium unilaterally in September 2002. In March 2005, Pyongyang announced that it would no longer observe the missile moratorium. Fifteen months later, we are caught like a deer in the headlights
But the missile test is not a violation of anything more than our pride, ripping a gaping hole in the false logic that talking with the North Koreans somehow rewards and empowers them. To the contrary, we should be opening avenues of dialogue with Pyongyang [Bilateral]
Mondale Backs Pre-Emptive Missile Strike
The Associated Press Friday, June 23, 2006; 9:32 PM
MINNEAPOLIS -- Former Vice President Walter Mondale said Friday he supports a pre-emptive U.S. strike against a North Korean missile, saying the U.S. should tell North Korea to dismantle the missile or "we are going to take it out."
"I think it would end the nuclear long-range dreams of this dangerous country," said Mondale, who was the 1984 Democratic presidential nominee and a former U.S. ambassador to Japan.
S. Korea: North Missile Test Not Imminent
By BURT HERMAN The Associated Press Thursday, June 22, 2006; 9:19 AM
SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea's defense minister said Thursday that Seoul believes North Korea's missile launch is not imminent despite concern in the region that the communist nation would test-fire a long-range missile. "It is our judgment that a launch is not imminent," Defense Minister Yoon Kwang-ung told a parliamentary meeting in comments confirmed by his ministry. [Friction] [Evidence]
US won't necessarily shoot down N.Korea missile
By Carol Giacomo and Will Dunham Reuters Thursday, June 22, 2006; 8:28 PM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea is far along in its preparations for testing a long-range ballistic missile but the United States would not necessarily use its missile defense system to shoot it down, U.S. officials said on Thursday. [Evidence] [Legality]
If Necessary, Strike and Destroy
North Korea Cannot Be Allowed to Test This Missile
By Ashton B. Carter and William J. Perry
Thursday, June 22, 2006; Page A29
North Korean technicians are reportedly in the final stages of fueling a long-range ballistic missile that some experts estimate can deliver a deadly payload to the United States. The last time North Korea tested such a missile, in 1998, it sent a shock wave around the world, but especially to the United States and Japan, both of which North Korea regards as archenemies. They recognized immediately that a missile of this type makes no sense as a weapon unless it is intended for delivery of a nuclear warhead.
A year later North Korea agreed to a moratorium on further launches, which it upheld -- until now. But there is a critical difference between now and 1998. Today North Korea openly boasts of its nuclear deterrent, has obtained six to eight bombs' worth of plutonium since 2003 and is plunging ahead to make more in its Yongbyon reactor. The six-party talks aimed at containing North Korea's weapons of mass destruction have collapsed.
Should the United States allow a country openly hostile to it and armed with nuclear weapons to perfect an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering nuclear weapons to U.S. soil? We believe not. The Bush administration has unwisely ballyhooed the doctrine of "preemption," which all previous presidents have sustained as an option rather than a dogma. It has applied the doctrine to Iraq, where the intelligence pointed to a threat from weapons of mass destruction that was much smaller than the risk North Korea poses. (The actual threat from Saddam Hussein was, we now know, even smaller than believed at the time of the invasion.) But intervening before mortal threats to U.S. security can develop is surely a prudent policy.
Therefore, if North Korea persists in its launch preparations, the United States should immediately make clear its intention to strike and destroy the North Korean Taepodong missile before it can be launched.
We should not conceal our determination to strike the Taepodong if North Korea refuses to drain the fuel out and take it back to the warehouse. When they learn of it, our South Korean allies will surely not support this ultimatum -- indeed they will vigorously oppose it. The United States should accordingly make clear to the North that the South will play no role in the attack, which can be carried out entirely with U.S. forces and without use of South Korean territory. [Premption] [cbw] [Partisan] [Friction] [US military dominance] [Partisan]
U.S. moves up new radar test in Japan
Monday, June 26, 2006
WASHINGTON (Kyodo) The United States will test a high-resolution military radar in northeastern Japan as early as Monday to monitor moves related to North Korea's possible launch of a ballistic missile, a U.S. government official said Sunday. Operation of the mobile X-Band radar at the Air Self-Defense Force's Shariki base in Tsugaru, Aomori Prefecture, was initially scheduled to begin in the summer. Fears that North Korea might test-fire a Taepodong-2 missile emerged after moves interpreted as launch preparations were reported earlier this month. [Threat] [US-Japan alliance] [Japanese remilitarisation]
I Say Satellite, You Say Missile
FM Vows 'Clear' Response to N.Korea Missile Launch Cheering N.Korea All the Way to a Missile Launch N.Korea's Missile Plans 'Thwarted by Weather' N.Korea Unlikely to Have Fueled Missile: NIS N.Korea Hints It May Halt Missile Launch for Talks
The government has reportedly concluded that what North Korea is preparing to test-launch is likely a satellite rather than a ballistic missile. The North Korean regime has starved millions of citizens to death or driven them into modern-day slavery and prostitution in China, but, our government says, it now merely wants to launch a satellite to compete in the noble field of science and technology.
We have no way of knowing exactly on what grounds the government makes a judgment that differs so markedly from that of the U.S. and Japan. Everyone knows that more than 90 percent of our information about the North relies on U.S. intelligence satellites. Since when has the government developed its own intelligence capability? If it did, it would be a spectacular achievement. [Evidence] [US military dominance] [Friction] [Partisan]
Cheering N.Korea All the Way to a Missile Launch
Reports have it that North Korea has completed preparations to test-launch a Taepodong-2 missile with an estimated radius of 6,700 km. If the North test-fires an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland, it would put an instant strain on security on the Korean Peninsula.
Our own government, in the full knowledge that North Korea was building up to test-firing a new missile, has acted in a way that inspires no confidence. It sent North Korea a signal that it is ready to discuss redrawing the Northern Limit Line, the sea extension of the armistice line, and signed an accord to cooperate in the development of the North's light industries and underground resources
N.Korea's Missile Plans 'Thwarted by Weather'
The rumored imminent launch by North Korea of an intercontinental ballistic missile may have been delayed by a powerful enemy - the weather. After U.S. officials claimed an alleged Taepodong-2 missile had been loaded with liquid fuel on Sunday, the final stage before the launch, the weather at the North's launch facility in Hwadae-gun, North Hamgyeong Province has been either stormy or overcast from Sunday to Tuesday. Experts say missile and satellite launch equipment is affected by such weather.
South Korea believes the North is more likely to be launching a satellite. "Satellite launches are only carried out when there are no electrically charged clouds within a 14km area," one expert with the Korea Aerospace Research Institute said. With the rainy season set to start this week, it looks as if North Korea will only have a narrow window of opportunity for any launch. [Intelligence] [Friction]
Trapping Iran with a Tripwire
by Jorge Hirsch C all me paranoid, but I don't buy the changed face of the Bush administration. Smiling Condoleezza Rice saying "we understand that it may take a little time for Iran to assess the situation," Bush saying of Iran's reaction "sounds like a positive response to me," unnamed American official saying that eventually "this Iranian regime can have enrichment at home." Is this Neverland? Or is it a con job? It is possible that it is all true and sincere. It is also possible that Santa Claus exists. But it is more likely that it is a trap.
The North Korea Lesson
What is happening with Iran today has similarity with the North Korea situation in 1994. North Korea was enticed by the Clinton administration to give up its graphite reactors, in exchange for "carrots" light water reactors and oil supplies ( "Agreed Framework").
In October 2002, the Bush administration announced that North Korea had admitted to possessing a secret uranium enrichment program. The construction of the light water reactors was stopped, and the promised oil shipments to North Korea were stopped.
Naturally, North Korea concluded that the Agreed Framework was dead and acted accordingly.
North Korea denies that it admitted to any uranium enrichment program, and the Bush administration has provided no evidence that such a program exists in North Korea. It has not specified how far along it is. To make enriched uranium for bombs requires a large scale industrial effort, thousands of centrifuges. Where are they?
There is no reason to believe that this is anything but another deliberate "failure" of US intelligence, and that the North Korean enrichment program is any more real than Saddam's WMD's. The Bush administration decided it was time to abrogate the Agreed Framework, and took action to do so. [Agreed Framework] [HEU] [Evidence] [Negotiation style]
Don't forget those other 27,000 nukes
Hans Blix Tribune Media Services Published: June 8, 2006
STOCKHOLM During the Cold War, it proved possible to reach many significant agreements on disarmament. Why does it seem so impossible now, when the great powers no longer feel threatened by one another? Almost all the talk these days is about the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to states like Iran and North Korea, or to terrorists. Foreign ministers meet again and again, concerned that Iran has enriched a few milligrams of uranium to a 4 percent level. Some want to start waving the stick immediately. They are convinced that Iran will eventually violate its commitment under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to forego nuclear weapons. While it's desirable that the foreign ministers talk about Iran, they don't seem to devote any thought to the fact that there are still some 27,000 real nuclear weapons in the United States, Russia and other states, and that many of these are on hair-trigger alert.
Proposal Would Let Iran Enrich Uranium
Tehran Must Meet U.N. Guidelines
By Karl Vick and Dafna Linzer Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, June 7, 2006; Page A01
TEHRAN, June 6 -- The confidential diplomatic package backed by Washington and formally presented to Iran on Tuesday leaves open the possibility that Tehran will be able to enrich uranium on its own soil, U.S. and European officials said. That concession, along with a promise of U.S. assistance for an Iranian civilian nuclear energy program, is conditioned on Tehran suspending its current nuclear work until the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency determines with confidence that the program is peaceful. U.S. officials said Iran would also need to satisfy the U.N. Security Council that it is not seeking a nuclear weapon, a benchmark that White House officials believe could take years, if not decades, to achieve. [Spin]
Demise of reactor project
[EDITORIAL]
The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization announced last week the official termination of a project to build two civilian nuclear reactors in North Korea. The international consortium's decision to scrap the $4.6 billion project had been anticipated, but we still cannot but feel a strong sense of dismay and frustration. Above all, the collapse of the project once again demonstrates that an agreement on paper with North Korea is one thing, and its actual implementation is quite another. This bitter experience teaches us yet another lesson that any such premature initiative toward North Korea must not be repeated. The project to build two 1,000-megawatt light-water reactors was conceived in a U.S.-North Korea agreement in 1994, called the "Agreed Framework." Construction began in 1997, but since then the project has been drifting largely due to the lack of trust between North Korea and the United States. In 2002, Washington accused the North of running a secret uranium-based atomic program
Hence, what's left is nothing but $1.5 billion in wasted money and rusting piles of junk. What's more painful is that South Korea, which has covered $1.1 billion of the bill, has to bear another $200 million in "liquidation expenses." [KEDO] [Victim] [Dilemma]
UK group says North stresses submarine warfare
June 05, 2006 ? North Korea's submarine warfare capacity has increased dramatically and the number of its troops under arms has been reduced, according to a report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. The institute is based in Britain, and released a report last weekend called "Military Balance 2006," an examination of the military capacity of 118 nations. The institute said the changes in the North's military machine suggested that Pyongyang was focusing on doing the maximum possible damage to the infrastructure of South Korea in case of war rather than maintaining a large coterie of underequipped ground troops. The report said North Korea increased its submarine fleet from 70 in 2004 to 88 today. Those submarines have the capability to mine Korea's major harbors, such as Busan or Pohang, in order to block the import of fuel, other natural resources and U.S. military reinforcements. [Military balance] [Evidence] [Victim]
IISS: Military balance 2006
NORTH KOREA As North Korea continues to expand its nuclear arsenal, diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis remain at an impasse. North Korea, which claims to have a nuclear deterrent, currently has enough plutonium for 5-11 nuclear weapons. Every year the 5 MW(e) research reactor at Yongbyon can produce another 7.5kg of plutonium, about one weapon's worth (depending, inter alia, on how long the fuel rods are in the reactor). In addition, in about 3-4 years, if North Korea is able to finish construction of the 50 MW(e) reactor that was frozen under the 1994 Agreed Framework, it will be able to produce another 56kg [Victim]
KEDO LWR Project Officially Terminated
(June 1, 2006)
The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) held an executive board meeting in New York, the United States on May 31, 2006 and decided on the official termination of the light water reactors (LWR) project. The executive board meeting adopted a resolution stipulating that KEDO would yield the right to the equipment at the LWR sites to Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO). In return, it will cover the fees arising from the liquidation process. The South Korean government has endeavored for the restart of the LWR project but under the circumstances that the settlement of the North Korean nuclear issue has been postponed, it came to terminate the project through consultations with other executive member countries. [KEDO] [Dilemma]
$1.5 billion later, KEDO pulls the plug on North Korea nuclear construction
June 02, 2006 ? The death knell sounded on Wednesday in New York for a once-ambitious project to build two nuclear power plants in North Korea. The board of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization officially abandoned the project, citing a lack of cooperation by North Korea. A statement from the organization complained of a "continued and extended failure" by Pyongyang to cooperate in international efforts to end its nuclear weapons programs. [Spin] [Media]
Reflections on KEDO
[EDITORIALS] The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, or KEDO, announced yesterday that the project to build light water reactors at Sinpo, North Korea, has been scrapped. The infiltration of a North Korean submarine into Gangneung, South Korea, in 1996 and the firing of a Daepodong missile in 1998 were all incidents that cast a shadow on the project. In particular, the admission in 2002 by North Korea that it was working on a nuclear program using enriched uranium was the final straw in the Bush administration's decision to halt a project that it was already skeptical about [Media] [Spin] [Admission] [Disinformation]
DPRK Foreign Ministry; DPRK's Stand on Six-Party Talks Reclarified
Pyongyang, June 1 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry Thursday released the following statement reclarifying the DPRK's stand on the six-party talks: The six-party talks for the solution to the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula have been deadlocked for the last more than six months.
The U.S. knows well that it cannot persistently impose the same demand upon the DPRK at the future six-party talks as it did and it cannot but be censured by other parties if this happens. It is also well aware of the fact that it can not but attend the "give-and-take" negotiations on the normalization of relations with the DPRK, the conclusion of a peace agreement and the provision of light water reactors, etc. whether it likes them or not in case the talks are held. That would mean a concession to the DPRK, which would not please the hard-liners within the U.S. administration keen to tide over the current crisis with a hard-line approach and thus tip the situation favorable to them in the mid-term election slated for November. The DPRK remains unchanged in its stand and will to sincerely implement the joint statement of the six-party talks and denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. We will not need even a single nuclear weapon once we get convinced that the U.S. does not antagonize us and confidence is built between the DPRK and the U.S. and, accordingly, we are no longer exposed to the U.S. threat. This is what we have already clarified more than once. The DPRK has already made a strategic decision to abandon its nuclear program and this was reflected in the above-said joint statement. We are fully ready to discuss the issues of bilateral relations, peaceful coexistence, the conclusion of a peace agreement, the provision of light water reactors and other points mentioned in the statement along with the issue of abandoning the nuclear program on the principle of "simultaneous action". What remains to be done is for the U.S. to create conditions and climate whereby the DPRK may return to the talks and fulfill its commitment, free from any pressure.
Seoul Hopes for Fair Settlement of Terminated NK Reactor Project
By Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporter The government Thursday expressed regret over the termination of an international project to build light water reactors (LWRs) in North Korea, while pledging to cooperate with other relevant countries to cope with the decision's aftermath. Asking for the public's understanding and cooperation on the matter, the Unification Ministry stressed the process of liquidation will put no additional burden on taxpayer's money. ``And Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) will also suffer no loss as it can take over all the technical materials and equipment that have been designed or produced for the project so far,'' the ministry said in a statement. The state-run KEPCO was South Korea's main contractor for the international project, for which Seoul shouldered some 70 percent of the bill, or over $ 1.13 billion. [KEDO] [Dilemma]
Seoul to Foot the Bill for Winding Up N.K. Reactor Project
N.Korean Light-Water Reactor Project Officially Dead
A project to build a light-water reactor in North Korea's Sinpo was officially terminated on Thursday after some US$1.56 billion was injected into the project. The termination comes 10 years and six months after North Korea and the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) agreed to build two light-water reactors in the North in December 1995. Construction started in August 1997. South Korea has footed some 70 percent or $1.14 billion of the bill, Japan 22 percent or $407 million and the EU $18 million. Seoul and energy provider KEPCO estimate that an additional $150-200 million will be needed to wind up the project including compensation for the companies that took part. KEDO said the project was terminated since North Korea did not stop nuclear weapons development as agreed and vowed to seek compensation. But government officials dismissed this as a "political announcement" and hold out no hope the North will pay. [KEDO] [Dilemma]
N.Korean Light-Water Reactor Project Officially Dead
Seoul to Foot the Bill for Winding Up N.K. Reactor Project
The international energy consortium once tasked with helping North Korea has officially ended a project to build two light-water reactors in the communist state to persuade the North to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions. The decision follows a prolonged standoff in multilateral negotiations over the North's nuclear pursuits.
The termination of the US$4.6 billion project means a huge financial loss for South Korea, which had already spent more than $1 billion on the project, footing most of the bill. State-run energy provider KEPCO is to shoulder the cost estimated at around $150 million to $200 million of killing the reactor project. KEPCO will secure rights to all of KEDO's materials including nuclear reactor parts outside North Korea worth some $830 million. Japan has spent some $407 million while the European Union put $18 million into the project. [Tribute] [KEDO]
KEDO ends reactor project in N. Korea
An international consortium yesterday announced the termination of a technically defunct nuclear reactor project in North Korea. The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization said it will also seek compensation from Pyongyang for the dissolution of the costly light-water reactor project in Geumpo. "KEDO requires payment from the DPRK for financial losses in connection with the light-water reactor project, and any issues between KEDO and the DPRK in this regard should be settled in accordance with KEDO's agreement with the DPRK," the statement said.
But the project was halted in 2002 when the United States accused North Korea of a clandestine nuclear weapons program using uranium. The participating countries, most of which now belong to the current six-party talks, agreed last year that the KEDO project was defunct.
South Korea has been taking the initiative in the $1.56 billion project. Seoul put up nearly $1.14 billion, while Japan provided $407 million and the EU $18 million. The United States was in charge of providing heavy fuel oil. [KEDO] [Victim]
Plan for Nuke Plants in N. Korea Killed
By PETER JAMES SPIELMANN The Associated Press Wednesday, May 31, 2006; 9:11 PM NEW YORK -- A multinational project to build two nuclear power plants for North Korea in exchange for U.N. inspections of the communist country's atomic sites was formally killed off Wednesday by the United States, Japan, South Korea and European Union. The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, or KEDO, was formed in 1995 to finance and build two light-water reactors, from which it is difficult to extract weapons-grade plutonium. Those reactors were to replace a graphite-cooled reactor that can be used to produce weapons-grade plutonium.
KEDO has been slowly winding down since the beginning of President Bush's administration, which never trusted the "reactors-for-inspections" deal. A Wednesday statement from the executive board of KEDO blamed Pyongyang's "continued and repeated failure" to cooperate with the international effort to induce North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program.The executive board members of KEDO are the United States, South Korea, Japan, and the European Union KEDO also demanded that North Korea compensate the agency for the multibillion-dollar cost of the project _ a dim prospect given North Korea's isolation and belligerency. [Chutzpah] [Victim]

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MAY 2006

The Joint Declaration of the Non-Aligned Movement on Iran's Nuclear Energy Program
MINISTERIAL MEETING OF THE COORDINATING BUREAU OF THE NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT PUfRAJAYA, 27 - 30MAY 200_ NAM/MM/COB/SOM/5(Rev.1) 29 May 2006
Hill in Seoul to Discuss Nukes
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Christopher Hill, the U.S. top envoy to the six-party talks, arrived in Seoul on Thursday after visiting China where he said there could be no progress until North Korea agrees to return to the table.
Iraq Official Says Iran Has Right to Atomic Power Goal
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. Published: May 27, 2006 BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 26 - The Iraqi foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, on Friday endorsed the right of Iran to pursue the "technological and scientific capabilities" to create nuclear power for peaceful purposes, but shied away from the subject of uranium enrichment, which the United States says could allow Iran to build a nuclear weapon. [NPT] [Nuclear energy]
Envoy says no progress on North Korea talks
By Lindsay Beck Reuters Thursday, May 25, 2006; 3:24 AM
BEIJING (Reuters) - The U.S. envoy to negotiations on dismantling North Korea's nuclear program held talks with his Chinese counterpart on Thursday, but said there could be no progress until Pyongyang agrees to come back to the table.
Iran could be west's trial run - Mbeki
Jonathan Katzenellenbogen
International Affairs Editor WESTERN states could be putting pressure on Iran in a "trial run" to prevent countries without nuclear weapons from enriching uranium, President Thabo Mbeki said last night. If Iran's peaceful nuclear ambitions were blocked, other signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which include SA, might have to forgo this right at some stage, Mbeki said at a dinner in London. In this light, he said, Iran's rights to the peaceful use of nuclear technology needed to be protected like those of other countries. "So the Iran thing is not unique in itself, but is a pacesetter for (what) might happen in the future," he said.
U-turn by White House as it blocks direct talks with Iran
· Hardening of Bush policy rebuffs Tehran's approach · Move appears to surprise US ambassador to Iraq
Julian Borger in Washington and Ewen MacAskill Thursday May 25, 2006 The Guardian
The White House yesterday ruled out previously authorised direct talks between Tehran and the US ambassador in Baghdad, which were to have focused on the situation in Iraq. The move marks a hardening of the Bush administration's position, despite pressure from the international community to enter into direct dialogue with Iran. [Negotiating style] [Bilateral]
Quick end to nuclear crises sought by diplomats
May 25, 2006 ? Top diplomats from the 28 member countries of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) called yesterday for a speedy resolution to the North Korean and Iranian nuclear crises, South Korean delegates said. The annual foreign ministers' meeting is underway in the Qatari capital of Doha. South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon also asked for support from the member countries in Asia and the Middle East for Seoul's efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue and bring lasting peace to the Korean Peninsula.
Seoul Vigilant Over Report of N. Korean Missile Launch
By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter South Korea is trying to verify through diverse channels a report that North Korea is preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile that could hit parts of the United States, but no concrete signs have yet emerged, the Defense Ministry said on Friday. ``We are trying to confirm the report's authenticity, but so far I don't believe it is highly trustworthy,'' a senior ministry official said, asking not to be named. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it is paying close attention to North Korea's missile reports. ``Regarding the issue, our ministry has already been closely watching (the North),'' a ministry official said, adding there has not been any credible intelligence of a missile being fired.
Seoul Tries to Dissuade North From Missile Launch
U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies have reportedly spotted preparations for the test launch of a Taepodong-type missile in North Korea. Sources say the South Korean government is making use of all channels to dissuade the North from going ahead with the launch. A senior official in Seoul said U.S. spy satellites have captured images of large trailers at missile platforms in the Hwadae-gun area of North Hamgyeong Province transporting large objects that are thought to be parts of a Taepodong-II missile. Experts estimate that the missiles have a firing range of 10,000-15,000 km, which would put Alaska in its radius, given the 30 m length of the objects. In preparation for the possible launch, U.S. authorities are increasing sorties of U-2 and RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft in the region. The government says it is likely that North Korea is moving the missiles around to send a message to Washington that the country is not going to cave in over U.S. financial sanctions. But any test launch would be a major setback in Pyongyang's relations with the U.S. and Japan, which is why the South is doing everything it can to urge the North to desist.
U.S. to Strengthen Missile Defense Against N. Korea
The U.S. has decided to beef up its missile defense systems over fears that North Korea and Iran are continuing to develop their missile technologies. The Department of Defense's Missile Defense Agency (MDA) budget for fiscal 2007 rates North Korea as "nuclear-capable" and says it has not given up ambitions to develop a long-range ballistic missile. The MDA estimates that North Korea's Rodong missiles have a range of 1,300 km, enough to reach U.S. military bases in South Korea and Japan. It says the North is also poised to test Taepodong missiles, which the CIA believes could reach the U.S. mainland with a nuclear payload. As for Iran, the MDA says the country continues to develop improved Shahab-3 missiles, also with a range of 1,300 km, and will have the capability to develop intercontinental ballistic missile or ICBMs by 2015. In response, the MDA is set to deploy up to 20 ground-based interceptors in Alaska and station another two in California in 2007. [Missile Defense] [Camouflage] [China confronation]
Senator drafts roadmap bill for N.Korea talks
By Carol Giacomo, Diplomatic Correspondent Reuters Friday, May 19, 2006; 6:13 AM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A leading Republican senator is preparing legislation that aims to jump-start stalled nuclear talks with North Korea by putting the political weight of the U.S. Congress behind specific elements of a deal. The draft written by Sen. Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and obtained by Reuters, appears to go beyond what the Bush administration has laid out publicly in defining what Pyongyang must do to end the nuclear crisis and what it could expect in return.
Critically, it offers a timeline under which such steps would occur. The draft, which is open to change, was made public at a time when the North Korea problem has been eclipsed by an international dispute over Iran's nuclear ambitions and as Iraq remains in turmoil. "It's Senator Lugar's perspective that ongoing events in Tehran and Baghdad must not distract from addressing the North Korean nuclear crisis," a committee staff aide told Reuters. [Sequencing] [Dissension]
A Nuclear Test for Diplomacy
By Henry A. Kissinger
Tuesday, May 16, 2006; Page A17 The recent letter from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to President Bush needs to be considered on several levels. It can be treated as a ploy to obstruct U.N. Security Council deliberations on Iran's disregard of its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. This consideration, and the demagogic tone of the letter, merited its rejection by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. But the first direct approach by an Iranian leader to a U.S. president in more than 25 years may also have intentions beyond the tactical and propagandistic, and its demagoguery may be a way to get the radical part of the Iranian public used to dialogue with the United States. America's challenge is to define its own strategy and purposes regarding the most fateful issue confronting us today. The world is faced with the nightmarish prospect that nuclear weapons will become a standard part of national armament and wind up in terrorist hands. The negotiations on Korean and Iranian nuclear proliferation mark a watershed. A failed diplomacy would leave us with a choice between the use of force or a world where restraint has been eroded by the inability or unwillingness of countries that have the most to lose to restrain defiant fanatics. One need only imagine what would have happened had any of the terrorist attacks on New York, Washington, London, Madrid, Istanbul or Bali involved even the crudest nuclear weapon.
The public debate often focuses on whether the United States is prepared to engage in bilateral discussions with North Korea or Iran. With respect to Korea, that is a subsidiary issue. The six-power talks provide adequate opportunity for a bilateral exchange of views. What Pyongyang is attempting to achieve -- and what the Bush administration has rightly resisted -- is a separate negotiation with Washington outside the six-party framework, which would prevent other parties in the Beijing process from undertaking joint responsibilities. If bilateral talks replaced the six-party forum, some of America's present partners might choose to place the onus for breaking every deadlock on Washington, in effect isolating the United States. [Bilateral]
NK Urged to Abandon Nukes for 'Brighter' Future
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday urged Pyongyang to return to the six-party talks, saying North Korea will have a much ``brighter and better'' future should it give up its nuclear weapons programs.
Blair presses the nuclear button
· New generation of atomic stations endorsed by PM · Failure to act would be 'a dereliction of my duty'
Patrick Wintour and David Adam Wednesday May 17, 2006 The Guardian
Tony Blair ignited a political storm, including within his own cabinet, by endorsing a new generation of nuclear power stations last night. Mr Blair warned that failing to replace the current ageing plants would fuel global warming, endanger Britain's energy security and represent a dereliction of duty to the country. [Double standards]
NK Urged to Abandon Nukes for 'Brighter' Future
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday urged Pyongyang to return to the six-party talks, saying North Korea will have a much ``brighter and better'' future should it give up its nuclear weapons programs.
Iran President Rejects Europe Incentives
The Associated Press Wednesday, May 17, 2006; 2:56 AM
TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday rejected a potential European offer of incentives, including a light-water nuclear reactor, to give up uranium enrichment. "Do you think you are dealing with a 4-year-old child to whom you can give walnuts and chocolates and get gold from him?" Ahmadinejad told thousands of people in central Iran. [Negotiating style]
U.S. Nuclear Negotiator to Visit S. Korea
By BO-MI LIM The Associated Press Tuesday, May 16, 2006; 11:34 PM
SEOUL, South Korea -- The top U.S. nuclear negotiator will visit South Korea next week to focus on ways to resume the stalled six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, officials said Wednesday. During his two-day trip, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill "plans to discuss important issue between South Korea and the United States, including six-party talks," South Korea's Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon told reporters.
"The North Korean Problem", Japan and the US: The Politics of Hypocrisy
By Gavan McCormack
Japan Focus 15 May 2006
1. Nuclear Politics and Hypocrisy For 60 years the world has faced no greater threat than nuclear weapons. Yet nuclear politics, in principle the most urgent for human survival, has been in practice the most ridden with hypocrisy. Mohammed ElBaradei, Director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has described as "unworkable" the way of thinking that it is "morally reprehensible for some counties to pursue weapons of mass destruction yet morally acceptable for others to rely on them for security and indeed to continue to refine their capacities and postulate plans for their use." [1] While he d id not spell out particular countries, the nuclear superpowers plainly fill the category of countries that "rely on.., refine.., postulate plans for" use of nuclear weapons, while they undoubtedly see as "morally reprehensible" the attempt of other countries, notably North Korea and Iran, to do likewise. While plainly hypocritical, the former is the position of the United States (and its allies, such as Japan).
While it is common in the Western (US-centered) world to think of the "North Korea Problem" in terms of a threatening, nuclear-obsessed, tiny and irrational country with a political system based on "great" and "dear" leaders that refuses to follow common sense, from North Korea the world looks very different. The "problem" is the United States, and the half century of hostile, violent and always intimidating confrontation from the intervention that divided the country in 1945 and the devastating war of 1950 to 1953 to the hostility that continues to this day. [Double standards] [NPT]
Nuclear plant in North is functional, photos show
May 15, 2006 ? ? Views of the 5-megawatt nuclear reactor at the Yongbyon facility on Feb. 22, 2000, above, and Jan. 5, 2006. The steam plume in the 2006 view is indicative of the reactor being active. Noth Korea restarted the reactor on Feb. 27, 2003. [Global Security] North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear reactor is fully operational, according to satellite pictures recently posted on the Web site of Global Security, an online military journal. Photos taken in January clearly show steam coming out of the facilities. A total of eight pictures, taken between February 2000 and January, are on the Web site. The agency compared past pictures from the nuclear reactor with the most recent ones.
Official: Defections won't affect talks
May 09, 2006 ? The decision by Washington to accept six North Korean defectors should not have any bearing on stalled North Korean nuclear talks, a senior Blue House official said yesterday. "Since it's a humanitarian issue it should not have any special influence on the six-party talks," the official said. The North, meanwhile, yesterday put the blame on the impasse in the talks on Washington. Referring to the financial sanctions, Pyongyang Broadcasting Station said that Washington continued to employ a hostile policy toward the North and had little interest in moving the six-party talks forward. Washington continues to put the squeeze on the North through various means, including pressuring a Macao-based bank suspected of being linked to North Korean illicit activities to freeze accounts and actively voicing its concerns about human rights in North Korea. One Seoul official predicted yesterday that Washington would keep pressuring the North. "Human rights and illicit activities are issues that Washington wants to make clear are not negotiable," the official said. "They [Washington] are having fun because the North is reacting in ways it never has. It's an effective tool that won't be given up easily." In Seoul, the senior Blue House official suggested that Washington's decision to accept refugees came because it must have felt the "burden" of not having accepted a North Korean defector until now. [Friction] [Manipulation] [Refugee encouragement] [Camouflage] [In denial]
The Regional Implications of the U.S.-India Nuclear Agreement
Shehzad Nadeem | April 29, 2006
Foreign Policy In Focus www.fpif.org
As the U.S. Senate begins debating the new nuclear agreement with India, far too little attention is being paid to the regional security implications of the deal. Instead of simply rubber stamping the deal, the Senate should examine its far reaching effects on security and nonproliferation efforts. [Proliferation]
Pakistan won't let US question freed scientist
Reuters Tuesday, May 2, 2006; 9:55 AM ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - U.S. investigators probing nuclear proliferation would not be allowed to meet a Pakistan scientist recently released from detention, oficials said on Tuesday. Authorities last month released Mohammad Farooq, a former director of procurement at a uranium enrichment laboratory set up by disgraced scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.
Khan -- revered as father of Pakistan's atom bomb -- has been under house arrest since a probe was launched against him in late 2003 after his televised confession that he sold nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
Japan Joins the Race for Uranium Amid Global Expansion of Nuclear Power
By Hisane MASAKI
Japan Focus 1 May 2006
TOKYO - Energy-hungry Japan is revving up its drive to secure uranium abroad as global demand for nuclear power rises amid stubbornly high oil and gas prices and growing environmental concerns. Major Japanese trading and energy firms are looking at multibillion yen investments in uranium mine projects, with electronics conglomerate Toshiba in February purchasing Westinghouse, the US power plant arm of British Nuclear Fuels, for about US$5.4 billion. Meanwhile, the government, which attaches great importance to nuclear power as a key to ensuring national energy security, is also considering assistance to help domestic firms in the intensifying global competition for fuel at nuclear power plants. Among those measures are financial aid and more investment-insurance coverage by government-affiliated organizations. Japan is already the world's third-largest nuclear power nation in terms of the number of civilian nuclear plants in operation. Uranium prices are climbing as energy-hungry China and India are stepping up construction of nuclear power plants to fuel their high-flying economies, while some industrialized countries, including the US and Britain, are moving to build new nuclear power plants after many years of suspension following nuclear accidents at Three Mile Island in the US in 1979 and Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986 [Nuclear energy]

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APRIL 2006

Decrepit NPT or New Regional Players in The Face of New Global Nuclear Power Politics?
by Chua Hearn Yuit and Yeo Lay Hwee April 20th, 2006
Chua Hearn Yuit, Researcher at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) and Yeo Lay Hwee, Director and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute, write, "The turn of the tide appears to have arrived for renewed confidence in developing nuclear energy as an alternative power source in the region since the global spectre of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, but more needs to be done in the areas of public education and measures to maintain both political and environmental security."
Time To Talk With Iran
By Robert E. Hunter Special to washingtonpost.com FROM THE RAND CORPORATION Wednesday, April 26, 2006; 12:00 AM
American and Iranian leaders are talking a great deal about each other -- when they should be devoting far more attention to talking to each other. Both sides are throwing sharp verbal punches with increasing frequency, amid news reports of a possible U.S. attack on Iranian nuclear facilities and continued efforts by Iran's leaders to advance their nation's nuclear capability. While preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power is a bipartisan goal shared by just about everyone, the risks and perils of a war with Iran are little discussed in public by government leaders and are barely mentioned by the media. Americans continue to uselessly dissect the motives for invading Iraq -- when it is too late to do anything about it -- while failing to debate the far more fateful consequences of conflict with Iran when it might still be prevented.
And the Bush administration talks directly to North Korea, perhaps the most dangerous and delusional regime in the world. America has never limited itself to talking only with its friends abroad.
The United States has given security guarantees to North Korea -- a declared nuclear power -- but has refused to put that possibility in play with the Iranians.
Iran to shun UN watchdog if hit by embargo
By Parisa Hafezi Reuters Tuesday, April 25, 2006; 6:42 PM
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said on Tuesday it would freeze ties with the U.N. nuclear watchdog and speed up its atomic program if it were hit by international sanctions. "If you impose sanctions, Iran will suspend its relations with the (IAEA) agency," chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani told a conference on nuclear issues in Tehran.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei offered to share Iran's nuclear technology with other countries, a statement Rice said should be a cause for concern. Iran says its atomic program is only for power generation. "The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to transfer the experience, science and technology of its scientists," he said.
"The only meaningful thing they could do now is kick out inspectors and withdraw from the NPT, as North Korea did."
Six party talks on North Korea in 'terminal decline'
By Anna Fifield in Seoul Published: April 25 2006 02:15 | Last updated: April 25 2006 02:15
The six-party talks aimed at convincing North Korea to relinquish its nuclear ambitions appear to be in terminal decline, analysts say after several diplomatic meetings this month failed to break an impasse in the talks.
President George W. Bush and Hu Jintao, his Chinese counterpart, made no progress on the issue during last week's summit in Washington, then Lee Jeong-seok, South Korea's unification minister, returned empty-handed from inter-Korean talks in Pyongyang last night. This came after negotiators from the six parties - China, Japan, Russia, the US and the two Koreas - attended a security forum in Tokyo this month but where the US and North Korean representatives did not even meet. Each of the events has been viewed as a chance to breathe life into the talks and while diplomats involved say none of the parties wants to be the one to walk away, many analysts are sceptical about the scope for further progress. "I don't think anything is going to come out of the six-party talks," says Joel Wit, a North Korea specialist at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a US think-tank. "At best it will become something where people meet every seven or eight months and nothing happens. At worst, they won't meet again."
are signs that Washington, encouraged by the surprising success of the sanctions, is planning more targeted measures against Kim Jong-il's regime. The Bush administration is preparing to crack down on ships bearing North Korean flags, a move that is likely to be essentially symbolic in the short-term, according to one US official, but part of a wider attempt to squeeze North Korea. It has also frozen the assets of Kohas, a Swiss industrial goods company, alleging it has been helping North Korea proliferate weapons of mass destruction. Additional moves are likely to jeopardise further the chances of luring North Korea back to the talks. "That would exacerbate suspicions in Pyongyang about the US commitment to give up its hostile policy towards North Korea," said one South Korean official. [Camouflage] [Sanctions]
DPRK Delegate Denounces U.S. Nuclear Doctrine
Pyongyang, April 21 (KCNA) -- The DPRK delegate made a speech at a meeting of the UN Disarmament Commission on April 11. The proliferation of nuclear weapons is quite natural in the presence of nuclear weapons and the threat of their use, he said, adding: The U.S. nuclear doctrine is a practical obstacle in the way of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Urging the nuclear weapon states to come to the conference table for a ban on nuclear weapons as demanded by the non-nuclear states including the non-aligned countries, he said: At the UN Security Council and disarmament bodies, the United States and its allies recently came out with the robber-like claim that the only thing that remained to be done was to block the proliferation of nuclear weapons as their nukes posed no threat, separating their nukes from the proliferation issue.
How to Regulate Nuclear Weapons
The U.S. Deal With India Could Be a Good Starting Point
By Selig S. Harrison
Sunday, April 23, 2006; Page B07
Why should India, with a spotless nonproliferation record, be denied access to U.S. civilian nuclear technology for electricity, while China -- which helped Pakistan and Iran in their efforts to acquire nuclear weapons -- can have it? The inequitable structure of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has resulted in built-in discrimination in favor of China and against India that has made it necessary and justifiable for the administration to conclude its civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with New Delhi.
The treaty is based on a legalistic fiction that underpins this discrimination. When it was concluded in 1968, only the five states that had already tested nuclear weapons were permitted to sign as "nuclear weapons states." China, which had tested in 1964, got in just under the wire. India tested in 1974, six years too late.
US-India Nuclear Deal Fuels an Asian Arms Race
By Pervez Hoodbhoy
For all who have opposed Pakistan's nuclear program over the years - including myself - the US-India nuclear agreement may be the worst thing that has happened in a long time. Post agreement: Pakistan's ruling elite is confused and bitter. They know that India has overtaken Pakistan in far too many areas for there to be any reasonable basis for symmetry. They see the US is now interested in reconstructing the geopolitics of South Asia and in repairing relations with India, not in mollifying Pakistani grievances. Nevertheless, there were lingering hopes of a sweetener during President George W. Bush's furtive and unwelcomed visit in March 2006 to Islamabad. There was none. [China confrontation] [Japanese remilitarisation]
The Demise of the NPT: New Players in the Proliferation Game
By Chua Hearn Yuit and Yeo Lay Hwee
[Chua and Yeo in this tour d'horizon of nuclear proliferation reveal the large number of players edging toward nuclear weapons capacity. They also hint at another central theme in US policy toward India: creating one more powerful link in the chain of China encirclement. The net effect is to doom hopes for a viable NPT regime, with the US leading the way in its demise. MS] The energy race currently led by China and India has not only created new waves in the existing geopolitical order but also exposed new dimensions to global nuclear power politics. [China confrontation]
Roh Still Needs Time to Solve NK Nuke Issue
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter
When the Roh Moo-hyun government was launched on Feb. 25 three years ago, one of his urgent tasks was to find a peaceful resolution to the North Korean nuclear stand-off.
U.S.-S. Korea Cooperation in Nuke Development Assailed
Pyongyang, April 1 (KCNA) -- The Korean Anti-Nuke Peace Committee issued a statement Saturday in connection with the disclosure of the whole story about the development of a nuclear-powered submarine in south Korea that created a big worldwide furor. The major objective of this development is to round off the preparations for a war of aggression against the DPRK with the U.S. and, furthermore, pave the way for nuclear weaponization, the statement notes, and continues: Not content with reducing south Korea to a nuclear arsenal of the U.S. targeted against their fellow countrymen already decades ago, the south Korean warlike forces have opted for an independent nuclear weaponization. This is a very dangerous development and an unpardonable act of treachery. The south Korean authorities' moves to go nuclear cannot but be a serious development as they gravely threaten peace on the Korean Peninsula, the destiny of the nation and the security in Northeast Asia. What merits a serious attention is that the U.S. has zealously backed and defended south Korea's moves for nuclear weaponization although it has persistently pulled up the DPRK over its nuclear issue. The recently disclosed fact about south Korea's development of a nuclear-powered submarine once again brings to light the U.S. wicked habit of seeking an axe to grind and its brazenfaced and shameless double-dealing tactics of judging everything on the basis of its view on value to meet its own interests for aggression.[Double standards]
Iran and Iraq Dwarf NK Nukes
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Chun Yung-woo Washington has difficulty concentrating on North Korea's nuclear issue as it has more urgent tasks stemming from Iran and Iraq, Chun Yung-woo, Seoul's top envoy to the six-party talks, said in Seoul on Sunday. ``Washington's top-level officials have other high-priority issues such as those from Iran and Iraq,'' he said. ``So it might be difficult for them to focus on North Korea. But it doesn't necessarily mean that they forgot the North Korean nuclear issue.''
India Nuclear Deal May Face Hard Sell
Rice Set to Defend Landmark Accord She Orchestrated Without Congress By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, April 3, 2006; Page A01 Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew into New Delhi a year ago and set in motion a revolution in U.S. policy on nuclear weapons and relations with India. She didn't tip her hand publicly during the brief stop, sticking to bland expressions of "a new relationship" with "great potential." The outlines of her plan were known by only a handful of people in the U.S. government.
Four months later, on July 18, President Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved a landmark accord at the White House. Beyond the invasion of Iraq, few of Bush's decisions have as much potential to shake the international order than his deal with India, supporters and opponents agree. The debate over the deal has pitted against each other two powerful national security goals -- the desire to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and the desire to counter the rise of China, in this case by accelerating New Delhi's ascent as a global power. [China confrontation]
Application of Double-standards to Nuclear Issue Cannot Be Allowed
Pyongyang, March 30 (KCNA) -- The U.S. should not apply its unreasonable double-standards to the nuclear issue but dismantle its nuclear weapons first of all and stop its moves to threaten other countries with nuclear weapons and mount a preemptive attack, says Rodong Sinmun Thursday in a signed article. The article castigates the U.S. for applying unreasonable double-standards to the nuclear issue, while pursuing its aggressive and hegemonic nuclear politics turning a deaf ear to the voices of humankind demanding total dismantlement of nukes. It is the consistent military policy and strategic target of the U.S. imperialists to bolster up nuclear forces and hold nuclear supremacy, the article says, and goes on: The U.S. imperialists, considering nukes as almighty means for establishing world domination order, are threatening other countries with them and bringing in dark clouds of a nuclear war.

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MARCH 2006

Iranian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN
The text of the Interview by Iranian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN On Security Council non-binding Franco-British statement on Iran
Iranian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN Mohammad-Javad Zarif said here (NY) on Wednesday that Tehran was willing to cooperate but will not bow to pressure and intimidation. "The UN Security Council should take heed of the way it has behaved towards Iran in the past," Zarif told reporters after the adoption Wednesday by the 15-member UN Security Council of a non-binding Franco-British statement on Iran.
"Fifty-five years ago when Iran launched a movement among developing states of taking direct control of national affairs by nationalizing its oil industry, one of the permanent members of the same council (Security Council) called the decision an affront to international peace and security and raised the issue before the UN body. Today, we see a repeat of the situation."
Unification Minister Decries Unfocused Approach to Nuclear Issue
South Korea's Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok -- regarding a previous statement in which he referenced what he called "extremely subtle changes taking place on the peninsula" -- explained Wednesday, "We are witnessing a trend in which various nations are seeking to tack their mid- and long-term strategies for the Korean Peninsula onto the preexisting North Korean nuclear issue in their attempts to settle the matter." The Minister made these comments during an interview on an MBC radio show. [Friction]
A Dangerous Deal With India
By Jimmy Carter
Wednesday, March 29, 2006; Page A19
During the past five years the United States has abandoned many of the nuclear arms control agreements negotiated since the administration of Dwight Eisenhower. This change in policies has sent uncertain signals to other countries, including North Korea and Iran, and may encourage technologically capable nations to choose the nuclear option. The proposed nuclear deal with India is just one more step in opening a Pandora's box of nuclear proliferation. [NPT] [Double standards]
IAEA chief hopes to inspect N.K. sites
From news reports The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said Saturday he was hopeful of traveling to North Korea to inspect its nuclear activities. North Korea has refused since November to resume the six-nation talks on ending its nuclear ambitions, demanding that the United States lift financial restrictions imposed on North Korean companies for alleged complicity in counterfeiting and money laundering. In October, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said after a trip to North Korea that Pyongyang indicated that under certain circumstances, it might be willing to invite International Atomic Energy Agency officials, possibly including agency head and 2005 Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei. [IAEA] [Sanctions]
Int'l Community Won't Allow India Status for NK
The United States defended its controversial nuclear accord with India, saying Wednesday that the deal does not legitimize the nuclear efforts of North Korea and Iran. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, in a briefing on the U.S. - India nuclear deal, said India and those states are in different categories, making it impossible for Iran and N. Korea to demand similar liberties. ``I will tell you what will prevent it: the international community,'' Burns said. [Double standards] [Spin]
NKorea weapons 'could not hit US'
North Korea raised concerns with a missile test in early March North Korea does not yet have an operational missile that could hit the continental US, a US report says. But its weapons could target South Korea and Japan, and it is working on a longer-range solid-fuel missile. Missile exports were a significant source of foreign exchange for the country, the report by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies also said. Concerns over North Korea's weapons programme rose this month when it test-fired two short-range missiles. [Media] [Spin]
CNS Special Report on North Korean Ballistic Missile Capabilities
Center for Nonproliferation Studies March 22, 2006
Recent North Korean flight-tests of a new short-range ballistic missile have reinforced concerns about North Korea's missile program and its ability to deliver weapons of mass destruction (WMD). North Korea has an array of short- and intermediate-range missile systems that can deliver conventional, chemical and possibly biological payloads. North Korea has not demonstrated the capability to deliver nuclear weapons with its ballistic missiles, but possibly could equip its medium-range Nodong missiles, which can reach Japan, with nuclear warheads. North Korea currently does not have an operational missile that can strike the United States.1 However, U.S. intelligence estimates of the untested Taepodong-2's range have increased in recent years. According to a former director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, a two-stage Taepodong-2 could theoretically strike "portions of U.S. territory" and a three-stage version could strike "most of the continental United States."2 At least two other mobile missiles are under development that would increase North Korea's military capabilities once they are deployed and operational. This special report answers key questions about North Korean ballistic missiles and presents CNS estimates of North Korea's ballistic missile capabilities. Although North Korea's cruise missile development poses an increasing threat, this report does not address Pyongyang's cruise missiles. [Spin] [Thinktanks]
Kim Dae-jung Calls for US Initiative in 6-Way Talks
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter
Former President Kim Dae-jung, right, shakes hands with Woo Tong-ki, president of Yeungnam University, after receiving honorary doctorate in political science from the school in Kyongsan, North Kyongsang Province, Tuesday. / Yonhap Former President Kim Dae-jung said on Tuesday that the United States needs to present a proposal to answer North Korea's promise of scrapping its nuclear weapons programs. ``North Korea has already declared that it will abandon its nuclear programs and Pyongyang even showed its intention to allow Washington to inspect (its nuclear sites),'' Kim said during a special lecture at Yeungnam University in Taegu. In September, Pyongyang agreed in the six-party talks to give up its nuclear programs in return for economic assistance and a security guarantee. But the denuclearization talks _ attended by the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan _ have been in limbo since November when the U.S. financial restrictions against North Korea became a bone of contention. ``Now it's time for Washington to present its own initiative and the six-party talks should search ways to jointly guarantee how to implement the U.S. proposal,'' he said. Kim said the United States should lift its sanctions on Pyongyang while guaranteeing North Korea's security. ``The two sides need to give and take what they want to achieve and the two sides should implement them simultaneously,'' he said. [Friction]
DPRK's Stance on Nuclear Disarmament Clarified
Pyongyang, March 11 (KCNA) -- A DPRK delegate, addressing the plenary meeting of the Geneva disarmament conference on March 2, clarified the view of the DPRK that the nuclear disarmament is the most crucial and primary task before the conference and the international community. Noting that the negative nuclear policy and nuclear doctrine affecting the international relations and the nuclear threat and blackmail are causing serious misgiving to the international community and creating instability, mistrust and adverse consequences, he went on: Now the principle of equal sovereignty laid down in the UN Charter is not being respected and inequality and imbalance persist in the international relations. This is chiefly attributable to the unjust nuclear policy and nuclear doctrine
Secret sale of UK plutonium to Israel
By Meirion Jones BBC Newsnight
The UK supplied Israel with quantities of plutonium while Harold Wilson was prime minister, BBC Newsnight can reveal.
The sale was made despite a warning from British intelligence that it might "make a material contribution to an Israeli weapons programme". Under Wilson, Britain also sold Israel tons of chemicals used to make boosted atom bombs 20 times more powerful than Hiroshima or even Hydrogen Bombs. In Harold Macmillan's time the UK supplied uranium 235 and the heavy water which allowed Israel to start up its nuclear weapons production plant at Dimona - heavy water which British intelligence estimated would allow Israel to make "six nuclear weapons a year".
All export licensing of materials associated with civil nuclear programmes went through stringent checks across Whitehall
Last August on BBC Newsnight we revealed the first British/Israeli deal, the sale of the heavy water, but the government responded by telling the International Atomic Energy Agency the UK was not a party to any sale to Israel and that all it did was sell some heavy water back to Norway. Hundreds of shipments Using Freedom of Information, Newsnight has obtained top secret papers. They show Foreign Minister Kim Howells misled the IAEA and that Britain made not one, but hundreds of secret shipments of nuclear materials to Israel. Tony Benn became Minister of Technology in 1966 while the plutonium deal was going through. The nuclear industry was part of his "white heat of technology" brief but no one told him that we were exporting atomic energy materials to Israel. "I'm not only surprised, I'm shocked," he says, adding that neither he nor his predecessor Frank Cousins, who was a member of CND, agreed to the sales. Benn says he always suspected civil servants were doing deals behind his back but he never thought they would sell plutonium to Israel. "It never occurred to me they would authorise something so totally against the policy of the government." Dimona Back in August 1960 covertly taken photos of a mysterious site at Dimona in Israel arrived at Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS) in Whitehall. A brilliant analyst called Peter Kelly immediately realized they showed a secret nuclear reactor and he alerted the rest of British intelligence. Kelly recognized it was a French reactor and soon discovered where the heavy water to run it had come from. Britain had bought heavy water from Norsk Hydro in Norway for its nuclear weapons programme but found it was surplus to requirements and needed a buyer. The papers obtained by Newsnight show that a company called Noratom acted as a consultant and arranged the deals in return for a 2% commission. Britain knew all along that Israel wanted the heavy water "to produce plutonium" and Israel paid the full military price - £1 million - to avoid safeguards to stop the plutonium being used to make nuclear weapons. Kelly discovered a charade was played out with the UK and Israeli delegations sitting in adjacent rooms while Noratom ferried separate contracts to and fro so Britain could say they hadn't signed a deal with Israel. Cover story Once the press heard about Dimona in December 1960 there was an international outcry. Israel put out a cover story that it was a small research reactor. This did not fool Kelly. Using the figure of 20 tons of heavy water he estimated that Israel could build a reactor capable of producing "significant quantities of plutonium". British intelligence learnt there was also a reprocessing plant and concluded "the separation of plutonium can only mean that Israel intends to produce nuclear weapons". Kelly even discovered that an Israeli observer had been allowed to watch one of the first French nuclear tests in Algeria. Kelly and his colleagues in intelligence soon found their views about Israel were being challenged by Britain's representative at the IAEA Mike Michaels, who worked for one of the main figures in Harold Macmillan's Cabinet - Lord Hailsham. Michaels received a JIC report early in 1961 estimating Israel would take at least three years to make enough plutonium and then another six months to work out how to make a bomb. But it occurred to him that a friendly power might give Israel a small sample of plutonium to speed up the process. "Perhaps the French have supplied a small quantity for experimental purposes as we did to the French in like circumstances some years ago," he noted in the margin of the report. A few years later Michaels persuaded the UK to sell Israel a small sample of plutonium when he was aware - as this note shows - that this might cut months off the time it took them to get the Bomb. Invitation The Israeli nuclear chief, Ernst David Bergmann, personally invited Michaels to Israel. Kelly warned Israel might use Michaels as part of a disinformation campaign to show "everything is above board". Michaels was given VIP treatment. He met not only Bergmann but Shimon Peres and Prime Minister David Ben Gurion - the three fathers of the Israeli Bomb. As Kelly suspected, Michaels' report gave Israel the all clear and he handed it to Hailsham at a crucial time, two days before Ben Gurion met Harold Macmillan at Downing Street. In 1962 the Dimona reactor started turning uranium into plutonium, thanks to the heavy water Britain had delivered, but Michaels continued to protest Israel's innocence. Then at the beginning of 1966 UK Atomic Energy Authority made what they remarkably called a "pretty harmless request". They wanted to export 10 milligrammes of plutonium to Israel. The MoD strongly objected and Defence Intelligence wrote directly to say the sale might have "significant military value". The Foreign Office told UKAEA "It is HMG's policy not to do anything which would assist Israel in the production of nuclear weapons" and therefore they blocked the sale. Sale Michaels wrote angrily "to protest strongly" against the decision. Five years earlier he had noted such a sale could speed up the Israeli bomb programme, now he was powerfully advocating just that. He said small quantities of plutonium were not important and anyhow if we didn't sell it to the Israelis someone else would. The Foreign Office gave in and the sale went ahead. Kelly believes Mike Michaels knew all along that Israel was after the Bomb. He died in 1992. Tony Benn is incredulous that Michaels never referred the Israeli nuclear sales to him or Frank Cousins. They were after all the ministers in charge of Britain's nuclear industry including imports and exports. "Michaels lied to me. I learned by bitter experience that the nuclear industry lied to me again and again". The atomic files, which have been classified until now, detail hundreds of nuclear deals with Israel flagged up as sensitive. Benn's initial reaction to whether Harold Wilson knew about atomic exports to Israel was "it's inconceivable". Then he muses: "Harold was sympathetic to Israel," before concluding that this was probably a conspiracy by civil servants and the nuclear industry to flout HMG policy. This report was shown on Newsnight on Thursday, 9 March, 2006. : Story from BBC NEWS Published: 2006/03/10 11:07:56 GMT [Proliferation] [Disinformation] [Double standards]
U.S. Plans to Modernize Nuclear Arsenal
By Walter Pincus Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, March 4, 2006; Page A02
The Bush administration is developing plans to design and deploy refurbished or replacement warheads for the nuclear stockpile, and by 2030 to modernize the production complex so that, if required, it could produce new generations of weapons with different or modified capabilities. Referring to goals established two years ago, Ambassador Linton F. Brooks, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), told the House Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces Wednesday that "we will revitalize our weapons design community to meet the challenge of being able to adapt an existing weapon within 18 months, and design, develop and begin production of a new design within three to four years of a decision to enter engineering development."
A study by NNSA for restructuring the aging weapons complex, which includes dealing with facilities that dismantle retired weapons, should be sent to Congress this spring, Brooks said. Although there is some updating and modernizing of the present complex, "full infrastructure changes . . . will take a couple of decades," Brooks said. The first step in the long-range plan is focused around the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) program that was approved last year. That program contemplates designing new components for previously tested nuclear packages that would make the resulting bombs and warheads safer and more reliable over the long term than older stockpiled weapons that are being refurbished. [Double standards]
Bush woos India with nuclear deal and trade pacts
Visit a breakthrough for outcast country Randeep Ramesh in New Delhi Friday March 3, 2006 The Guardian
George Bush launched a "historic" charm offensive in New Delhi yesterday, lauding India as a "grand democracy" and US partner in a bid to reach out to its people over the heads of tens of thousands of protesters. Standing on the manicured lawns of Hyderabad House, once a symbol of British power in India, the American president and the Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh clapped hands and exchanged hugs after concluding a much-heralded nuclear deal and outlining a series of trade pacts. [Double standards] [China confrontation]
Dissenting on Atomic Deal With India
By STEVEN R. WEISMAN Published: March 3, 2006 WASHINGTON, March 2 - In concluding its nuclear deal with India, the Bush administration faces significant opposition in Congress and tough questions from its allies on whether the arrangement could set a precedent encouraging the spread of nuclear weapons to Iran and other potential foes of the United States.
But Bush administration officials expressed confidence on Thursday that they could overcome the skepticism of the critics, in part because support is nearly universal in the West and among Republicans and Democrats in Washington for building India's strength as a bastion of democracy and a counterweight to China in Asia. The Defense Department issued an unusually explicit statement hailing the deal for opening a path for more American-Indian military cooperation. "Where only a few years ago, no one would have talked about the prospects for a major U.S.-India defense deal, today the prospects are promising, whether in the realm of combat aircraft, helicopters, maritime patrol aircraft or naval vessels," the Defense Department statement said. [Double standards] [China confrontation] [Proliferation]
U.S. Intelligence 'Not Sure' Pyongyang Has Nukes
The United States says it is not 100 percent sure whether North Korea has nuclear weapons but believes the communist regime continued processing plutonium from its Yongbyon reactor. The acknowledgment comes a year after North Korea officially announced it has nuclear arms. At a hearing by the Senate Committee on Armed Services, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte said Pyongyang "probably" has nuclear arms, but he did not know this for a fact. Negroponte also declined to estimate the number of nuclear devices North Korea might have assembled. He only said there was potential for a number of weapons. In 2002, the U.S. government said it believed North Korea had one and possibly two nuclear weapons. A year ago, Pyongyang officially announced it has nuclear arms although it produced no tangible evidence of this by testing a weapon.
India, Israel: Good; Iran, NK: Bad
[Opinion] Bush administration ignores nuclear disarmament requirements of NPT
Two recent developments demonstrated the fundamental hypocrisy underlying the Bush administration's policy toward the threat of global nuclear proliferation. On Feb. 20 the (IAEA), urged on by the United States, voted to refer the issue of Iranian uranium enrichment to the U.N. Security Council. Simultaneously, the administration was negotiating a deal on nuclear energy cooperation with India on. Add the ongoing stalemate over North Korea's nuclear program, and the result is the further erosion of the mostly widely subscribed arms control agreement in history -- the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).
While the NPT has been largely successful in slowing, if not entirely preventing, the rate of nuclear proliferation, it always contained a fatal flaw. The treaty created a double standard whereby the five countries that began nuclear development before the treaty came into effect in 1970 (the United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, France, and China) were allowed to join the treaty as recognized nuclear powers, while all other States Party to the treaty had to pledge to forego nuclear weapons in perpetuity. To sell such an obviously unbalanced deal, the nuclear powers made two pledges. First of all, they promised to share nuclear technology for peaceful uses on a preferential basis with non-nuclear States Party. Secondly, under Article VI, they promised "to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a Treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control."
Fate of nuke talks in N. Korean hands: Seoul aide
From news reports The fate of talks on North Korea's nuclear program depends on whether Pyongyang takes action on illicit activities that prompted a U.S. crackdown, a South Korean official said in Washington Saturday. North Korea knows what it is expected to do on charges raised by Washington that it is behind the counterfeiting of U.S. currency and money laundering, said Song Min-soon, the chief national security adviser to South Korea's president. "The six-party talks can go forward only if the North takes the necessary action on currency counterfeiting," Song told Korean correspondents in Washington. Song was previously South Korea's lead negotiator to the talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear programs, which also involve North Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia and China. The talks have been stalled since November. Song was in Washington to meet White House national security advisers and State Department officials. Song played down a planned meeting by North Korean diplomats and U.S. officials in New York on the financial crackdown, saying such a meeting would probably not automatically yield a breakthrough.
Meanwhile, South Korea's intelligence chief visited Washington in January to discuss North Korea's alleged involvement in currency counterfeiting, a South Korean government official said. During the trip, Kim Seung-gyu, director of the National Intelligence Service, met with his U.S. counterpart, CIA director Porter Goss, and "exchanged information related to the counterfeiting," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It was a usual exchange of information between two countries, which did not involve any discussion on resolving the issue," he said. Quoting an unidentified diplomat source, the local newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported earlier in the day that in his meeting with Goss, Kim promised that South Korea will cooperate with the U.S. investigation into North Korea's alleged illegal activities. In a parliamentary testimony in January, Kim said that his agency had no clear evidence that North Korea has been engaged in currency counterfeiting after 1998, indicating that the communist country was involved in making fake dollars before that. [Evidence] [Counterfeiting] [Collusion]
Why India Should Choose Iran, Not the US
An Interview with Arjun Makhijani By AZIZ HANIFFA
Dr Arjun Makhijani, president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research and one of the leading technical nuclear experts in the United States, believes that even if India gets everything it wants under the US-India civilian nuclear agreement signed by President George W Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on July 18, it would still be only a tiny fraction of the oil and gas it could obtain from Iran to meet India's growing energy needs. It is not, Dr Makhijani argues, therefore worth jeopardizing India's relationship with Iran by voting with the United States against Tehran at the International Atomic Energy Agency. The most important thing in the electricity sector in India is not the cost of electricity -- it's the unreliability of electricity. And, the fact that power is unreliable in India is one of the reasons that China gets a lot more investment despite higher costs. If you look at where corporations invest abroad, they don't invest in the cheapest labour places or even necessarily in places where they have more skilled labor, they invest in places where they can surely perform their jobs. That is why Indian software is not a very big deal -- they can invest there because the performance of the software sector does not depend that much on large scale electricity supply. You can have emergency generators; it's not costly to do that. But the performance of a heavy industrial sector does depend on large scale supply of electricity. So it's very damaging to have the kind of lackadaisical approach to electricity that we have in India. AH: With regard to the requirement by the US that India separate its civilian and military nuclear facilities in a credible manner and put it under international safeguards, do you think this is viable? AM: I believe for the Indians to have submitted to this with the United States at this time is not very strategically or politically appropriate, specially if India aims to continue as a leader in the non-aligned world. It would be throwing away that leadership for something I don't believe it's going to get from the United States. In recent years, the United States has given up its own leadership in regard to civilian facilities and nuclear weapons materials because it is currently making Tritium for its nuclear weapons program in civilian reactors of the Tennessee Valley Authority. Moreover, the United States is not itself open to IAEA inspections. India should exercise its leadership to make the nuclear playing field level for everybody. I am not particularly for nuclear development in Iran or the US or anyplace else because of all the reasons I've told you. However, I believe it is very corrosive for India to be promoting what it not so long ago called nuclear apartheid [Nuclear power] [India] [China confrontation] [Iran] [Double standards] [IAEA]
Roh Still Needs Time to Solve NK Nuke Issue
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter
Song Min-soon, chief presidential secretary for unification, foreign and security policy, heads for the gate at Incheon International Airport, Thursday to leave for the United States in his first overseas trip after taking office. /Yonhap When the Roh Moo-hyun government was launched on Feb. 25 three years ago, one of his urgent tasks was to find a peaceful resolution to the North Korean nuclear stand-off. [in denial]

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FEBRUARY 2006

Statement from Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran
Received from Iranian embassy, Wellington, 2 February 2006
Iran's message to the west: back off or we retaliate
Ewen MacAskill and Simon Tisdall Thursday February 2, 2006 The Guardian Iran's foreign minister yesterday threatened immediate retaliation over a move to refer its nuclear weapons activities to the United Nations security council in comments which deepen his country's confrontation with the international community. In an interview with the Guardian - his first with western media - Manouchehr Mottaki accused the US of manufacturing the crisis and insisted there was still time to avoid a collision. But he warned that any military action by the US or Israel against Iran would have "severe consequences" and would be countered "by all means" at Iran's disposal. [Media] [Spin] (notice second paragraph contradicts first paragraph and heading)
Iran Calling Wider World to Its Side
Tehran Looks Beyond Muslim Nations as It Faces Off With West
By Karl Vick Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, February 1, 2006; Page A18
TEHRAN -- On the afternoon of Jan. 4, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reached for the phone and got Latin America on the line. In quick succession, he chatted with President Fidel Castro of Cuba, rang up President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and, sensing yet another kindred spirit, reached out to Evo Morales, the young firebrand who had just been elected president of Bolivia. Person-to-person and peer-to-peer, the transatlantic calls described on Ahmadinejad's presidential Web site linked self-styled populists who glory in defying the West. But for Iran, the exchanges carried significance reaching well beyond Ahmadinejad and the controversy enveloping him personally after questioning the Holocaust and saying Israel should be "wiped off the map."
In its bid to proceed with a nuclear program opposed by Washington and Western Europe, Iran's leadership appears settled on a revived policy of confrontation with "global arrogance," as the country's rulers have referred to the foreign policy of United States for almost three decades. But the contest is now being framed as a David-vs.-Goliath battle, and Iran is seeking to attract relatively poor, disempowered nonaligned nations to its side, not simply the Muslim world it once saw itself as leading, Iranian officials and analysts say. [Media]
An overview of countries with suspected or known nuclear weapons programs or actual nuclear weapons
Features Iran, North Korea, Libya, India, Pakistan, Israel...but not US, UK, Russia, China or France [media]
U.S. Urged to Remove Hurdle Lying in Way of Six-Party Talks
Pyongyang, January 31 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the White House of the United States was reported to have recently urged the DPRK to abandon and dismantle its nuclear program first, adding this principle of the U.S. remains very clear. Rodong Sinmun Tuesday observes in a signed commentary in this regard: His assertion clearly reflects the U.S. position not to stand for a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula but to put pressure upon the DPRK. The intention of the Bush administration to bring down the socialist system in the DPRK by force of arms out of extreme bitterness toward it found its vivid manifestation in an endless string of reckless remarks made by Vershbow, U.S. ambassador to south Korea. He dared slander the dignified DPRK as a "criminal regime" and worked hard to tarnish its image, even citing sheer fabrications shortly ago. He went the lengths of openly threatening and blackmailing the DPRK, blustering that in case the north creates "instability" over the nuclear issue the U.S. has a plan to cope with it. Timed to coincide with his outcry, U.S. hard-line hawks let loose a whole string of nonsense and outcries, driving the situation to a complicated phase. As seen above, the solution to the pending issues between the DPRK and the U.S. and the process to achieve peace and stability in the region are facing bigger challenge due to the self-righteous hostile policy pursued by the Bush administration to stifle the DPRK.
How to Listen for the Sound of Plutonium
By DAVID E. SANGER and WILLIAM J. BROAD Published: January 31, 2006 WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 - In March 2004, the science and technology directorate of the Central Intelligence Agency called a secret meeting of hundreds of the government's top experts in nuclear intelligence to address a problem that had bedeviled Washington for decades: how to know, with precision, when a country is about to cross the line and gain the ability to build an atomic bomb.
The aim of the two-day conference was to reinvigorate the nation's atomic espionage efforts, not with spies on the ground or satellites in space but with a new generation of advanced technologies meant to detect the faintest clues of nuclear activity.

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JANUARY 2006

North Korea Warns of Nuclear War
The Associated Press Saturday, January 28, 2006; 11:06 AM
SEOUL, South Korea -- 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. [Media]
North Korean Counterfeiting Complicates Nuclear Crisis
By MARTIN FACKLER January 29, 2006 SEOUL, South Korea, Jan. 26 - It has all the makings of a James Bond movie: an isolated authoritarian regime running a secret counterfeiting network with tentacles reaching into foreign banks, the Irish Republican Army and Chinese underworld gangs dealing in narcotics and antiaircraft missiles. This is the picture of North Korea that former American officials and analysts say Washington has pieced together in recent years as it has investigated the appearance around the world of bogus $100 bills so perfect that they have been called "supernotes." Using government printing presses to run off another country's currency, possibly in an effort to destabilize that currency, would appear to be the sort of criminal act that demands tough international penalties. But Washington's effort to press its case has become mired in the tricky politics of an even larger and more serious problem: nuclear proliferation. [Late in the week, the North Korean government vehemently denied any hand in counterfeiting and vowed to resist pressure from the United States over the matter. In one commentary carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Saturday, The Associated Press reported, Pyongyang declared that it does "not allow such things as bad treatment of the people, counterfeiting and drug trafficking." North Korea also warned, The A.P. said, that a new military pact between Seoul and Washington meant that "dark clouds of a nuclear war are hanging low over the Korean Peninsula."] South Korea, an important United States ally in the region, apparently fears that pushing the counterfeiting issue could derail efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions. "The counterfeiting issue has become just a card in the bigger game of getting North Korea to disarm," said Kim Sung Han, a researcher at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, a government policy research group. That is why when a delegation from the Treasury Department arrived here this week to ask for South Korea's cooperation to stop the counterfeiting, the Americans got a chilly - and slightly puzzling - response. South Korea, a longtime partner of Washington against North Korea, went to lengths to distance itself from the American accusations, even to the point of denying that the United States had sought its support.
The U.S.-India Nuclear Deal: The End Game Begins
27 January 2006 During the visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the U.S. in July 2005, the two countries decided to turn a new leaf in their bilateral relationship. The Bush administration declared its ambition to achieve full civil nuclear energy cooperation with India. In pursuit of this objective, the Bush administration would "seek agreement from the U.S. Congress to adjust U.S. laws and policies," and would "work with friends and allies to adjust international regimes to enable full civil nuclear energy cooperation and trade with India, including but not limited to expeditious consideration of fuel supplies for safeguarded nuclear reactors at Tarapur." India, on its part, promised "to assume the same responsibilities and practices and acquire the same benefits and advantages of other leading countries with advanced nuclear technologies." The U.S.-India nuclear pact virtually rewrote the rules of the global nuclear regime by accepting India as a nuclear state that should be integrated into the global nuclear order. The nuclear agreement creates a major exception to the U.S. prohibition of nuclear assistance to any country that does not accept international monitoring of all its nuclear facilities. The outcome of the visit marked a new phase in U.S.-India ties. [Non-Proliferation] [China confrontation]
KCNA Urges U.S. to Remove Obstacle to Six-Party Talks
Pyongyang, January 25 (KCNA) -- A string of outcries are now being heard from Washington making the public skeptical about the attitude of the U.S. administration towards the six-party talks. Schneider, chairman of the Defence Science Committee in the U.S. Department of Defense, was reported to have uttered recently that it is illusion to judge that north Korea stands for the settlement of the nuclear issue and that additional sanctions are one of the options, asserting that north Korea is not likely to abandon its nuclear program through dialogue. Such remarks are nothing but an expression of a deliberate intention of the hard-line conservatives to throw bigger obstacles to the six-party talks for the settlement of the nuclear issue. The goal of the six-party talks is to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. In order to make the talks serve the purpose of denuclearizing the peninsula it is necessary for the DPRK and the U.S. to find a practical way of solving the nuclear issue and trust and respect each other. The U.S. "sanctions" against the DPRK are a wanton violation of the spirit of the joint statement adopted at the talks which calls for mutual respect and peaceful co-existence as they are intended to bring down the latter's system by stifling it.
New Obstacle to Nuclear Talks Inter-Korean Relations Likely to Face Serious Setback
The stalemate in the six-party nuclear negotiations is confounded further by Seoul's consenting to Washington's call to join its global efforts to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). With an agreement reached late last month, the nation is to partially join the U.S.-led multilateral campaign - the Proliferation of Security Initiative (PSI) - aimed at blocking the transfer of WMD by "rogue" countries such as North Korea and Iran. In particular, the inclusion of drills for intercepting suspected WMD shipments in annual South Korea-U.S. military exercises is certain to provoke the North and strengthen its resolve to boycott the negotiations, suspended since last November. What worries Seoul most is that this would seriously impair inter-Korean relations. Despite the foreseeable setback to the talks and inter-Korean cooperation, and given that some 70 countries are full PSI members, the nation has no choice but to partially join the campaign.
To make matters worse, the U.S. Embassy in Seoul called upon the Korean government on Tuesday to join in Washinton's financial strictures against Pyongyang. Fearing such a concession would lead to not just the collapse of the six-party negotiations but also the disruption of inter-Korean exchanges, the latest U.S. demand is hard for Seoul to accept. Besides, Seoul doesn't fully agree with the U.S. financial sanctions because there is no apparent evidence of the North's illicit activities. [Evidence] [Camouflage] [PSI] [US dominance] [Friction]
Assessment of the Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks
Koh Yu-hwan Professor of North Korean Studies Dongguk University
The so-called "Agreed Framework," which the United States and North Korea concluded in Geneva in October 1994 for the dismantlement of the North's nuclear program, made it possible for Pyeongyang regime to secure a "bridgehead" to overcome the impending crisis. While snags in North Korea-U.S. relations continued to persist under the Clinton administration, in spite of the Geneva agreement, the underlying structure of the agreement remained intact overall. Although relations between the two adversaries were frayed on occasion, Pyeongyang and Washington were able to negotiate and reach a compromise on the key issues that divided them.
A peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue will require a diplomatic approach under which the United States agrees to provide the North with another opportunity to transform itself into a "normal country." Once North Korea receives a security guarantee from the United States, there is a very real possibility that it will agree to abandon its nuclear weapons and implement reforms and a policy of full-fledged openness. Since the North Korean nuclear crisis is a "product of the hostile relations between North Korea and the United States," a solution will prove elusive until the two countries are able to have serious discussions based on mutual trust and a principle of peaceful coexistence. The United States and the international community will have to provide North Korea with another opportunity to become a member of the international community; however, it is imperative for North Korea not to pass up this chance. [JS050919]
A new Chirac doctrine
GLOBE EDITORIAL January 21, 2006
FRENCH PRESIDENT Jacques Chirac last week expanded the standing definition of France's vital interests and warned leaders of ''regional powers" that they could be targets of French nuclear missiles if they used ''terrorist means against us" or if they were ''to utilize, in one way or another, weapons of mass destruction." This threat marks a worrisome change in France's nuclear doctrine. It asserts the value, even the necessity, of nuclear weapons as a means to ensure not merely French independence but also ''strategic supplies" such as oil and ''the defense of allied countries." The innovations of this new Chirac doctrine come at a particularly bad time because they coincide with a looming crisis caused by Iran's apparent pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability in defiance of the International Atomic Energy Agency and negotiators from France, Great Britain, and Germany. Chirac's explicit message to leaders of Iran's clerical regime -- and to the rulers of North Korea and any other ''regional power" partial to terrorism and avid for nuclear weapons -- was a warning that they could face French nuclear retaliation if they dispatched suicide bombers or dispensers of anthrax to France. Chirac's implicit message, however, is quite different. Instead of dissuading Iran or North Korea from pursuing nuclear weapons, the French president's valorizing of nuclear missiles as weapons that may be used to punish state sponsors of terrorism, ensure strategic oil supplies, and defend allies can only reinforce the arguments of nuclear hawks in Tehran and Pyongyang. They will not be distorting his meaning substantially if they take him to be saying that the original purpose of France's nuclear arsenal -- to deter a nuclear superpower such as the Soviet Union from threatening France with nuclear weapons -- is now to be enlarged considerably. More generally, policy makers in Iran and North Korea have now heard the leader of an established nuclear power saying that nuclear weapons enhance a medium-sized nation's security, and that such weapons may actually be used.
Chirac has made it harder than ever to hold the line on nuclear nonproliferation.
China Offers Nuke Talks Next Month
By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter China has suggested the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program be resumed next month as relevant nations step up efforts to find a breakthrough in the nuclear standoff. A diplomatic source in Beijing said on Friday that China has offered to resume the stalled denuclearization talks in the second week of February as, otherwise, they could lose the momentum for future negotiations. The prediction comes right on the heels of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's recent visit to China, which drew a lot of attention from not only South Korea but also the other nations surrounding the peninsula, including the United States and Japan. South Korea, in particular, attached much significance to his secretive visit, hoping it could lead to an early resumption of the six-party talks on the North's nuclear standoff with the United States. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki-moon, who is visiting America for talks with U.S. officials, stressed relevant parties should pay attention to Kim's remarks in China which reaffirmed his commitment to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. ``We need to look at closely what Chairman Kim Jong-il of North Korea discussed with Chinese leaders recently and we take note of what Chairman Kim Jong-il said,'' he told reporters before his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Seoul Upbeat Over NK Nuclear Talks
By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter South Korea Friday attached much significance to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's recent visit to China, hoping it could lead to an early resumption of the six-party talks on the North's nuclear standoff with the United States
Ball in US Court for Six-Way Nuke Talks
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter
No government officials on Thursday dared to officially confirm even whether Christopher Hill, top U.S. envoy to the six-party denuclearization talks, held a meeting with his North Korean counterpart Kim Gye-gwan in Beijing on Wednesday. Given that Hill's brief stopover in Beijing on his way to the U.S. _ or rather the second visit in a week on his tour of Asia _ was made at a critical juncture, officials in Seoul, Beijing and Washington might have agreed to remain silent until they could pin down a date to resume the disarmament talks. Hill unexpectedly returned to Beijing on the same day when North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was heading back to Pyongyang after allegedly consulting with China's President Hu Jintao in Beijing on how to deal with Washington's financial sanctions against Pyongyang. It is highly plausible that Hill had flown back to Washington with a proposal, containing ``creative'' ideas of the two Communist allies and South Korea on ways to resolve what Kim Jong-il called the ``difficulties'' that have allegedly blocked Pyongyang's return to the negotiation table. A tip-off to the proposal came a little earlier when Song Min-soon, Seoul's top diplomat to the six-party talks, told reporters on Jan. 11, right after his return to Seoul from a one-day trip to Beijing, that he exchanged ``creative opinions'' with his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei. Another Seoul official, who is deeply involved in the talks, went a step further, saying figuratively that ``Song made dough together with Wu and now we have to wait and see whether it will become bread or nothing.'' The metaphor could mean the ball is now in Washington's court. Currently, the best way to lift sanctions is considered to be an apology from Pyongyang as it seems almost certain that the U.S. has evidence to prove North Korea's alleged counterfeiting of U.S. dollars and laundering of the ``supernotes'' in a bank in Macau, a Chinese territory. [Evidence] [Camouflage] [Evidence]
KCNA Urges U.S. to Lift Sanctions against DPRK for Resumption of Six-Party Talks
Pyongyang, January 17 (KCNA) -- The United States is letting loose a string of base outcries to shift the responsibility for the delayed second phase of the fifth round of the six-party talks on to the DPRK from the outset of the year. Officials of the U.S. administration vied with each other to assert that the U.S. is making efforts to resume the six-party talks and that pursuit of illegal activities of north Korea and the six-party talks are totally different from each other and these activities have nothing to do with the talks. By these outbursts it means that the U.S. is making a lot of efforts for the resumption of the six-party talks but the DPRK is laying obstacles to the progress of the talks. This is like a thief crying "Stop the thief!" [Camouflage]
U.S. Chiefly Accountable for Having Totally Scrapped DPRK-U.S. Agreed Framework
Pyongyang, January 16 (KCNA) -- The United States can never evade its responsibility for having totally scrapped the DPRK-U.S. Agreed Framework (AF) and delayed the settlement of the nuclear issue in a deliberate manner. Rodong Sinmun Monday observes this in a signed commentary. It goes on: Some officials are spreading misinformation that the DPRK is to blame for the end of the unsuccessful construction of the light water reactors (LWRs), while demanding it "compensate" for this. The main spirit of the AF called on both sides to respect each other's sovereignty and create reconciliation and trust in order to put an end to the hostile relations between them and, furthermore, ensure peace and security in the Korean Peninsula and other parts of Asia-Pacific and the rest of the world. The LWR project, a key point of the AF, was considered to be a guarantee for terminating the hostile relations between the DPRK and the U.S. and finding a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula. Under the AF the U.S. was committed to providing two LWRs to the DPRK by the year 2003 in return for the latter's freeze of nuclear facilities and supplying 500,000 tons of heavy fuel oil to it every year till their construction is completed. The U.S. also gave the DPRK assurances that it would not threaten the latter with nukes. The U.S., however, has not fulfilled any commitment under the AF. The Bush administration categorically refused to implement the AF and has systematically perpetrated premeditated acts of totally scrapping official documents signed between the DPRK and the U.S., unreasonably asserting that a series of agreements including the AF signed by the preceding regime with the DPRK are "beneficial" to it only, while being harmful to the U.S. interests and prestige.
Russia and China Demand Iran Freeze Nuclear Activity, but Reject Referral to U.N.
By ELAINE SCIOLINO and ALAN COWELL Published: January 17, 2006
PARIS, Jan. 16 - Russia and China affirmed Monday that Iran must resume its freeze on certain nuclear activities, but refused a call by the Americans and the Europeans for the issue to be put before the United Nations Security Council, according to the British Foreign Office and senior European officials. [Media]
Iran crisis talks expose west's split with China
· Europe seeks Tehran's referral to security council · Major obstacles remain in row over nuclear weapons
Ewen MacAskill and Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow Tuesday January 17, 2006 The Guardian
Differences between the west and Russia and China were exposed yesterday during a meeting in London to discuss strategy for tackling the crisis over Iran's suspected nuclear weapons programme. After seven hours of talks Britain, France and Germany announced they are to seek Iran's referral to the security council at a meeting on February 2 and 3 of the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency. [Media]
U.S. Wins Support In Iran Dispute
China, Russia Join Call to Suspend Nuclear Program
By Mary Jordan and Dafna Linzer Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, January 17, 2006; A01
LONDON, Jan. 16 -- China and Russia agreed with the United States, Britain, Germany and France on Monday that Iran must completely suspend its nuclear program, the British Foreign Office said. Although the countries failed to agree on whether Iran's case should be referred to the U.N. Security Council, the Europeans applied new pressure on the Iranian government by calling for an emergency meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency on Feb. 2. [Media]
Iran-N.K. nuclear nexus
[EDITORIAL]
While the North Korean nuclear problem remains deadlocked after a slow-moving multilateral conference produced a hardly practicable document on conditioned abandonment, Iran has emerged as a major nuclear threat under a new hard-line government. We are seeing the two states, though with different stated goals in their nuclear programs, being mutually emboldened by the results of their respective dealings with the international community. Nearly a year has passed since Pyongyang announced it had nuclear arms. The reactor in Yongbyon continues burning uranium fuel which turns out weapons-grade plutonium. No follow-up measures have been initiated on the basis of the joint statement signed by the six parties four months ago in which North Korea pledged to abandon its nuclear weapons program in exchange for security guarantees and economic aid. In the meantime, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made increasingly tougher statements on Teheran's uranium enrichment program, defying threats of international sanctions. Last week, Iran removed U.N. seals from its main uranium enrichment facility in Natanz where work resumed after a 2 1/2-year freeze. Ahmadinejad insists Iran needs nuclear technology not to make weapons but to secure energy, a claim hardly convincing in a country which has the world's second largest natural gas and the fourth largest crude oil deposits [Energy security] [Collusion]
Iran issues stark warning on oil price
War of words over trade sanctions
Robert Tait in Tehran Monday January 16, 2006 The Guardian
Iran stepped up its defiance of international pressure over its nuclear programme yesterday by warning of soaring oil prices if it is subjected to economic sanctions. As diplomats from the US, Europe, Russia, and China prepared to meet today in London to discuss referring Tehran to the UN security council, Iran's economy minister, Davoud Danesh-Jafari, said the country's position as the world's fourth-largest oil producer meant such action would have grave consequences.
"Any possible sanctions from the west could possibly, by disturbing Iran's political and economic situation, raise oil prices beyond levels the west expects," he told Iranian state radio. In a provocative move, Iran also announced plans yesterday to convene a "scientific" conference to examine the evidence supporting the Holocaust. The news comes weeks after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad provoked a global outcry by describing the slaughter of 6 million Jews by the Nazis in the second world war as a "myth". [Media]
Kerry backs US-India nuclear deal
A controversial nuclear deal between the United States and India has received crucial support from leading US Democrat senator and one-time presidential hopeful John Kerry, ahead of a planned visit by US President George W. Bush to India.
Supporting the deal "in principle", Kerry, a member of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said yesterday (Jan 12) it would implicitly recognise India as a nuclear power state. "It would be disingenuous to suggest that if the agreement goes through, India could not be a nuclear power. Obviously, it does," said Kerry, who is on a three-day visit to India. The deal granting India access to civilian nuclear technology was agreed in principle last July during a meeting between President Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Details of the agreement are still being negotiated but, as part of the deal, India will separate its civilian and military nuclear facilities and place the civilian part under safeguard of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Critics of the deal say the agreement would undermine global non-proliferation goals. Kerry said he would support the deal, but also wanted steps to ensure that it did not undermine the larger non-proliferation goals. [Double standards] [Imperialism] [China confrontation]
Iranian Says Pressure Won't End Nuclear Bid
Dismissing Sanctions Threats, President Asserts West Needs Tehran 'More Than We Need Them'
By Karl Vick Washington Post Foreign Service Sunday, January 15, 2006; A20
TEHRAN, Jan. 14 -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pushed back at President Bush and European leaders on Saturday, insisting Iran will press ahead with its nuclear program despite the threat of economic sanctions because "ultimately they need us more than we need them." At a news conference that lasted more than two hours, a confident Ahmadinejad posed a question to Western governments: "So why do you strike a mighty pose? I advise you to understand the Iranian nation and revolution in a better way. A time might come that you would become regretful, and then there would be no benefits in regretting." Ahmadinejad's remarks, broadcast live on international news networks, brought to a confrontational close a week in which Tehran defied a U.N. watchdog agency by resuming nuclear research that had been suspended for 2 1/2 years after going forward in secret for almost two decades. Iran's removal of seals on nuclear equipment at its enrichment plant at Natanz and preparations to resume research brought a cascade of criticism, with Bush saying Friday that the prospect of an Iran armed with nuclear weapons was "a grave threat to the security of the world." Diplomats from the United States, Europe, Russia and China are scheduled to gather in London on Monday to discuss shifting Iran's file from the International Atomic Energy Agency to the U.N. Security Council, which could impose sanctions. Ahmadinejad, a hard-line conservative who took office in August, said Iran remained open to negotiation and to foreign partnerships that would ensure it was not diverting uranium to a weapons program. His statements reflected positions already established by the unelected officials steering the Iranian government's strategy, a consensus approach ultimately guided by the country's supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. [Nuclear energy] [Energy security]
'Agreed Framework Contained Serious Flaws'
WASHINGTON (Yonhap) _ The U.S.-North Korea agreement that was intended to resolve the first North Korean nuclear crisis of 1994 had two serious flaws, at least one of which the U.S. knew of but could not do anything about, a former nuclear watchdog deputy said. Pierre Goldschmidt, former deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), disputes that non-compliance by states like North Korea and Iran indicates failure of the non-proliferation regime. To blame the regime is to "deflect attention from where the real problem lies: the weak will and short-sighted nuclear policies of the international community," he argued in a policy outlook published Tuesday by the Carnegie Endowment. The former IAEA official is currently a visiting scholar at the endowment.
North Korea had signed a comprehensive safeguards agreement, or CSA, with the agency in 1992. But the Agreed Framework "contained a clause that was interpreted by North Korea as limiting the IAEA's inspection rights under the CSA until such time as a significant portion of the LWR project was completed," Goldschmidt wrote. [Double standards] [IAEA] [Collusion]
Seoul Expresses Concern on Iran's Nuclear Programs
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter
South Korea on Wednesday expressed ``deep concern'' over Iran's recent decision to remove the seals at its nuclear research centers, which a U.N. nuclear watchdog considers a cover for secret weapons development. During a meeting with Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Safari in Seoul, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki-moon said that South Korea strongly supports the international efforts to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons. [Collusion]
Seoul Tries to Rev Up 6-Way Talks
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter
Participating countries in the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons programs are briskly maneuvering to resume the disarmament dialogue, which has been inactive since the latest round in November. It was belatedly known that Song Min-soon, Seoul's top envoy to the six-way talks, returned from his two-day trip to Beijing on Tuesday, where he had exchanged ``creative opinions'' on how to reopen the multilateral dialogue. Christopher Hill, U.S. top diplomat to the six-party talks, is also conducting shuttle diplomacy. He arrived in Seoul late last night via Japan and will depart for Beijing on Thursday. In addition, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is believed to have been staying in China since Tuesday for undisclosed purposes, which experts, however, interpret as his willingness to return to the talks, if the U.S. drops its financial sanctions on North Korea.
Seoul steps up efforts to push 6-way meeting
January 12, 2006 ? Seoul's diplomatic pace is being stepped up in efforts to get the stalled six-nation nuclear talks back on track. Journalists learned yesterday that Song Min-soon, Seoul's chief negotiator to the talks, made an unannounced two-day trip to Beijing on Monday to discuss the talks with Chinese officials. Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon will be in Washington next week for talks that will include discussions of the nuclear issues, and Christopher Hill, Mr. Song's U.S. counterpart in the six-nation talks, was scheduled to arrive in Seoul late yesterday evening from Tokyo. Mr. Hill plans to leave today for Beijing.
Resumption of nuke talks likely to take shape this month: Song
South Korea's chief delegate to the six-party talks said yesterday the outline for the next round of the nuclear negotiations will likely take shape within this month. "We are working towards possibly seeing within this month the outline of relevant factors such as the date of the next negotiations," Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon said during a forum hosted by the Civil Network for a Peaceful Korea. Recently, chief delegates to the talks have been visiting each other and holding undisclosed meetings, signs of hopeful developments in the stalled nuclear standoff.
The six-party talks involving the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia reached a stalemate after North Korea protested over Washington's financial sanctions imposed on a Macau-based bank for allegedly helping the communist state launder counterfeited U.S. dollars. Song flew to China on Monday for a two-day visit and met his Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei. "We must look for ways the three countries can solve this problem as the allegation involves North Korea purportedly counterfeiting U.S. money in a country controlled by China." [Evidence]
US warns Iran as nuclear row escalates
Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington Wednesday January 11, 2006 The Guardian
The White House warned Iran yesterday that it risked a "serious escalation" in its nuclear standoff with the UN and the west after Tehran broke the seals on equipment at its uranium enrichment facility.
Iran's decision to break the seals, installed by the International Atomic Energy Agency, at the underground facility at Natanz, in defiance of a European-brokered agreement for a nuclear freeze, risked triggering international sanctions, the White House's press secretary, Scott McClellan said.
U.S. Scenario for Preemptive Nuclear Attack on DPRK under Fire
Pyongyang, January 9 (KCNA) -- The U.S. is the biggest nuclear criminal and the world people's common enemy threatening the existence of humankind. Rodong Sinmun today says this in a signed article. Recalling that the U.S. secretly deployed nuclear weapons in Iraq, the article cites facts to prove that the U.S. is chiefly to blame for having created the danger of a nuclear war and spread nukes and other weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The article goes on: The U.S. warlike forces depend much on nukes in its bid to establish world domination. The U.S. branded those independent countries, not obedient to it, as "dangerous forces" and "rogue states" and intends to use nukes against them any time. This indicates that any country that falls out of its favor is likely to be under the U.S. nuclear attack.
Death of KEDO Project
Progress of Six-Party Talks Further Hindered
The construction of light water reactors (LWRs) in North Korea virtually came to an end on Sunday with the pullout of 52 South Korean workers and five officials of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) from the Northern project site of Sinpo. The collapse of the $4.6 billion project launched by the international consortium, KEDO, is expected to further hinder progress of the six-party talks because of the North's demand for tens of billons of dollars in compensation. But the North is unable to realize its demand because the demised project was triggered by its violation of the 1994 Geneva agreement signed by Pyongyang and Washington to resolve their first nuclear confrontation. The project, a reward in exchange for the North's freeze of its nuclear activities, has been suspended since November 2003, a year after Pyongyang conceded the pursuit of its nuclear weapons program to Washington in breach of the 1994 accord.
It is quite natural that among the four KEDO partners - South Korea, the United States, Japan and the European Union - we suffered the heaviest loss from the project's collapse. In particular, our commitment amounted to $1.13 billion, compared with some $1.56 billion poured into the project so far. Construction vehicles worth $50.2 million, most of which we have supplied, are also left behind at the Northern project site. On the other hand, we are likely to bear nearly all the costs, expected to reach at least $200 million, due in the cancellation of the project and the dissolution of KEDO. Needless to say, taxpayers become the major victims of the demolished KEDO project.
KEDO Team Withdraws From NK
By Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporter
South Korea has withdrawn all of its workers from the construction site of nuclear light water reactors (LWRs) in North Korea by shipping out the last batch of caretakers to the South Sunday, officials said. The move came after the New York-based Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) virtually decided to terminate the project to build two LWRs in Kumho, east coast area in the North, at its executive board meeting last month. The KEDO oversaw the international consortium for the project, of which financial and legal matters remain yet to cleared up. The Seoul government sent Hankyoreh, a vessel that has shuttled between Kumho and Sokcho of the South every two weeks, to the North Saturday to transport the 57 workers remaining on the site, including five KEDO officials back to the South.
KEDO's reactor project in N.K. closes, workers return to South
The Unification Ministry said one American and 56 South Koreans arrived at the South's eastern port of Sokcho by ship yesterday afternoon from the North's eastern coastal town of Sinpo. They are the last contingent of staff of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, an international consortium which managed the project to build two light-water reactors in Sinpo. The pullout follows KEDO's decision during an executive meeting in New York in November to end the project. The consortium, however, has yet to settle other legal and financial issues ensuing the termination. "The executive members of the KEDO council have consulted to resolve the financial and legal problems in a bid to end the light-water reactor project, and especially our government is trying its best for the reasonable final agreement as soon as possible," Yang Chang-seok, the ministry's spokesman said in a statement.
Pyongyang demanded Washington pay off billions of dollars in compensation for breaking a 1994 deal to build power plants for the energy-starved country.
U.S. Urged to Fulfill Its Commitments before Calling for Resumption of Six-Party Talks
Pyongyang, January 3 (KCNA) -- The United States is chiefly to blame for having blocked the resumption of the six-party talks. The U.S. would be well advised to fulfill its commitments before asking someone to come out for the talks. This would be a practical measure for the resumption of the talks. Rodong Sinmun Tuesday says this in a signed commentary. It goes on: The U.S. only insists that the DPRK should come out for the talks as early as possible. This is, however, nothing but sophism intended to escape the daily increasing criticism and condemnation of the international community and defy its just demand. The U.S. sanctions and pressure prevented the DPRK from going to the talks and the former has made dastardly efforts to shift the responsibility for this on to the DPRK. The U.S. is escalating its pressure upon the DPRK, floating the misinformation that the September 19 joint statement stipulates only the commitments to be honored by the DPRK. The U.S. wanton violation and distortion of the joint statement have further strained the hostile relations between the DPRK and the U.S., far from opening the bilateral ties of confidence, and rendered the prospect of the talks gloomy. 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. The prospect of the resumption of the talks entirely depends on the U.S. behavior.
did the CIA give the Iranians blueprints to build a bomb?
George Bush insists that Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. So why, six years ago, did the CIA give the Iranians blueprints to build a bomb? In an extract from his explosive new book, New York Times reporter James Risen reveals the bungles and miscalculations that led to a spectacular intelligence fiasco
Thursday January 5, 2006 The Guardian
Operation Merlin has been one of the most closely guarded secrets in the Clinton and Bush administrations. It's not clear who originally came up with the idea, but the plan was first approved by Clinton. After the Russian scientist's fateful trip to Vienna, however, the Merlin operation was endorsed by the Bush administration, possibly with an eye toward repeating it against North Korea or other dangerous states.
Several former CIA officials say that the theory behind Merlin - handing over tainted weapon designs to confound one of America's adversaries - is a trick that has been used many times in past operations, stretching back to the cold war. But in previous cases, such Trojan horse operations involved conventional weapons; none of the former officials had ever heard of the CIA attempting to conduct this kind of high-risk operation with designs for a nuclear bomb. The former officials also said these kind of programmes must be closely monitored by senior CIA managers in order to control the flow of information to the adversary. If mishandled, they could easily help an enemy accelerate its weapons development. That may be what happened with Merlin. [Misinformation]
Vershbow Asks NK to Return to Talks Without Conditions
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter Alexander Vershbow, U.S. ambassador to Seoul, Wednesday urged North Korea to return to the six-party talks, saying that the United States is ready to do so without attaching any new conditions. They were the first remarks made publicly by the U.S. envoy this year on the stalled multilateral dialogue, in which the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Russia and Japan are participating. [Spin]
Iran to Resume Its Nuclear Work; U.S. Warns of Seeking Restraints
By ELAINE SCIOLINO Published: January 4, 2006 PARIS, Jan. 3 - Iran announced Tuesday that it planned to restart nuclear research, a move that jeopardized an agreement with the Europeans, complicated a Russian initiative and prompted an American threat.
The decision, contained in a brief letter delivered Tuesday to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, declared that Iran "has decided to resume" research and development "on the peaceful nuclear energy program" that was suspended under an agreement with France, Germany and Britain in late 2004.
Secret services say Iran is trying to assemble a nuclear missile
Document seen by Guardian details web of front companies and middlemen
Ian Cobain and Ian Traynor Wednesday January 4, 2006 The Guardian The Iranian government has been successfully scouring Europe for the sophisticated equipment needed to develop a nuclear bomb, according to the latest western intelligence assessment of the country's weapons programmes. Scientists in Tehran are also shopping for parts for a ballistic missile capable of reaching Europe, with "import requests and acquisitions ... registered almost daily", the report seen by the Guardian concludes.
Seoul Stands Firm Against Iran's Warning
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter South Korea will not change its stance on Iran's nuclear programs as Seoul strongly supports the international move to stop nuclear proliferation, a high-ranking official in Seoul said on Tuesday. It was South Korea's reaction to Iran's recent warning that Teheran will ``reconsider'' the two countries' relationship if Seoul behaves unfavorably to Teheran at a voting session of the 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in March. The official did not say whether Seoul will approve another IAEA resolution, which may criticize Iran's continuing efforts to maintain nuclear weapons programs or refer the Islamic state to the U.N. Security Council _ the worst case for Teheran.
South Korea's policy on nuclear issue has been in sync with the United States as both are currently trying to persuade North Korea into giving up its nuclear weapons programs. [Collusion]
NK Threatens to Boycott Nuke Talks
By Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporter North Korea Tuesday said that it will not attend the multilateral talks on the North's nuclear programs originally expected to resume this month, criticizing the United States for intensifying sanctions and pressure. The commentary of Rodong Shinmun, the official paper of the North's Workers' Party, seemed to deal a blow to the South's recent efforts to create momentum for reconvening the six parties involved in the nuclear talks ahead of the lunar New Year holiday Jan. 28-30. The U.S. sanction against North Korea is the key factor that blocks the resumption of the six-party talks, the commentary said.
'NK Has Plutonium to Make 8 Bombs'
SEOUL (Yonhap) _ North Korea has already produced enough plutonium to make eight nuclear bombs, a British journal reported Sunday, quoting a U.S. expert. Siegfried Hecker, the former director of the U.S. Los Alamos National Laboratory, believes that North Korea has been making plutonium since last summer, apart from participating in the six-party talks aimed at resolving the dispute over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, the Sunday Times said. The fourth round of the talks took place in Beijing from late July to early August.
Nuclear Clouds Gather Over the Asia Pacific
By Praful Bidwai
Japan Focus 2 January 2006]
The Asia-Pacific region has not only emerged as one of the main engines of the world economy, it has also taken the global centre-stage in developments pertaining to nuclear weapons, in efforts to acquire a capability to make them, and in nuclear conflicts among regional powers as well as with the United States. at present, Iran and North Korea, two of the original U.S.-designated "axis of evil" powers are in the scope of U.S. efforts to prevent an adversary to obtain nuclear weapons, or, even to develop nuclear power capability. At the same time, the U.S. offers support for India's nuclear program and is publicly silent on Japanese steps toward acquiring nuclear weapons capacity. From Iran and Israel in West Asia, through India and Pakistan in South Asia, to North Korea and Japan in the East, the region exhibited, in 2005, unprecedented activity in the nuclear field that can only intensify in the coming years. In each of these countries, the United States plays a major role. Its policies of selectively favouring or opposing their nuclear activities will alter the strategic balance in some of the world's most volatile regions. [Double standards] [Japanese rearmament] [Non-Proliferation]
'Prospect for Nuke Issue Could Be Much Darker'
As part of a New Year series, The Korea Times met Park Jae-kyu, the former unification minister who played a pivotal role in preparing for the historic inter-Korean summit in 2000, to ask for his opinion on major issues, involving North Korea. _ED. By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter
Park Jae-kyu, president of Kyungnam University, views 2005 as a year in which the six-party talks have turned a corner. He said the adoption of a joint statement at the fourth round of the talks in September was a notable milestone, providing a basic framework for the resolution of the issue. / Korea Times Former Unification Minister Park Jae-kyu warned that the prospects for North Korea's nuclear issue in 2006 could be much darker than past years unless Washington and Pyongyang find a way out of the ongoing confrontation over the financial sanction.
Park, the Kyungnam University president, said the United States holds the ``key'' to a resumption of the six-party denuclearization talks. But he also indicated that North Korea should make a compromise.
In an exclusive interview with The Korea Times at his office in Seoul on Dec. 26, Park said the U.S. and North Korea will be unable to find any common ground unless facts about Pyongyang's alleged processing and delivering of the faked U.S. dollars can be ascertained.
``The U.S. holds the key to the problem in some way as it imposed the sanctions,'' Park said. ``I think it's not bad (for Pyongyang) to listen to Washington's explanation of the evidence, which it argues is all about the North's financial illegalities.''
As for Washington's tackling of Pyongyang's human rights, drug trafficking, counterfeiting and money laundering, he said that these have been brought to the fore since September when North Korea differently interpreted the joint statement of the six-party talks and argued that it should be first given the light-water reactors before dismantling its nuclear programs. [Evidence] [Friction]

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