N. Korea Watch Thread

[wrecker05]

Mona Charen
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/monacharen/mc20021018.shtml

October 18, 2002

Clinton and North Korea

"North Korea Says It Has a Program on Nuclear Arms" -- New York Times, Oct. 17, 2002.


President Bill Clinton will be remembered by history for only one thing, which is a bit of a shame since his record is so thoroughly shabby and dishonorable that it deserves closer study.

Clinton's contribution to our vulnerability to terror has been well documented, and now comes news that another of his foreign policies has come to fruition. The North Koreans have admitted what close observers have suspected all along -- that they have a nuclear weapons program and may have already produced a number of bombs. (Oh, and by the way, worshippers of arms control treaties kindly note: North Korea is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.)

The only mystery is why Pyongyang has now chosen to admit it.

In the early 1990s, North Korea, even more than other communist states, was drowning in the consequences of its system. People were starving. A congressional study estimated that as many as 1 million died of starvation by 1998. But the regime was no less belligerent for that. Pyongyang continued to build up its military and was aggressively pursuing nuclear capability. Though its facilities were supposed to be inspected by the International Atomic Energy Agency, North Korea persistently delayed inspections. Meanwhile, its aggressive posture and rhetoric toward South Korea continued, as did its development of long-range missiles.

President Clinton, observing this situation, saw what needed to be done: Pyongyang would have to be appeased. As former defense secretary William Perry put it, the administration thought it "necessary to move forward in a more positive way with North Korea." In exchange for a temporary freeze on its nuclear program and a mere promise to refrain from developing such weapons in the future, the Clinton administration extended nearly $1 billion in foreign aid for food and fuel oil, as well as promising to build two light water reactors for the North Koreans.

Certainly the administration must have attached conditions? Surely it insisted that the regime provide proof that the aid was not being used for military purposes, and it must have insisted on some form of political and economic liberalization? The Clinton administration must have tied this aid package to guarantees that the North Koreans would cease exporting ballistic missiles to nations like Iran and Pakistan? Actually, no. As Perry explained, "The policy team believed that the North Korean regime would strongly resist such reform ..."

The North Koreans, rewarded for their belligerence, naturally continued down the same path. (And the lesson was probably not lost on other dangerous regimes that seeking nuclear weapons can bring goodies from Washington.) In 1998, they tested a new, three-stage ballistic missile. Did the Clinton administration at last learn the lesson that appeasement does not work? Not quite. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and William Perry held a press conference to announce that the United States was continuing to pursue good relations with North Korea: "We must deal with the North Korean government as it is, not as we wish it would be."

Accordingly, the Clinton administration proposed to lift economic sanctions on North Korea if it promised -- but this time really, sincerely promised -- to stop development of long-range missiles. The North Korean government didn't even deign to respond for a full week -- but the Clinton administration relaxed sanctions anyway.

The Clinton administration officials believed their policies toward North Korea were a success. By "engaging" Pyongyang, they believed, they had avoided war. Neville Chamberlain thought the same. Instead, the appeasement merely emboldened the North Koreans. A Republican study group concluded in 1999 that North Korea "is a greater threat to international stability" than it had been five years before, "primarily in Asia and secondarily in the Middle East." Is it conceivable that the Clinton foreign policy team really believed North Korea could be bribed into decency?

Edmund Burke warned, "There is no safety for honest men but by believing all possible evil of evil men." That includes assuming that they will lie, cheat and betray. The liberal attachment to treaties is thus laid bare for the chimera it is. When strength and resolve were required, Bill Clinton supplied weakness and legerdemain. And in this, as in the war on terror, he has bequeathed a more dangerous world to his successor.

[Butterlugs]

even if it is from the NYT

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/11/opinion/11KELL.html?todaysheadlines

At the Short End of the Axis of Evil: Some F.A.Q.'s
By BILL KELLER

Everybody seems to be asking which is the bigger threat, North Korea or Iraq. What do you think?

With apologies to Time, Newsweek, CNN and the other news outlets that have been treating this as the Super Bowl of Evil, that's a really silly question. It's like asking which is the bigger problem in your life, your foreclosure notice or your kidney stones. It suggests that we get to choose which one we deal with.

O.K., forget Iraq. How worried should we be about North Korea?

North Korea is a hermit state ruled by a potbellied, five-foot-three paranoid Stalinist who likes to watch Daffy Duck cartoons. He and his father before him have run the country into such a state of abject misery that some people are surviving on boiled grass. And the little dictator is suspected of having manufactured a couple of nuclear weapons.

Creepy.

Actually, that's not the problem, or at least it's not our problem. Loose lip from the White House notwithstanding, there's probably little we can do to get rid of Kim Jong Il. And if he actually has a nuclear warhead or two (we don't really know, but let's assume he does), they have not been fully tested, and thus are just a kind of security blanket. James Lilly, a tough-minded Asianist who has worked in the region as a C.I.A. station chief and ambassador, calls it Mr. Kim's "force de frappe" — de Gaulle's phrase for the tiny, independent nuclear arsenal France maintains to ward off aggressors. He says we probably have no choice but to live with it.

So a nuclear North Korea is O.K.?

Not exactly. But whatever Mr. Kim has in hand now is probably not a significant danger. The real worry is that North Korea is threatening to crank up a nuclear assembly line. It has enough plutonium in old fuel rods at the Yongbyon reactor to make five or six weapons in a matter of months. With all facilities running full tilt it could eventually turn out warheads at the rate of a couple of dozen a year — enough to supply any rogue state or terrorist willing to pay. North Korea is so strapped it will sell just about anything to just about anyone. That is reason to be afraid.

Why are we suddenly in this mess?

The Bush folks will tell you it's Bill Clinton's fault. The Clinton folks say it's George W. Bush's fault. Both administrations have plenty to answer for, but first and foremost it's the North Koreans' fault. Back in 1994, facing a similar threat of the North going nuclear, the Clinton administration cut a deal called the Agreed Framework. North Korea promised to put its nuclear program on hold and act nice, and the U.S. said it would reward this good behavior by supplying fuel oil and a pair of relatively safe light-water nuclear reactors, and by moving to normalize relations. The deal had some holes, but it averted a crisis that could have led to war. And it worked, up to a point. The North Koreans did lock up their precious plutonium at the Yongbyon reactor. But they also started a secret uranium enrichment program and tested a worrisome new long-range missile over Japan. The Clintonites — afraid they would be accused of appeasing an awful regime, and half-convinced that that regime would collapse anyway — dithered and dawdled on our end of the bargain.

So the Bush administration inherited a mess.

And proceeded to turn it into a bigger mess. Mr. Bush came in with an attitude rather than a policy. The attitude was that Kim Jong Il was despicable, and that bargaining with him would be immoral. Mr. Bush called Mr. Kim a "pygmy," told a reporter he "loathed" him, inducted him into the axis of evil. The North Koreans have spewed enough hysterical invective of their own — they once called us "cannibals," and this week they were bellowing about World War III — to recognize bluster when it's aimed at them, but they seem to have taken our bellicose talk fairly seriously. Especially when we abruptly cut off discussions, adopted military "pre-emption" as our doctrine for dealing with nuclear wannabes, and cited North Korea as a justification for building a missile defense system in Alaska. When Donald Rumsfeld pointed out that our military is designed to fight two wars at the same time, guess what he meant.

Yikes! Two wars? Is that likely to happen?

No, but it's not impossible. Robert Galucci, who negotiated the 1994 Agreed Framework, says he has no doubt President Clinton would have ordered a pre-emptive air strike if the Koreans had moved to extract plutonium for nuclear weapons. Mr. Bush has the same option, and, faced with the prospect of North Korea opening a nuclear bazaar, he would have to think very seriously about it. If we hit a reprocessing plant in North Korea with cruise missiles, North Korea would then have to decide whether to begin a second Korean War by raining artillery shells on South Korea, where 37,000 U.S. troops are based. Most experts are pretty sure it will not come to this. The North Koreans have made a show of expelling international inspectors and withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, but they have not repudiated their deal with us, the Agreed Framework. Mitchell Reiss, the Korea specialist who is dean of international relations at the College of William and Mary, believes they have slyly closed off everything but this bilateral avenue, so the U.S. will talk to them directly. Of course, experts have been wrong a time or two about North Korea.

Plan A sounds pretty horrible. Does the president have a Plan B?

He has zigzagged his way through a whole alphabet of plans. One faction within the administration has pushed for a policy of tightening economic sanctions until North Korea cries uncle or collapses. (A Bush official dubbed this form of strangulation "tailored containment." Mr. Reiss calls it "assisted suicide.")

Whatever you call it, I don't follow the logic. You say North Korea is an isolated totalitarian state that has never learned how to conduct itself in polite society. So the way to teach it better manners is to cut it off?

Look, sanctions are everybody's cheap solution for countries behaving badly. Liberals love them when the target is South Africa or Myanmar. Conservatives love them when the target is Cuba or Iraq. Sanctions often accomplish exactly the opposite of what you want, and even at their best they have deleterious side effects. One longtime sanctions skeptic, Richard Haass, has written that in the case of North Korea, economic pressure should be only a last resort if engagement fails, not a substitute for dialogue. Mr. Haass, by the way, is now the director of policy planning at the Bush State Department.

Which raises the question, who's in charge there?

At the outset the Bush policy was dominated by people whose expertise is not Asia but weapons proliferation. Now the lead role has reverted to Colin Powell and the diplomats. They have renounced "tailored containment" and forsworn military options so vociferously that Mr. Bush now sounds like Jimmy Carter. True, his motives for this show of restraint may be questionable — he doesn't want to distract attention from Job One in Iraq — but it's a welcome change from the gunslinger talk. We've also started paying more attention to North Korea's neighbors, whose cooperation is essential. Japan, Russia, China and especially South Korea, whose new president floated to power on a wave of anti-American sentiment, all believe Mr. Kim can be induced to sober up and maybe even join the world. Most important, we've agreed to "talk" to the North. (But not "negotiate." It's basically the difference between foreplay and sex.) Whether the Bush folks have come entirely to their senses is hard to tell, but Mr. Galucci describes them as "lurching in the right direction."

Does anybody have a plan that makes sense?

Actually, yes. Back in 1999 the National Defense University assembled a team of Asia experts to draft a strategy for dealing with North Korea. It came to be known as "more for more": we would expect more from the North Koreans, including rigorous inspections, a full accounting of their nuclear history, and an end to missile exports. We would offer more in return — financial aid (including speeding construction of the two promised light-water reactors, which are stalled), guarantees that North Korea will not be attacked if it keeps its promises, and eventually normal diplomatic relations. The plan contained a dash of testosterone — intercepting missile exports, even a cautious mention of "pre-emption" if all else fails — but mostly it depended on lots and lots of, pardon the expression, negotiations and quid pro quo. The proposal was comprehensive, hard-nosed, multilateral and level-headed.

Maybe President Bush should hire the guy in charge of that report.

He already has. It's Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

Maybe what Mr. Bush should do now is listen to him.

[Eddy's Geist]

You know.. I just don't see N. Korea actually producing a bomb. Especially when they have a good buddy named "Peoples Republic of China"

If N. Korea has has nuclear weapons then I bet they got them as a gift from China and you can count your chop sticks that those bombs have been fully tested.


"And the little dictator is suspected of having manufactured a couple of nuclear weapons...
And if he actually has a nuclear warhead or two (we don't really know, but let's assume he does), they have not been fully tested,"

[Pistol Pete]

My view is that Saddam is the main threat right now because of the economic chaos he can inflict should he do anything to the surrounding oilfields. The disruption in any production in the area will be felt in every market immediately because people tend to panic when there are many billions of dollars at stake. That's about all I have to say concerning Saddam...he's no suprise to anyone.

As for Kim, that guy is a classic example of a paranoid. His kingdom is far removed from the social circles of the world and he likes it that way. The old saying, "Idle hands are the Devil's workshop", fits Kim very well. He's been raised in a truly "hermit" environment since the Japanese left. He's a dictator in the truest sense, not owing to anybody. His word is law. Period. Coupled with his reclusion, and that I believe he does have nukes and will use them, I feel Kim is the most dangerous of the two, but not the one I'd take out first. However, I would melt the bastard right after Saddam eats it.

I do think that, if the ground war with Iraq drags out for over a month, Kim will make war, knowing we can't fight a two front war any longer (thank you Billy :fbomb: ). If he does make a move on South Korea, China will definately hit Taiwan and the whole game goes into sudden death overtime.

People, we're in a very tricky time. We can surmise what might happen, but we're really walking on eggs right now.

[Butterlugs]

Unless you were too young, remember a National Lampoon cover with the heading "buy this issue or we will shoot this dog"?
That reminds me of kim, "give me foriegn aid or i'll do something really stupid with these nuclear weapons i have. And I am not joking!"

[Mando]

Right now, we, have nothing to gain and a lot to loose with North Korea. Not that war with them would be a bad thing, it would help stimulate there economy, bring in aid through sympathy, and allow them to ally themselves more closely with their communist neighbor, China. The biggest threat in the arena is China. Not the threat that China will get involved in the fighting, rather, a trade war with China would break us. Due to US “globalization” China has not only got a foot in the door of the US economy, it has been welcomed in for coffee and donuts. That is what makes this issue so touchy.

[Pistol Pete]

Originally posted by Butterlugs
Unless you were too young, remember a National Lampoon cover with the heading "buy this issue or we will shoot this dog"?


I have that issue, and many others :D Man, how I miss those stories :(

Now, back to loonies.

[Butterlugs]

Mando, I think the North Koreans scare even the Chinese.

My kids asked me this question today, I think they may have heard it on talk radio but it made sense. Why is North Korea now all of a sudden a US problem. But Iraq is somehow, a "world" problem. What are we the worlds trashman?

[Mando]

Actually I can answer that. North Korea is our problem for one reason and one reason only….Japan. For the last 45+ years Japan has had nothing but a token defensive force (known as the JSDF). The Japanese military was deactivated as a stipulation of the peace treaty and our military was to act as there blanket. So, anything that threatens the security of Japan is our problem.

As for Iraq, it was a UN action that got us here, it will take one to get us out.

[Deamon]

If you saw the films of the north korean people on the news and things they look really indoctrinated...

Maybe irrelevant but THAT is what I would want to turn my country into, just imagine if North Korea had enough resources to put those people to good use.

[evereno]

The real problem with North Korea.....

Influx of Western Culture Worrying North Korea
Wed February 05, 2003 08:56 AM ET

TOKYO (Reuters) - Bibles, pornography, mini-skirts and women wearing "very strange make-up" -- Western culture has found its way to reclusive North Korea, and government officials aren't happy about it, a Japanese newspaper reported Wednesday.
Citing internal North Korean documents, the Sankei Shimbun daily said North Koreans who travel overseas on business were bringing home some unwelcome souvenirs.

The result: a decline in morals, a growing divorce rate and rising popularity of fortune tellers.

"This is a harsh situation and the impact is significant," the conservative newspaper quoted the document as saying.

The 16-page document, which Sankei said was issued by a North Korean ruling party publisher and given to senior officials last year, contains ideas to be drawn upon in public speeches.

"Women are using very strange make-up, putting foreign-style make-up on their lips and eyelashes," the document said, adding that women were also wearing "short skirts."

"Divorce is increasing among the people...fortune-tellers are becoming popular," Sankei quoted the document as saying.

The document also said those who own television sets and radios were listening to broadcasts from South Korea and other neighboring countries, and that young people in particular were memorizing South Korean songs and bragging about it.

Recent visitors to the Stalinist state, however, have seen no evidence of Western fads, even in the capital of Pyongyang. Elsewhere, much of the population lives in grinding poverty.

A diplomatic crisis involving North Korea erupted last October when Washington said Pyongyang had admitted to having a nuclear weapons program.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=ZCPODI41Z2X1MCRBAEZSF EY?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2173510

[Ty]

Wierd makeup and clothes?:confused:

http://starworld.indya.com/drewcarey/photogallery/images/gal6.jpg

[evereno]

N Korea threatens US with first strike

Pyongyang asserts right to pre-emptive attack as tensions rise over American build-up

Jonathan Watts in Pyongyang
Thursday February 6, 2003
The Guardian

North Korea is entitled to launch a pre-emptive strike against the US rather than wait until the American military have finished with Iraq, the North's foreign ministry told the Guardian yesterday.
Warning that the current nuclear crisis is worse than that in 1994, when the peninsula stood on the brink of oblivion, a ministry spokesman called on Britain to use its influence with Washington to avert war.

"The United States says that after Iraq, we are next", said the deputy director Ri Pyong-gap, "but we have our own countermeasures. Pre-emptive attacks are not the exclusive right of the US."

His comments came on a day when tension was apparent in Pyongyang, with an air-raid drill that cleared the city's streets and the North's announcement that it has begun full-scale operations at the Yongbyon nuclear plant, the suspected site of weapons-grade plutonium production.

Since reopening the plant in December, the North has kicked out international inspectors and withdrawn from the global treaty to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.

Anxiety in North Korea has been rising since Washington announced plans in the past week to beef up its military strength in the area. Additional bombers will be sent to the region, along with 2,000 extra troops who will serve alongside the 17,000 already stationed on the North-South border. USS Carl Vinson may also be deployed.

According to Pyongyang, the USS Kitty Hawk has already taken up strike position in waters off the peninsula. The US says that reinforcements are needed to warn Pyongyang that it should not try to take advantage of Washington's focus on Iraq.

North Korean officials fear the extra forces are the start of the build-up for a full-scale confrontation - a dangerous assumption that could push the peninsula over the edge.

During the last crisis, when the Pentagon planned a surgical strike on the Yongbyon nuclear plant, American generals were convinced that the North would rather launch a surprise attack than wait for a US military build-up.

Mr Ri said today's stand-off is more dangerous: "The present situation can be called graver than it was in 1993. It will be touch and go."

The crisis erupted in October when a US envoy to Pyongyang confronted the regime with suspicions that North Korea was engaged in a uranium enrichment programme, in violation of the 1994 agreement which ended the last crisis.

To punish the North, the US cut off supplies of 500,000 tonnes a year of heavy fuel oil, a severe blow to a nation that is desperately short of energy. The north of the country is worst hit but power shortages are apparent even in the capital, where temperatures have fallen as low as -21C recently.

The North claims that the Yongbyon nuclear plant is being used for peaceful purposes. "The US stopped our oil so our country faces a critical shortage of electricity," Mr Ri said. "Our nuclear activities will be confined only to producing electricity."

Both sides say they are committed to finding a diplomatic solution but remain far apart in their demands. Pyongyang wants a non-aggression treaty but Washington has said it will not reward blackmail and has hinted only at a written guarantee of the North's security.

Concern about the crisis has prompted South Korea and Japan to pressure the US to take a softer line. In a sign that this may be working, the US deputy secretary of state, Richard Armitage said for the first time yesterday that the US would definitely hold direct talks with the North. "It is just a question of when we do it and how," he told the Senate.

A breakthrough stills looks distant. The European Union plans to send a high-level delegation to North Korea later this month to mediate, but similar envoys from Russia and South Korea achieved little because the North insists that the issue is a bilateral matter with the US.

The North has shown a willingness to open up to other na tions. In an important development, a new road link to South Korea was used for the first time yesterday.

But the North know that the nuclear issue stands in the way of progress, prompting a request that Britain intercede. "The US must sign a non-aggression treaty," Mr Li said.

"I hope that Britain can help to persuade them to do so."

· Japan may deploy two destroyers near North Korea to detect missile launches, the Kyodo news agency reported on yesterday. Quoting unspecified government sources, it said Tokyo believes it increasingly likely that ballistic missiles will be test-fired as part of the North's brinkmanship.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,889600,00.html

[JasmineDreamz]

LMAO Ty.........I think you've hit the nail on the head

[shotglass]

They want a non-aggression treaty with us? When we know that treaties mean nothing to them? Just goes to show that you cannot trust a communist. Let them starve.

[Eagle3]

Originally posted by shotglass
They want a non-aggression treaty with us? When we know that treaties mean nothing to them? Just goes to show that you cannot trust a communist. Let them starve.

I think they're competing with the French for who can make the most ridiculous statements.

[Laurie]

Hey Shotty, I saw on the news last night that they are barracading the Arch because of new threats on a terrorist attack.


So please, STAY AWAY FROM THE ARCH! LOL

[Eagle3]

Yahoo (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?g=events/wl/013103koreaposter&a=&tmpl=sl&ns=&l=1&e=3&a=0&t=)

The North Korean Central News Agency released a propaganda poster January 31, 2003 depicting North Korea (news - web sites)'s military power. North Korea's official media said on February 3 that the communist state's troops were in full combat readiness in case of U.S. aggression, amid signs of rising tensions over the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula. Radio Pyongyang quoted Korean People's Army chiefs as vowing loyalty to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who it said had toured two army units over the weekend as his country vilified the United States over the three-month-old nuclear impasse. Photo by Korea News Service/Reuters News

[evereno]

I am so scared!!! Right!!! What is more dangerous? Letting Saddam run rapid over the world, developing who knows what or his decalration of war when we go in there and remove his WMD's?

US is told: turn on us and you get total war

Julian Borger in Washington
Friday February 7, 2003
The Guardian

"I wouldn't label it a crisis," the deputy secretary of state, Richard Armitage told the United States Senate when he was being interrogated over the nuclear showdown with North Korea. It was more of a "big problem", he said.
However careful the Bush administration is with words, it clear that its North Korea problem is getting bigger by the day, and they are well aware that Pyongyang is raising the temperature with every degree Washington turns up the heat on Baghdad.

On Wednesday, when Mr Armitage's boss, Colin Powell, was at the UN making the case against Saddam Hussein, the North Korean government announced its intentions to reactivate its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon which is also the core of its revived nuclear weapons programme. Yesterday, with characteristic hyperbole, Pyongyang also warned of "total war" in response to a pre-emptive US airstrike, after the Pentagon put two dozen long-range bombers on alert to move out to East Asia.

The Kim Jong-il regime is not famous for its sense of humour but it is not hard to imagine it enjoying the administration's discomfort. Washington is seeking to focus US and international attention on Iraq, in preparation for military action. To admit it is facing a separate crisis with a second "rogue state" - this one almost certainly possessing nuclear weapons - would only heighten already profound anxiety over the wisdom, morality and repercussions of an invasion of Iraq.

Experts are divided, however, on Pyongyang's motives. It stunned the US last year by admitting that it was reprocessing uranium for possible use in nuclear warheads. Then, when the US cut off oil supplies, it threw UN inspectors out of Yongbyon and withdrew from the non-proliferation treaty, indicating its preparedness to make nuclear missiles.

The North Koreans also appear, in US satellite photographs, to have removed some of its 8,000 spent fuel rods from storage, an essential first step before reprocessing them to produce plutonium, the alternative route to building a bomb.

The Stalinist regime could have triggered the crisis principally to force concessions from Washington. It certainly made no effort to disguise the lorries that pulled up to the nuclear storage area at Yongbyon and were spotted by US satellites. In that case, its nuclear brinksmanship has succeeded. The Bush administration broke off contacts with North Korea soon after coming to office and then in January 2002, the president famously labelled Pyongyang as part of the "axis of evil". This week it climbed down, and Mr Armitage confirmed that Washington was ready for direct talks.

However, some analysts, like David Albright, a physicist and the head of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, believe that the North Korean government is determined to build itself a significant arsenal of nuclear warheads. "The reason we see those trucks at the storage facility might be that they just don't care whether we see them doing it or not," Mr Albright said.

Kim Jong-il may have come to the conclusion that his regime may be next on the Pentagon's to-do list, whatever he does. In that case, it may make sense from his point of view to accelerate his efforts to build up his nuclear deterrent at a time when Washington is fixated on Iraq.

Once he moves the fuel rods into Yongbyon's reprocessing plant, it immediately raises the risk involved, should the US try to carry out its long-standing contingency plan of bombing the plant. An airstrike would send a plume of highly radioactive dust into the atmostphere. The North Korean leader is almost certainly right in believing that the Bush administration's current conciliatory approach will not last. Mr Bush has expressed his personal loathing for Kim Jong-il, and North Korea is far more suitable as a target for the Bush doctrine than Iraq. It almost certainly already has nuclear weapons, and it is far more starved of cash, making it more likely to sell its warheads abroad.

The US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, warned Pyongyang against assuming he had taken his eye off the Korean peninsula. "To the extent the world thinks the United States is focused on problems in Iraq, it's conceivable someone could make a mistake and believe that's an opportunity for them to take an action which they otherwise would have avoided," he said, confirming that he was putting the B-1 and B-52 bombers on alert for deployment to the Pacific.

But Mr Rumsfeld is well aware that the post-cold war US forces - already stretched by policing work in Afghanistan and the deployment for Iraq - are not necessarily capable of fighting and decisively winning two major conflicts at the same time. Instead, the US is likely to wait for the dust to settle in Iraq, before turning on North Korea, and Pyongyang is readying itself for that moment. http://www.guardian.co.uk/korea/article/0,2763,890832,00.html

[evereno]

North Korea threatens to nuke South - SEOUL (AP) - North Korea warned Friday that reported U.S. moves to dispatch reinforcements around the Korean peninsula could lead to "horrible nuclear disasters."

"If the U.S. moves to bolster aggression troops are unchecked, the whole land of Korea will be reduced to ashes and the Koreans will not escape horrible nuclear disasters," North Korea's official news agency, KCNA, said Friday. U.S. officials say any discussions of troop movements would be meant to deter North Korea, not to foreshadow a U.S. military strike.

News reports say Washington has contingency plans to bomb North Korean nuclear facilities and Pyongyang fears the Bush administration will become more aggressive if the U.S. military conducts a successful war in Iraq.

On Thursday, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said North Korea's harsh rhetoric was a "real cause for concern" and that United States had "robust plans for any contingencies," including military action.

But, he added, President George W. Bush still believes that the dispute over North Korea's nuclear development can be curbed peacefully.

North Korea's statement Friday was issued by the Committee for Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, a government agency in charge of relations with South Korea.

In line with the North's long-standing strategy to drive a wedge between the United States and South Korea, the statement urged the South Koreans to frustrate reputed U.S. plans for a military buildup. It indicated that if war breaks out, the South would not escape devastation either.

"The grave situation where there is the real danger of a new war created by the U.S. imperialists on the Korean peninsula goes to more clearly prove that there exists on the peninsula only confrontation between the Korean nation and the United States," it said.

Concern about North Korea's nuclear program has grown after Pyongyang announced earlier this week that it was normalizing operations at its main nuclear facility north of the capital, triggering fears it was might begin to produce nuclear weapons materials.

Meanwhile, North Korean soldiers have been holding rallies at their bases, vowing to wage a "life-and-death battle" against any U.S. invaders, said Friday.

The report repeated Pyongyang's position that the nuclear issue can be resolved only through direct negotiations with the United States. It rejected a multilateral approach to the dispute.

North Korea announced in December it would reactivate its nuclear facilities, frozen since 1994, to generate badly needed electricity.

U.S. officials say the amount of electricity that can be generated by the North's facilities is negligible and that the equipment could used to produce nuclear weapons.

The North froze its nuclear facilities in a 1994 energy deal with the United States, but the agreement unravelled after U.S. officials said in October that North Korea had admitted embarking on a second, clandestine nuclear program.

North Korea denied making such an admission and accused Washington of not upholding its end of the 1994 bargain.

The North's fear of U.S. military intentions have also been heightened since the Bush administration took office. Bush has included North Korea along with Iraq and Iran as part of an "axis of evil."

The U.S. reserves the right to make pre-emptive attacks these or any other "rogue states."

Washington and its allies have suspended oil shipments to North Korea as a result of the reported admission on the clandestine nuclear program.

The North retaliated by taking steps to restart the nuclear facilities, expelling UN monitors and withdrawing from a global nuclear arms control treaty.

The UN International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-member board of governors will meet next Wednesday to discuss the standoff and is almost certain to send the dispute to the UN Security Council

The Security Council could decided to impose economic sanctions against Pyongyang. North Korea has said it would consider such a decision as an act of war.

The North wants direct negotiations with Washington and has called on the Bush administration to sign a non-aggression treaty.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2003/02/06/21127-ap.html

[JDub]

Somebody go thaw MacArthur out.

[Pistol Pete]

Originally posted by JDub
Somebody go thaw MacArthur out.

No shit. My dad was at the Yalu when Comrad Truman reversed our gains and gave the communists back all the territory the US had taken from them. The north is just like criminals who choose "Suicide by cop". They'll do anything to be exterminated.

[gopsdragon]

Originally posted by Pistol Pete
The north is just like criminals who choose "Suicide by cop". They'll do anything to be exterminated.

Too bad there aren't more cops.

Could we thaw out Patton too for good measure? That would be the best - MacArthur and Patton running back and forth all over North Korea showing who is the better general.

Damn...anybody got an extra pair of underwear handy?

[JDub]

Originally posted by gopsdragon
Damn...anybody got an extra pair of underwear handy?

Seriously!:D

[cuda]

Originally posted by gopsdragon
Could we thaw out Patton too for good measure? That would be the best - MacArthur and Patton running back and forth all over North Korea showing who is the better general.


While we're at it, how 'bout thawing out Walt Disney?:D

[shotglass]

The Korean Kommies would not be in this predicament had they obeyed the treaty they signed in '94.

[Band Camp Productions]

Originally posted by shotglass
The Korean Kommies would not be in this predicament had they obeyed the treaty they signed in '94.


Korrectomondo

[gopsdragon]

North Korea Rocket Can Hit U.S., CIA Says


WASHINGTON - North Korea (news - web sites) has an untested ballistic missile capable of reaching the western United States, intelligence officials said Wednesday.

The North Korean missile is a three-stage version of the Taepo Dong 2, said Vice Adm. Lowell Jacoby, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

It has not been flight-tested, Jacoby said, leaving some questions about the North Korea's capability to successfully launch the missile.

CIA (news - web sites) Director George J. Tenet, who joined Jacoby in briefing the Senate Armed Services Committee (news - web sites), also acknowledged the North Koreans have the capability to reach the western United States with a long-range missile.

Previous U.S. intelligence reports have said such a missile probably could carry a nuclear weapon-sized payload across the Pacific Ocean.

Meanwhile, the U.N. nuclear agency declared North Korea in violation of international treaties, raising the stakes in the standoff by sending the dispute to the Security Council.

The move could lead to punishing sanctions which the North has said it would consider an act of war.

Russia and Cuba refused endorse the measure, saying the International Atomic Energy Agency's decision would detract from a flurry of diplomatic efforts aimed at easing the crisis.

Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei said the IAEA would continue to press for a peaceful solution, but he said months of intransigence on the part of North Korea's reclusive communist regime had left the U.N. nuclear watchdog no choice.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer (news - web sites) said he was unfamiliar with the testimony on the missile but said: "Technology and time means regimes like North Korea will increasingly have the ability to strike at the United States."

He said that is why President Bush (news - web sites) supports building an anti-missile shield.

"We do have concerns ... about North Korea's missile development programs," Fleischer told reporters.

The revelation was certain to raise questions about Bush's priorities — and whether North Korea or Iraq pose a greater threat to the United States. Baghdad does not possess weapons that can strike America, officials have said.

"They are both important priorities," Fleischer said. "The question is, what are the means best used to deal with each priority."

He said diplomacy has failed to curb Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s weapons of mass destruction program for more than a decade, thus Bush made military action a front-and-center option. "That's not the case with North Korea," Fleischer said, saying Bush believes diplomatic pressure can contain North Korea.

Tenet said North Korea probably has one or two nuclear weapons.

An unclassified U.S. intelligence estimate, released by CIA officials in December 2001, said the three-stage Taepo Dong 2 missile was probably close to being ready for flight testing.

But North Korea has held to a voluntary moratorium on flight tests of its long-range missiles, although officials in Pyongyang likely will conduct new tests.

The 2001 U.S. government report said a three-stage Taepo Dong could deliver a several-hundred-pound payload from North Korea to targets about 9,300 miles distant — sufficient to strike all of North America.

A two-stage Taepo Dong 2, which would be easier to use successfully, may be able to reach Alaska or Hawaii, it said.

In 1998, the North Koreans attempted to put a satellite into orbit with the launch of a three-stage version of the earlier model of the Taepo Dong. It failed when the third stage did not ignite.

Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites), appearing before the House International Relations Committee, said the United States is pressing China to use its leverage with North Korea to persuade it to end its nuclear program. China is the main supplier of foreign assistance and energy aid to North Korea.

"We are doing everything we can to persuade the Chinese that the problem in North Korea is not just a problem between North and the United States. It is between North Korea and the region and North Korea and the world," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=512&e=1&u=/ap/20030212/ap_on_go_co/us_north_korea_missile

[JDub]

Better back up the server offsite, JB. ;):hehe:

[Laurie]

I read this earlier today and truth be told. It scared the shit outta me. :scary: :worry:

[Band Camp Productions]

Hmmmmm. Let's see how measured the response is when Jong tries to pull a missile test flyover on us the way he did with Japan in '98. Nope, the crystal ball does not forsee Bush shaking Kim's hand any time in the near future...

[cuda]

I'm not worried. Let's say the stupid fucktard lauches 12 rockets, we can pick that up in advance and counter with probably 2 to 3 times as many rockets just to shoot them all down.

Then he's gonna be neck deep in shit...:mad:

[evereno]

Simply put, Blow those F***** a******* out of existance. HAve you not heard my motto!!!!!

[Laurie]

Originally posted by cuda
I'm not worried. Let's say the stupid fucktard lauches 12 rockets, we can pick that up in advance and counter with probably 2 to 3 times as many rockets just to shoot them all down.

Then he's gonna be neck deep in shit...:mad:


Well when you put it that way, my fear just disappears. :D

[cuda]

Originally posted by Laurie
Well when you put it that way, my fear just disappears. :D

:rolleyes:

[Eagle3]

As we used to say in my old squadron, "Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark".
:)

[shotglass]

They have A missile? We have THOUSANDS.

Go ahead and shoot one off, asswipe. You will be vaporized, along with 99% of your broken down little shitpot country. Give me the football for a while, let's see if they can take a joke. (I consider a nuke on Pyongyang pretty damn funny.)

[Eddy's Geist]

I have to agree with Cuda on this... N. Korea simply cannot produce enough missles to evade our missle defense systems.

I also have to question the integrity of their design. If the design was Chinese then I'd be concerned but from what I can gather.. it's a homegrown design. N. Korea did some testing of their short range missles a few years ago and that design could "only" reach the eastern borders of Japan. The missle tests weren't considered very accurate.


Originally posted by cuda
I'm not worried. Let's say the stupid fucktard lauches 12 rockets, we can pick that up in advance and counter with probably 2 to 3 times as many rockets just to shoot them all down.

Then he's gonna be neck deep in shit...:mad:

[Eagle3]

N.Korea Rattles Sabres; US, South Plan War Games (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=578&u=/nm/20030217/ts_nm/korea_north_dc&printer=1) - SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said Monday it would win any nuclear war with the United States as the crisis over the communist state's suspected drive to manufacture atomic weapons entered the fifth month.

South Korea weighed in with some rhetoric of its own. President Kim Dae-jung (news - web sites) said North Korea should "not even dream of having nuclear weapons," calling it a dangerous development that could trigger an arms race. "If North Korea gets nuclear weapons, the stance of Japan and our country toward nukes would change," he said in a speech.

And the United States and South Korea detailed plans for war games on the tense peninsula in March and April -- a time when Washington could be at war in Iraq. North Korean state media returned to saber-rattling after a weekend of reinforcing cult worship of reclusive leader Kim Jong-il. It was Kim's 61st birthday Sunday. "Victory in a nuclear conflict will be ours and the red flag of army-first politics will flutter ever more vigorously," state radio said, reported by South Korea's Yonhap news agency. "Our victory is certain and the future ever more radiant," it said, touting the dominance of the army in the world's most heavily militarized society.

The comments came as the United States, which keeps 37,000 troops in South Korea under a 50-year-old alliance, said annual bilateral military exercises will be held in the South in March and April. The U.S. Forces Korea said the allies had informed the North about the war games. The North's million-strong Korean People's Army is the world's fifth-largest and military spending accounts for as much as a quarter of the economically struggling country's gross domestic product. The North's population is 22.5 million people.

WARNINGS DAILY FARE

War warnings and claims the United States is poised to attack North Korea have been almost daily fare in Pyongyang's official media since the nuclear crisis flared up last year. South Koreans have lived within range of forward-deployed North Korean artillery for years and have largely played down recent threats. President Kim said he believed Washington was committed to a peaceful solution. "I think that the United States will not take military action against North Korea. I see no possibility of that," Kim said in a speech at a luncheon. His comments were reported by the presidential office. But the prolonged nuclear impasse has raised concerns about the South's economy as Kim prepares to hand power to President-elect Roh Moo-hyun on February 25. South Korea's central bank said Monday the South could miss its 2003 growth target if the crises over Iraq and North Korea dragged on.

"We will maintain a low interest rate policy...as our economy may fail to meet expectations if the uncertainty over war in Iraq and North Korea's suspected nuclear programs is prolonged," it said in a statement to parliament. The standoff over North Korea's suspected nuclear program has been simmering since mid-October, when Washington said Pyongyang had admitted to pursuing a program to enrich uranium in violation of major international treaty commitments. Since then, North Korea has expelled U.N. nuclear inspectors and withdrawn from the treaty that aims to curb the global spread of nuclear weapons and said it was ready to restart a mothballed reactor capable of producing plutonium for bombs. Pyongyang has insisted that it only intends to produce electricity for its decrepit economy and that the nuclear row is a bilateral dispute with Washington that can only be resolved through two-way talks leading to a non-aggression treaty.

But a vote on February 12 by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog, referring the nuclear issue to the Security Council, was seen as a rebuff to North Korea's insistence on a bilateral solution. The Security Council has the power to impose economic sanctions -- a step North Korea has said would amount to a declaration of war. But the IAEA says its members had no plan to push for sanctions now. North Korea's allies Russia and China and neighbors including South Korea are against sanctions. The United States has said it has no intention of invading North Korea and is willing to talk to Pyongyang but not to negotiate any new nuclear deal.

[Eagle3]

Japan, US to Hold Missile-Intercept Tests (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=574&u=/nm/20030217/wl_nm/arms_japan_missile_dc_1&printer=1) - TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan has decided to start joint experiments with the United States next year on shooting down ballistic missiles, a response to rising tensions over North Korea suspected nuclear weapons program, a Japanese newspaper reported on Monday. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun said Tokyo and Washington planned to carry out the experiments from the financial year starting in April 2004, as Pyongyang appeared likely to resume missile tests amid the crisis on the Korean Peninsula. Japan and the United States have been jointly studying a theater missile defense (TMD) system aimed at shielding U.S. troops in Asia and its allies, but they have not yet conducted tests aimed at intercepting incoming ballistic missiles.

Tokyo began studying the technology for such a system with Washington after North Korea launched a ballistic missile that passed over Japan in August 1998, but has stopped short of moving the project to the development stage for fear of angering China. Beijing is opposed to a U.S.-led regional missile defense system out of concerns that it would be extended to include Taiwan, which it views as a renegade province. A Japanese Defense Ministry official declined to comment on the report. The paper said Tokyo and Washington will decide whether to move to full-scale development of the system after completing the joint experiments, to be held in Hawaii for two years.

In an interview with Reuters last week, Japanese Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Japan ought to develop a missile defense system with the United States, since it lacks the capability to defend itself from missile attacks from North Korea. He said an unspecified number of Rodong missiles with ranges of 750 miles were already deployed in North Korea. In 1993, North Korea upset Japan by test-firing a medium-range Rodong-1 missile into the Sea of Japan. And in August 1998, North Korea launched a three-stage Taepodong-1 missile over Japan, demonstrating that major population areas including Tokyo were within the estimated 600 mile range of the missile.

U.S. officials said last week that Pyongyang had a three-stage Taepodong-2 missile that could reach the West Coast of the United States, but that the missile had not been tested. A standoff over North Korea's suspected nuclear program has been simmering since October, when Washington said Pyongyang had admitted pursuing a program to enrich uranium in violation of major international treaty commitments. Since then, North Korea has expelled U.N. nuclear inspectors, withdrawn from a treaty which aims to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and said it is ready to restart a mothballed reactor capable of producing plutonium for bombs.

[Eagle3]

Ship gets arms in and out - Washington Times (http://www.washtimes.com/national/20030218-330306.htm)

By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The North Korean ship that last year delivered Scud missiles to Yemen transferred a large shipment of chemical weapons material from Germany to North Korea recently, U.S. intelligence officials said.
The ship, the Sosan, was monitored as it arrived in North Korea earlier this month carrying a shipment of sodium cyanide, a precursor chemical used in making nerve gas, said officials familiar with intelligence reports.
The same ship was stopped by U.S. and Spanish naval vessels Dec. 9 as it neared Yemen. It was carrying 15 Scud missiles and warheads. After a brief delay and assurances from the Yemeni government, the ship was allowed to proceed to Yemen with the missile shipment.
After unloading the missiles in Yemen, the Sosan then traveled to Germany, where it took on a cargo of sodium cyanide estimated to weigh several tons. The ship then was tracked as it traveled to North Korea. It arrived at the west coast seaport of Nampo on Thursday, the officials said.
Disclosure of the chemical shipment comes amid heightened tensions between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang's nuclear activities. The North Koreans were found to have violated a 1994 agreement to freeze plutonium production and other agreements prohibiting it from making nuclear arms.
The Bush administration is planning in the coming months to impose sanctions aimed at halting weapons shipments to North Korea and cutting off funds sent to the communist state by Korean residents in Japan, said an administration official. The plans were first reported yesterday by the New York Times.
North Korea's official media have said that any sanctions imposed on the country would be tantamount to a declaration of war.
The official Korean Central News Agency confirmed that the Sosan arrived at Nampo on Thursday.
At a press conference, the captain and crew answered questions for reporters and said that the Dec. 9 incident was an act of U.S. piracy.
The Sosan's captain, Kang Cholryong, told the news agency that the crew, not wanting to surrender their cargo to the United States, tried to set the ship on fire and sink it but were stopped by U.S. commandos who boarded from helicopters.
"The United States should be fully responsible for this piratical act and make a formal apology and due compensation to the [North Korean] government for it," the KCNA report stated.
The action against the ship was "part of the premeditated and brigandish moves of the U.S. imperialists to isolate and stifle [North Korea] and dominate the world with their policy of strength," it stated.
Sodium cyanide is a dual-use chemical. It is used to make the nerve gas sarin, as well as commercial products including pesticides and plastics.
The chemical is controlled by the 34-nation Australia Group, a voluntary coalition of states that agree to curb exports of dual-use chemicals that can boost the chemical weapons programs of states like North Korea. Germany is a member of the group.
A German Embassy spokesman could not be reached for comment.
South Korea's defense ministry stated last year that North Korea has a stockpile of between 2,500 and 5,000 tons of chemical weapons, including 17 different types of agents.
The ministry stated in a report made public in September that North Korea can produce 4,500 tons of chemical weapons agents annually. It also can produce a ton of biological weapons agent a year.
Sodium cyanide is an ingredient of the deadly nerve agent sarin, a small amount of which can kill a human.
The intercept of the Sosan near Yemen in December highlighted divisions within the Bush administration over how to act in curbing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and missile-delivery systems, U.S. officials said.
White House National Security Council officials supported seizing the missiles, but State Department officials opposed the idea, saying it would damage relations with Yemen, a growing ally in the war against terrorism.
The Sosan was seized after Yemen's government at first denied the missiles were theirs. The denial led U.S. intelligence officials to suspect the missiles could be headed for another country, such as Iraq, and they were seized.
The ship was stopped after a Spanish warship fired warning shots at the vessel. It then was boarded by U.S. commandos who discovered the missiles, warheads and canisters of chemical used for the missile's solid rocket fuel.
The Yemeni government then acknowledged the missiles had been purchased legally by the San'a government.
Bush administration officials have described North Korea as a major supplier of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons know-how and missile-delivery systems.
Richard Armitage, deputy secretary of state, told Congress earlier this month that North Korea's nuclear and other programs relating to weapons of mass destruction are threats to the United States.
"North Korea's programs to develop weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery ... are also a threat to the international community, regional security, U.S. interests and U.S. forces, which remain an integral part of stability in the region," Mr. Armitage said.
"It is time for North Korea to turn away from this self-destructive course. They have nothing to gain from acquiring nuclear weapons — and much to lose. Indeed, every day, the people of that country are paying a terrible price for these programs in international isolation and misspent national resources."

[Eagle3]

North Korean fighter sparks alert (http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/east/02/20/skorea.mig/index.html) - SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- South Korea scrambled two fighter jets and readied anti-aircraft missile batteries after a North Korean MiG fighter briefly intruded into its airspace, defense officials in Seoul say.

The incident, which took place at around 1003 local time Thursday (0103 GMT), comes at a time of increased tensions on the Korean Peninsula and sent the South's armed forced into high alert. The North Korean MiG-19 flew past the northern limit line over the Yellow Sea near South Korea's Yongpyong Island. Officials in Seoul say they do not yet know what sparked the incursion -- whether it was a deliberate incursion or a simple navigational error. The last such incident took place in 1983. The incursion lasted about two minutes and ended shortly after two South Korean F-5E fighters were dispatched to the area.

Anti-aircraft missile units in the area near the city of Incheon were also readied to attack the MiG. Four other South Korean fighter jets were deployed, officials say, but the incident was over before they could respond. South Korea's defense department has already said it plans to protest vigorously to the North and demand a full explanation for the incident.

Nuclear tensions

The incursion comes after months of escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula over the North's alleged nuclear weapons program. Next week U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is due to visit South Korea to attend the inauguration of President-elect Roh Moo-hyun. During his visit to the region, which also includes stops in China and Japan, Powell is expected to try and up the diplomatic pressure on North Korea. North and South Korea remain officially at war, never having signed a formal peace treaty ending the 1950-53 Korean War.

As a result the border between North and South is one of the most heavily fortified frontiers in the world. North Korea has an army of more than a million, most of them positioned along the so-called Demilitarized Zone within easy striking distance of the South Korean capital. Amid a growing war of words over the nuclear issue, Pyongyang has threatened to turn South Korea into "a sea of fire" if the dispute escalates into a military confrontation.

=========================
A MiG 19 is 1950's technology. So it the F-5E the South is flying. The North Korean Air Force is pretty small (less than 1,000 aircraft total) All the fighters are obsolete. The most modern hardware they're flying is around 20 Su-25 Frogfoot ground attack aircraft, comparable to the A-10. (1992 numbers)
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/dprk/agency/af.htm

The South has nearly 600 tactical aircraft (not counting support). They have a mixed bag of old F-86's, F-4's, F-5's, and F-16's.
http://www.f-16.net/reference/users/f16_kr.html
Samsung is also licensed to produce FA-18's.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/rok/airforce.htm

If a war broke out and it was just the Korean Airforces going at one another the North would get creamed. Not just because of their equipment, but they also use the strict ground control intercept method to direct their aircraft. The pilots do nothing unless a ground controller tells them. In a target rich tactical situation these controllers become saturated. Pilot's need to be allowed to act and think indepedantly.

[Eagle3]

I find it interesting that S. Korea, Russia, and China back N. Korea's demand of bilateral talks between the US and the North. If we shared a border with N. Korea I would think we would want to get together with our neighbors to deal with them and tell other countires to butt out. Maybe it's time to start pulling troops out of S. Korea. Give them some incentive to clean out their own backyard.


North Korea Restarts Reactor, Neighbors Urge Calm (http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20030227_49.html)
— By Paul Eckert and Tabassum Zakaria

SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea has restarted the reactor at the heart of its suspected drive for nuclear weapons, further raising the stakes in its diplomatic showdown with the United States, U.S. officials said. Activating the small research reactor at Yongbyon, the communist North's latest provocative step in a crisis that erupted last year, comes as the United States prepares for war with Iraq and South Korea forms a new government. "I think this is another example of the regime of North Korea taking escalatory actions in order to gain concessions," said Sean McCormack, the White House National Security Council spokesman. "We seek a peaceful diplomatic solution, but all options remain on the table."

U.S. officials said there was no sign North Korea had reactivated its nuclear fuel reprocessing plant, which would be of even greater concern because it would take the North a step closer to adding to the two nuclear bombs it is believed to have. "Part of this demonstrates their desire to continue their nuclear weapons program and it's another effort to apply pressure on the United States," another U.S. official said.

Analysts in Seoul saw the move as yet another North Korean attempt to shake new President Roh Moo-hyun, who has been at odds with Washington over how to deal with the crisis. The North upstaged Roh's inauguration on Tuesday by firing a short-range missile into international waters off its east coast. In Beijing, China and Russia -- friends of North Korea and permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- issued a joint communique promising to push for dialogue between the United States and North Korea to resolve the nuclear crisis. "China and Russia will try their best to push for dialogue between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States," the communique said. Asked about the reactor, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said: "We believe the main thing at the moment is that each side keeps calm and exercises restraint and avoids taking action that will escalate the situation."

Reaction in Seoul to North Korea's latest move was muted, as Roh and his new prime minister finalized their cabinet. "We are trying to find out more about it," said a South Korean government source, adding that Seoul would hold consultations with allies Japan and the United States.

"Even in the United States it is still at the level of intelligence, very raw intelligence," the source added. In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi urged a calm and cautious response while the news was being analyzed. "We have received information that it has been restarted. We don't know yet to what degree," Koizumi told reporters. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the intelligence was obtained through satellite photographs.

TESTING NEW PRESIDENT

New Prime Minister Goh Kun said South Korea would move to tackle what he said was a "serious threat to world peace" as soon as Roh's new cabinet -- named on Thursday -- began its work. "The new government's primary task will be the peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issues while strengthening the South Korea-U.S. alliance," Goh told reporters.

Roh's new cabinet line-up retained the outgoing Kim Dae-jung government's minister in charge of relations with North Korea in a sign he wants to continue Kim's conciliatory policies. Roh, who has limited foreign policy experience, wants to avoid using force against the North and said the collapse of the impoverished state would only hurt the South. The North is going to keep doing this, trying to test South Korea's new government to see how Roh Moo-hyun will react to this nuclear threat," said Yu Suk-Ryul, an expert on North Korea at Seoul's Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security.

There was no statement on the reactor from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the main outlet for announcements from Pyongyang. On Wednesday though, KCNA carried a statement by North Korea's Foreign Ministry saying Washington was preparing to strike not only Iraq but also the North. "The U.S. military strike against Iraq is just a matter of time. The ceaseless saber-rattling staged by the U.S. in South Korea against this backdrop is creating an extremely tense situation where it may make a pre-emptive strike at the DPRK any time," a ministry spokesman said.

NO REPROCESSING YET

The Korean crisis was sparked last October when the United States said Pyongyang had admitted developing a highly enriched uranium program in violation of a 1994 accord, under which the North froze its nuclear program in exchange for two modern reactors and economic assistance. U.S. officials said North Korea had restarted a five-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon mothballed in 1994. Last month, U.S. satellites showed North Korea was moving fresh fuel rods to Yongbyon, U.S. officials have said. "This is certainly less provocative than starting up the reprocessing facility, but it is significant nonetheless," said a U.S. official in Washington who declined to be identified.

The United States was working with members of the U.N. Security Council and others to find a solution, McCormack said. "With each step it takes to advance its nuclear capability North Korea further isolates itself from the international community," he said. We have proposed multilateral talks to include North Korea, and remain prepared to engage in those talks." North Korea demands bilateral talks with the United States. That stance is backed by China, Russia and South Korea -- although Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov also endorsed multilateral talks.

Bush administration officials have seemed increasingly convinced Pyongyang is determined to launch full-scale production of nuclear weapons. North Korea restarting its reactor did not automatically mean it would next start reprocessing nuclear fuel, but such a move would not be surprising, another U.S. official said. An even more significant step would be movement of 8,000 spent fuel rods, that have already gone through the reactor, from a holding pond where they have been stored under the 1994 agreement. Plutonium can be extracted by reprocessing the rods.

[evereno]

UN slams N Korea for alleged nuclear breach
Fri, Feb 28 2003 5:41 AM AEDT

The UN nuclear watchdog agency says it is firmly opposed to North Korea operating its nuclear facilities without the presence of UN safeguards inspectors.

The United States said on Wednesday Pyongyang had reactivated a small nuclear research reactor that could produce plutonium in the reclusive Stalinist state's latest step in a crisis that erupted last year. The plant had been mothballed since 1994.

"If this is true, the International Atomic Energy Agency deplores the operation of the DPRK (North Korean) nuclear facilities without the presence of safeguards inspectors," IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said in a written statement to Reuters.

She added that without the presence of UN inspectors to verify North Korea's compliance with, or breach of, its nuclear safeguards obligations the agency was unable to verify what was happening at the Yongbyon nuclear complex.

"Restarting this now unsafeguarded nuclear facility will further demonstrate the DPRK's disregard for its nuclear non-proliferation obligations," Ms Fleming said.

"Our Board of Governors has confirmed that the DPRK's safeguards agreement with the IAEA remains binding and in force," she added.

US officials said there was no sign North Korea had reactivated its fuel reprocessing plant, which separates weapons grade plutonium from other elements in spent nuclear fuel.

This would be of even greater concern to Washington because it would take North Korea a step closer to adding to the two atomic bombs US officials believe it has.

The crisis over North Korea's nuclear ambitions erupted in October when Washington said Pyongyang had admitted pursuing a program to enrich uranium.

This violated a 1994 accord under which Pyongyang froze its nuclear program in exchange for two atomic power reactors and economic assistance.

Since December, Pyongyang has expelled the IAEA's inspectors, withdrawn from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, restarted the mothballed research reactor and resumed missile tests.

Earlier this month the IAEA board of governors asked the UN Security Council, which has the power to impose economic sanctions for violations of non-proliferation obligations, to take up the issue of North Korea's nuclear actions.


Downer 'disturbed'

Earlier, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said the reactivation of a nuclear reactor by North Korea is regrettable and disturbing.

Mr Downer says the timing is deliberate, to coincide with the inauguration of a new president in South Korea.

He says it underlines the importance of the international community to try to find a solution.

Mr Downer has previously urged China to become more involved in international attempts to defuse the standoff.

Mr Downer has just returned from the South Korean capital Seoul, where he held talks with China's chief foreign policy official, Qian Qichen.

He urged him to persuade North Korea to enter multilateral talks on the issue.

"As I said to Qian Qichen, [China must] maximise its influence to get North Korea to participate, first of all in some sort of multilateral forum, and through that multilateral forum it might be possible to develop bilateral discussions with the United States," he said.




The UN nuclear watchdog agency says it is firmly opposed to North Korea operating its nuclear facilities without the presence of UN safeguards inspectors.

The United States said on Wednesday Pyongyang had reactivated a small nuclear research reactor that could produce plutonium in the reclusive Stalinist state's latest step in a crisis that erupted last year. The plant had been mothballed since 1994.

"If this is true, the International Atomic Energy Agency deplores the operation of the DPRK (North Korean) nuclear facilities without the presence of safeguards inspectors," IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said in a written statement to Reuters.

She added that without the presence of UN inspectors to verify North Korea's compliance with, or breach of, its nuclear safeguards obligations the agency was unable to verify what was happening at the Yongbyon nuclear complex.

"Restarting this now unsafeguarded nuclear facility will further demonstrate the DPRK's disregard for its nuclear non-proliferation obligations," Ms Fleming said.

"Our Board of Governors has confirmed that the DPRK's safeguards agreement with the IAEA remains binding and in force," she added.

US officials said there was no sign North Korea had reactivated its fuel reprocessing plant, which separates weapons grade plutonium from other elements in spent nuclear fuel.

This would be of even greater concern to Washington because it would take North Korea a step closer to adding to the two atomic bombs US officials believe it has.

The crisis over North Korea's nuclear ambitions erupted in October when Washington said Pyongyang had admitted pursuing a program to enrich uranium.

This violated a 1994 accord under which Pyongyang froze its nuclear program in exchange for two atomic power reactors and economic assistance.

Since December, Pyongyang has expelled the IAEA's inspectors, withdrawn from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, restarted the mothballed research reactor and resumed missile tests.

Earlier this month the IAEA board of governors asked the UN Security Council, which has the power to impose economic sanctions for violations of non-proliferation obligations, to take up the issue of North Korea's nuclear actions.


Downer 'disturbed'

Earlier, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said the reactivation of a nuclear reactor by North Korea is regrettable and disturbing.

Mr Downer says the timing is deliberate, to coincide with the inauguration of a new president in South Korea.

He says it underlines the importance of the international community to try to find a solution.

Mr Downer has previously urged China to become more involved in international attempts to defuse the standoff.

Mr Downer has just returned from the South Korean capital Seoul, where he held talks with China's chief foreign policy official, Qian Qichen.

He urged him to persuade North Korea to enter multilateral talks on the issue.

"As I said to Qian Qichen, [China must] maximise its influence to get North Korea to participate, first of all in some sort of multilateral forum, and through that multilateral forum it might be possible to develop bilateral discussions with the United States," he said.


http://abc.net.au/cgi-bin/common/printfriendly.pl?/news/2003/02/item20030228001055_1.htm

[Eagle3]

North Korea tested a cruise missile (http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20030227-615708.htm)
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

North Korea flight-tested a new long-range cruise missile Monday, not a short-range, 1950s-era weapon as first reported, U.S. intelligence officials said yesterday.
Intelligence data from the test contradicted statements by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, who told reporters Tuesday that the test was a "fairly innocuous" firing of an old missile.
"It appears to be a Silkworm variant that they [North Koreans] modified to get a longer range," said one U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Initial reports said the missile test, which occurred hours before South Korea's new president, Roh Moo-hyun, was inaugurated in Seoul, involved a short-range Russian Styx anti-ship missile with a range of about 50 miles.
Further analysis of intelligence data collected on the flight test sharply changed the estimate of the missile's capability, and thus its importance in the international community's current standoff with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program.
The Washington Times first disclosed the existence of the new North Korean cruise missile in 1997, when it was test fired for the first time.
The missile was identified as a long-range variant of China's HY-2 Silkworm missile and dubbed the AG-1 by the Pentagon. The first test launch was May 23, 1997, from a military base at the Angol army barracks in northeastern North Korea.
It could not be learned where Monday's test took place.
Based on the early intelligence information, Mr. Powell told reporters in Seoul that the test "seems to be a fairly innocuous kind of test, a short range, surface-to-surface naval missile that goes out maybe 60 or so miles."
"From what I have been able to determine, it's a fairly old system," said Mr. Powell, who was in South Korea to attend the presidential inauguration.
Mr. Powell said the test had been expected because North Korea had announced a "notice to mariners" to stay clear of areas off the coast of North Korea. "I didn't find it particularly surprising or shocking or disturbing that one occurred today," Mr. Powell said.
State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said yesterday that Mr. Powell did not intentionally misspeak in Seoul. The secretary's remarks were based on preliminary information available to all U.S. government agencies at the time, Mr. Reeker said in an interview.
Mr. Powell, however, in the past has sought to down play the problems caused by North Korea's nuclear program, saying the latest developments are not a crisis.
U.S. intelligence officials said additional tests by Pyongyang are expected in coming days and the launch facility is being closely watched.
U.S. intelligence agencies are worried the cruise-missile test is part of renewed long-range missile testing by North Korea, which was halted after the 1998 flight test of a Taepodong-2 long-range missile. "That's a concern," one U.S. official said.
The new anti-ship cruise missile is estimated to have a maximum range of just under 100 miles, the officials said.
The new cruise-missile test, while not the first, is a significant increase in missile power for North Korea. The long range gives Pyongyang's military an "over the horizon" strike capability that could be launched against U.S. aircraft carriers and warships, according to U.S. officials.
Earlier estimates had put the missile's range at about 60 miles.
The missile fired by North Korea is an advanced, homemade version of the Chinese Silkworm anti-ship missile, which has a range of about 60 miles.
China's HY-2 Silkworm is an updated version of the Russian SSN-2 Styx missile.
The officials said the missile test appeared to be the latest effort by North Korea's communist government to flex its muscles. Tension has been high on the Korean Peninsula since Pyongyang announced late last year that it was resuming its nuclear program.
A North Korean diplomat suggested several weeks ago that Pyongyang might resume missile flight tests and lift the self-imposed testing moratorium.
U.S. officials fear North Korea will sell the cruise missiles, as it has done with its arsenal of ballistic missiles.

[Eagle3]

Sounds like more rhetoric, but I imagine it will pick up considerably the closer we come to liberating Iraq.



N. Korea Warns of Disaster if Attacked (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30106-2003Mar2.html)
By JAE-SUK YOO
The Associated Press
Sunday, March 2, 2003; 6:56 PM

North Korea warned Sunday of "nuclear disasters" around the world if Washington attacks the communist state, while its civilian leaders urged greater cooperation between Pyongyang and Seoul to ease the crisis on the Korean Peninsula. The North's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper accused the Central Intelligence Agency of preparing a surprise attack on the nation's nuclear facilities that are suspected of being used to make atomic bombs. "If the U.S. imperialists ignite a war on the Korean Peninsula, the war will turn into a nuclear war," Rodong said. "As a consequence, the Koreans in the north and south and the people in Asia and the rest of the world will suffer horrifying nuclear disasters."

The report, carried by the North's state-run KCNA news agency, claimed that Washington put its forces around the peninsula on "semi-war footing" and "is pushing ahead with nuclear war preparations in full swing." Pyongyang accuses Washington of inciting the nuclear standoff as a pretext for an invasion. Washington has repeatedly said it has no plans to attack North Korea, but stresses that "all options are on the table."

In Seoul on Sunday, North Korea's religious and civic leaders took part in inter-Korean religious masses and urged greater cooperation between the two Koreas. "Preventing war through national cooperation is the most urgent task of the nation," said Ri Mun Hwan, a senior North Korean delegate. "If war breaks out, the South cannot be safe and the entire nation will face disaster." Another delegate, Oh Kyung Woo, said the "United States is threatening a nuclear war, but if war breaks out both South and North will incur damages," according to South Korea's national Yonhap news agency. "Foreign forces will never give us reunification. We must cooperate with each other," Oh was quoted as saying. The comments were made during religious masses at a cathedral, a church, a Buddhist temple and other religious locations, which were attended by thousands of South Koreans.

The ceremonies were a part of an inter-Korean festival to mark the anniversary of a major independence uprising against Japanese colonial rule on March 1, 1919. Pyongyang sent 105 delegates to Seoul on Saturday for the three-day festival. Both Koreas mark the uprising as a major holiday. Japan ruled the peninsula from 1910 to 1945. Rodong, monitored by South Korea's national Yonhap news agency, reiterated that the North's nuclear activities were "strictly for peaceful purposes and poses no threat to anyone." "Crushing the U.S. plot to attack North Korea is a very important issue related to peace and safety of Asia and the world, the existence and future of mankind," Rodong said.

Raising tensions last week, North Korea test-fired a missile into the sea off its east coast. Pyongyang also reactivated a 5-megawatt reactor that could produce plutonium for nuclear weapons, U.S. and South Korean officials said. On Saturday, North Korea said nuclear war could break out on the peninsula at "any moment," after South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun warned of a "calamity" unless the standoff is resolved peacefully and quickly.

The dispute flared in October when Washington said North Korea had admitted pursuing a nuclear program, which violated a 1994 pact. Washington and its allies cut off oil shipments to the impoverished communist state. The North responded by saying it would reactivate its frozen facilities. It also expelled U.N. monitors and withdrew from the global Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

[SSG Rock]

Remember, the togher they talk, the more scared they are. That is their MO, has been for decades. I just got back from a 12 month stint on the DMZ, last August. Looks like I made it out just in time. If NK can't put a muzzle on it, they might get what they wish for.........liberation.

[Eagle3]

I'm sure they have next ticket ;) How soon we get to them will depend on how well we do in Iraq.

[shotglass]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=516&u=/ap/20030303/ap_on_re_as/us_north_korea_6&printer=1

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer

WASHINGTON - North Korean fighter jets intercepted a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance plane over the Sea of Japan and one used its radar in a manner that indicated it might attack, U.S. officials said Monday.

Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said it was the first such incident since August 1969 when a North Korean plane shot down a U.S. EC-121 surveillance plane, killing 31 Americans.

The latest incident happened Sunday morning, Korean time, and there was no hostile fire, Davis said.

Four North Korean planes "shadowed" the American plane over international waters for about 20 minutes before breaking off, he said.

Two North Korean MiG29 fighters and two other aircraft that Davis said appeared to be MiG23 fighters intercepted the Air Force RC-135S reconnaissance plane, which Davis said was conducting a routine intelligence mission over the Sea of Japan about 150 miles off North Korea (news - web sites)'s coast.

The closest the fighters came was about 50 feet, Davis said.

He did not know whether there was any communication between the North Korean and American crews.

At one point one of the fighters "locked on" to the U.S. plane with its fire-support radar, Davis said. This is an action that would indicate a possible intent to fire, although in this case there was no hostile fire.

The U.S. plane broke off its mission and returned to its home station at Kadena Air Base in Japan, Davis said.

The incident happened amid heightened tensions between the United States and North Korea. The two countries have no formal diplomatic relations, and North Korea frequently complains that joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises are a prelude to a U.S.-led invasion.

The U.S. Air Force regularly flies U-2 spy plane missions to monitor North Korea's military, including its nuclear facilities

[shotglass]

Can't we just vaporize the next plane that pulls some shit like this? I would hope that we would just destroy anything that locks radar on US property in international waters.

[Eagle3]

Originally posted by shotglass
Can't we just vaporize the next plane that pulls some shit like this? I would hope that we would just destroy anything that locks radar on US property in international waters.

Recon birds don't fly with an escort, but you'd think they would have changed that after the Chinese MiG ran into one our EP-3's. I hope they start sending up escorts now. I'd hate for the North Koreans to down one of our defenseless planes before we decide to look after them. They're already up there without any weapons. Get some F-16's on their wing.

[SSG Rock]

We can't send up escorts because our pilots would make mince meat out of those NK jet jockeys. Then, we have a real shootin war on our hands. It's brutal, but if one of our recon flights is shot down in international airspace, we still have the moral high ground (although it is becoming apparent that isn't neccesary anymore). I was in Korea when the SK and NK had an extremely vicous firefight on the Yellow Sea with some patrol boats, this was brutal shit. But, the NK boats had crossed the border into SK waters and they damn well knew it. So, it didn't sprial out of control. If we give the NK crazies and excuse to attack, they might just do it and go out in a last blaze of glory. But remember, the NK is doing nothing more than screaming for attention and trying to extract a hand out from us. They kind of got used to that when clinton was in office.

[Eagle3]

If the South wants reunification so bad why not pull up the stakes and head somewhere else? I'm sure "reunification" would occur double step for them. For a country that has a real eminent nuclear threat on their border they seem all too willing to let someone else deal with it. Things have certainly changed from when I was over there. It appears they have the Korean version of Clinton in charge. IMO talks should involve no less than the Korea's, the US, China... possibly Japan as well. Everyone over there seems a little too casual about trying to get involved in a solution. Of course, they don't want to foot any apeasement bill that's going to be the price for NK to back down. Even then, you're not going to get them to give up their nukes. It's the only bargining chip they have. If the US goes it alone in talking to the North it will be a huge mistake. It will make it perfectly clear to other rogue nations that the way to get us on bended knee is to obtain nukes. NK will be all too happy to help them acquire them. And don't let the UN even get close to this one. These talks will require a spine. The UN hasn't had one in a long time.

SSG Rock, I understand where you're coming from. I've been over there too. ROK has some of the most shit hot troops I've seen. However, I don't think the lives of a recon crew are worth preventing a situation from possibly escalating. We already lost an EC-121 crew back in '69 that was shot down by the North. If they shot down a recon bird now over international waters the situation's going to get pretty damn hot real fast anyways. Having an escort would make the North think real hard about launching on a recon. They'd basically be sacrifing a couple nice new shiny MiG 29's. Without an escort they're given a nice plum to try and take out with a hit and run.

Roh Faces Foreign Policy Challenges (http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200303/kt2003030518224710510.htm)
By Oh Young-jin
Staff Reporter

How long can President Roh Moo-hyun afford to postpone facing the two biggest foreign policy issues that may make or break his presidency?

This is what a foreign expert on Korea affairs called the ``million-dollar question,’’ after watching the country’s first liberal president in office for just over a week. He permitted his remarks be used only on condition of anonymity. Since his Feb. 25 inauguration, Roh has kept silent about how he will deal with the simmering international standoff over North Korea’s nuclear programs and the self-imposed task of realigning Seoul relationship with its closest ally, the United States.

There are a couple of hints that indirectly show what Roh thinks about the two issues. First, Roh’s appointment of Prof. Yoon Young-kwan of Seoul National University, as foreign minister is interpreted as pushing ahead with his grand plan to play a leading role in the resolution of the problem of North Korea’s nuclear brinkmanship. ``I expected, as many others, that Yoon would stay close to Roh as a senior presidential aide,’’ the Seoul-based foreign expert commented. Yoon is known as Roh’s tutor on foreign affairs but his extensive writing prior to his appointment shows that he thinks ROK-U.S. relations are unequal.

Yoon also caused a stir, when he was quoted as saying during his trip to Washington as part of an advanced team for Roh’s visit that he preferred to see a nuclear-armed North Korea than a collapsed state. Yoon’s U.S. visit was dubbed a near-disaster at the time. Later, he explained that his comment was about the feeling among young Koreans and the U.S. newspaper quoted him out of the context. ``Yoon’s success depends on how he will put under his control the cloistered foreign ministry whose reputation is of being unkind to people from the outside,’’ the source said.

Roh’s silence on the two latest developments _ an apparent test-firing of a North Korean cruise missile on the eve of his inauguration and an interception of a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft in international airspace over the East Sea _ speaks volumes. These events are widely interpreted by sources of ROK Armed Forces as a calculated move. ``I think that the U.S. was very close to war during North Korean fighters’ interception,’’ an Air Force official said.

On both occasions, Chong Wa Dae didn’t comment.

In his inaugural speech and during his visit at the ROTC graduation ceremony, Roh talked about the United States and North Korea but his comments failed to provide any specifics. ``I think that Roh needs more time but the million-dollar question is whether he can afford it,’’ the foreign expert said. ``The latest developments show Roh’s limitations,’’ he said. ``The real issue is how he will be able to work within these limits and still achieve a role for the problems facing the country.’’

Adding to the confusion was a press leak about Roh’s National Security Advisor Ra Jong-yil’s visit to Beijing for a meeting with a North Korean official. This revelation takes Roh back to his inaugural speech, in which he promised to bring transparency to inter-Korean dealings in order not to repeat the ``money-for-summit’’ scandal involving the Kim Dae-jung administration. ``I believe that a secret channel is necessary, considering the unique circumstances involving the two Koreas’ relations,’’ said Michael Breen, a long-term resident of Korea who has written a book about the country. ``And transparency doesn’t mean that everything should be on the front pages of newspapers. But the problem is a lack of discretion that led to the premature disclosure of attempts to establish such channels.’

[evereno]

MARCH 14, 2003

New US Warning -- N. Korea 'has second source of nuclear fuel'

Pyongyang's uranium-enrichment programme is not far behind its plutonium one, says top official

WASHINGTON - North Korea could produce highly enriched uranium as fuel for nuclear weapons in months not years - much earlier than many have predicted, US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly has said.

The uranium programme is the second of two nuclear programmes that Washington says North Korea can use to create weapons. But it was largely believed to be underdeveloped compared to the first programme, which used plutonium.

Washington says the plutonium project is already capable of yielding enough weapons-grade plutonium to build six to eight nuclear bombs within months.

In a new warning about the uranium programme, Mr Kelly said it also was well on its way.

'It is only probably a matter of months, and not years, behind the plutonium,' he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington on Wednesday.

That means the reclusive communist state could get nuclear weapons capability in the short term from both its uranium and plutonium programmes.

Despite this apparent threat, he reaffirmed the Bush administration's determination to engage Pyongyang in a comprehensive resolution of the crisis only in a multilateral forum, rather than bilateral talks as the North has demanded.

A recent congressional report had predicted the North's highly-enriched uranium programme could not produce significant amounts of fissile materials for 'several years'.

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, quoting the CIA, said the programme would not produce enough fuel for one or two bombs until 2005.

The US has been aware of Pyongyang's plutonium programme, centred on a nuclear complex at Yongbyon, since the early 1990s. It was frozen under a 1994 accord with Washington.

The uranium enrichment programme was revealed only last October when US officials confronted the North Koreans with secret intelligence.

Since then, Pyongyang has adopted a confrontational approach. It declared its intention to resume nuclear activities, expelled UN monitors, withdrew from a key nuclear treaty, restarted a research reactor and intercepted a US spy plane.

It also made preparations to begin reprocessing spent nuclear fuel, which would set the North on the road to full production of nuclear weapons.

But so far there is no evidence the reprocessing plant has begun operating but it would be a serious move and the US has not taken the military option off the table, said Mr Kelly, the State Department's top Asia-Pacific policymaker.

With the dispute dragging on, South Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Young Kwan yesterday criticised Pyongyang's objections to multilateral talks as 'illogical'.

He told South Korea's MBC radio that the eventual solution of the nuclear crisis would involve economic aid for the impoverished country, inevitably from Russia, China, Japan and South Korea as well as the US.

'It's illogical to exclude the potential aid providers from the talks,' he said. --Reuters, AP

http://foxnews.com/story/0,2933,81034,00.html