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October 17, 2006

North Korea Preparing For Possible Second Nuclear Test ?

Incredibly, North Korea may be doing exactly that - but of course it now knows there will only be meaningless and painless repercussions for doing so.

Via Threats Watch, South Korea's Yonhap News reports of a possible second North Korean nuclear test after information became available that United States satellites had once again detected suspicious movement of trucks and people in the area very near where the North Koreans detonated their first nuclear test. The same 'suspicious movement' was detected and reported ahead of that test as well. South Korea was cautious to arrive at the conclusion of an impending second nuclear test while Japan acknowledged that they had information but would not elaborate.

Given the failure of the international community to hammer North Korea with meaningfull sanctions and instead, hand it little more than a slap on the wrist, Kim likely believes that he is in a better bargaining position than before the test, and can continue to yank the chain of the UN and the U.S., especially since Bush has essentially ruled out a military response - a huge mistake. Kim's proving to not only be a better poker player than Bush, but appears to believe he can clean the table out and go as far in this game of nuclear dice as he wants to - the end result being nuclear proliferation beyond the international community's worst nightmares. As long as the U.S. allows the international community to dictate the security interests of the United States, much as though he was following the Democratic party's playbook for national defense, the U.S. will have no security and it can count on the situation to only go down hill from here.

Posted by Abdul at October 17, 2006 02:08 AM

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Subject: Sanctions Are a Declaration of War
To All:

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/north-korea-says-un-sanctions-are-a/20061012052709990006

SEOUL, South Korea (Oct. 17) - North Korea said Tuesday the United Nations effectively declared war on the country when it imposed sanctions for the North's nuclear test.

Updated: 03:24 AM EDT
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North Korea Says U.N. Sanctions Are a Declaration of War
By JAE-SOON CHANG, AP

SEOUL, South Korea (Oct. 17) - North Korea said Tuesday the United Nations effectively declared war on the country when it imposed sanctions for the North's nuclear test.

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North Korea wants "peace but is not afraid of war," the North 's Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

The U.N. Security Council "resolution cannot be construed otherwise than a declaration of a war," the ministry said, calling the sanctions "a product of the U.S. hostile policy toward" North Korea.

The ministry warned that if anyone used the U.N. resolution to infringe on the country's sovereignty, North Korea "will deal merciless blows at him through strong actions."

The U.N. sanctions, approved Saturday, bans the sale of major arms to the North and orders the inspection of cargo to and from the country. It also calls for the freezing of assets of business supplying the North's nuclear and ballistic weapons programs.

The North "will closely follow the future U.S. attitude and take corresponding measures," the statement said, without specifying what those measures would be.

Meanwhile, customs officials examined trucks at the North Korean border Monday as China complied with new U.N. sanctions on Pyongyang for its nuclear test. But China's U.N. ambassador indicated its inspectors will not board ships to search for suspicious equipment or material.

The United States began a new round of diplomacy in Asia to address divisions over how to impose the sanctions, with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to arrive in Japan on Wednesday before traveling to South Korea and China. The U.S. announced that air samples gathered last week contain radioactive materials confirming that North Korea conducted an underground nuclear explosion, as it claimed.

China's support is key to whether the measures will have any impact on neighboring North Korea. Beijing's mixed response on implementing the sanctions, approved Saturday by a unanimous U.N. Security Council including China, demonstrates the difficulties U.S. diplomats will encounter as they tour the region.

China and Russia contend that interdicting ships might needlessly provoke the North and at the very least discourage it from returning to talks on its nuclear program - though the U.S. and Britain say most inspections of ships would be done at ports rather than on the high seas. Australia announced it was banning the North's ships from entering its ports, except in dire emergencies.

While China is angry over its communist ally's behavior and is loath to appear out of step with other powers, it has been reluctant to support or implement tough measures. The leadership is concerned that tightening the squeeze on Pyongyang might trigger a collapse of the North Korean regime, sending refugees streaming across the border.

In a sign of Beijing's wariness about refugees, construction of a massive concrete and barbed wire fence along parts of its 880-mile border with the North has picked up in recent days. Scores of soldiers have arrived in communities along the banks of the Yalu River, up from Dandong, over the past week to erect the barrier, farmers and visitors to the area said.

"The move is mainly aimed at North Korean defectors," said Professor Kim Woo-jun at the Institute of East and West Studies in Seoul, South Korea . "As the U.N. sanctions are enforced ... the number of defectors are likely to increase as the regime can't take care of its people."

The sanctions ban trade with the North in major weapons and materials that could be used in its ballistic missile and weapons of mass destruction programs. They call for all countries to inspect cargo to and from North Korea to enforce the prohibition, "as necessary," and consistent with each nation's laws.

In some areas of the border, the Chinese seem to have stepped up inspections, though elsewhere a police officer said nothing had changed and inspections were continuing as usual.

At a border-crossing post in the Chinese city of Dandong, about 30 Chinese trucks were seen being checked on Monday morning while 50 empty North Korean trucks waited in line to enter China to pick up cargo.

Customs officers opened the back of each truck and looked at its cargo as it rolled up, though they didn't open individual boxes or bags. By contrast, reporters who visited the border post last week didn't see inspectors open any trucks.

In the afternoon, the officers repeated the process as loaded North Korean trucks returned home. They climbed into the back of the vehicles, but observers couldn't see whether they opened any containers.

Trading companies in Dandong, at the western end of the border, and in Tumen, near the eastern end, said the sanctions were not affecting shipments.

"Today, we just sent a batch of agricultural tools to North Korea by truck," said Huang Kelin, manager of Wanshida Trading Co., a Dandong-based firm that has an office in Pyongyang.

At the Nanping crossing, in an eastern valley surrounded by mountains, inspectors were going through a standard regimen, looking at both cargo and passengers, a police officer said. "The inspections are routine and conducted by quarantine officials," said the officer, Li Canhao.

Chinese goods reach the North by road and rail, while oil is delivered mainly via pipeline. It wasn't immediately clear what China was doing to inspect rail shipments. A lone locomotive headed into North Korea on Monday afternoon, apparently to pull a cargo train back to China. The North also has a rail link to Russia in the east, though it wasn't clear how that was being policed.

China's U.N. ambassador, Wang Guangya, said his country would implement the Security Council resolution and inspect cargo from North Korea for illegal weapons and missiles, but he indicated Chinese inspectors would not board ships. He noted that inspections are not mandatory under the resolution, intended to punish the North for its Oct. 9 nuclear test.

"This is a resolution we have to implement," Wang told reporters at the U.N. "The question was raised whether China will do inspections. Inspections yes, but inspection is different then interdiction and interception. I think different countries will do it different ways."

Wang's remarks represented a change from those he made Saturday after joining the council in voting to impose tough sanctions on North Korea for its Oct. 9 nuclear test. He initially objected to China's conducting inspections because of concerns that cargo checks would raise tensions with the North rather than persuade Pyongyang to return to six-party talks on its nuclear program.

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, when asked about interdicting ships, said Monday that "one has to be very careful about it."

"When you go into inspection and things like that, cargo, one has to be very careful to avoid any kind of semblance of provocation," Churkin said.

North Korea's total foreign trade was less than $4 billion last year, though it is growing quickly, according to Chinese and South Korean figures. China accounted for a major portion of that trade, with $1.7 billion in exports and $500 million in imports, according to the Commerce Ministry in Beijing. China also provides up to 90 percent of the North 's oil.

There are also questions about how strictly South Korea will enforce the U.N. resolution. The South has significant trade relations with North Korea and its citizens worry about a conventional attack by their unpredictable neighbor.

North Korea's No. 2 ranking leader, Kim Yong Nam, defiantly said the regime would strengthen its military and "achieve a final victory in the historic standoff with the U.S."

The North found a sympathetic ear in Iran, which has also been condemned for its nuclear program. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday rejected the American-initiated measures and accused the U.S. of using the U.N. Security Council as a "weapon to impose its hegemony."

In Washington, Rice warned that U.N. sanctions on North Korea should also be seen by Iran as a strong signal to abandon its nuclear ambitions or face a rebuke from a united international community.

"The Iranian government is watching," she said. "It can now see that the international community will respond" to efforts to acquire nuclear weapons.

Ng Han Guan reported from Dandong and Audra Ang reported from Beijing

With Aloha,

# Posted by harry at 10/17/2006 06:45 am - reply- forum

Subject: Rice Vows 'Full Range' Defense of Japan
To all:

http://apnews.myway.com//article/20061018/D8KQVHD80.html

TOKYO (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday the United States is ready to use the "full range" of its military might to defend Japan in light of North Korea's nuclear weapons test, and her Japanese counterpart drew a firm line against developing a Japanese bomb.

The United States is concerned that Japan, South Korea or perhaps Taiwan may want to develop their own nuclear weapons programs to counter the threat from North Korea. Such moves would anger China, which already has nuclear weapons, and raise tensions in the region.

Part of Rice's assignment on this week's hastily arranged trip to China, Russia, Japan and South Korea is to lessen the temptation to develop separate national nuclear programs by reaffirming the U.S. intention to defend the nations most at risk.

In Japan, Rice said she reaffirmed President Bush's pledge, made the day of the North's test last week, "that the United States has the will and the capability to meet the full range - and I underscore the full range - of its deterrent and security commitments to Japan," Rice said following discussions with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso.

Rice's words were a reminder to U.S. allies that the United States does not want to see a new nuclear arms race in Asia, but will likely be taken also as a warning to North Korea that it could face the U.S. nuclear arsenal if it used a nuclear weapon on a neighbor.

The United States has repeatedly said t does not intend to attack North Korea or topple its communist regime.

Shortly before Rice arrived, Aso said Japan should openly discuss whether it wants to possess nuclear weapons. He told a parliamentary committee the government has no plans to stray from its post-World War II policy of not allowing nuclear bombs on Japanese soil, "But I think it is important to discuss the issue."

Even discussing the issue is extremely sensitive in Japan, with its troubled military history and experience as the only nation where nuclear weapons were used in wartime.

With Rice at his side, Aso did not repeat the need for a discussion.

The government is absolutely not considering a need to be armed by nuclear weapons," Aso said. "We do not need to acquire nuclear arms with an assurance by Secretary of State Rice that the bilateral alliance would work without fault."

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has ruled out developing nuclear weapons, but a ruling party policy director raised that possibility soon after the North's test.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday en route to Japan, Rice said North Korea's recent underground nuclear test "does carry with it the potential for instability in the relationships that now exist in the region."

"That's why it's extremely important to go out and to affirm, and affirm strongly, U.S. defense commitments to Japan and to South Korea," Rice said.

In addition to settling nerves among allies, Rice's Asia trip is meant to reinforce pressure on South Korea and especially China to enforce economic sanctions. Those include what the United States describes as an aggressive inspection and interdiction program that stops short of a full blockade of North Korean trade.

China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya said Tuesday that China would implement the resolution to the degree of inspections, but not interdiction.

"Inspection is different than interdiction and interception," Wang told reporters on Monday. "I think different countries will do it different ways."

Rice would not comment in detail about worries by the U.S. and other governments that the North may be preparing for a second test explosion.

"We're concerned about further action by the North Koreans," Rice said, "but further action by the North Koreans will only deepen its isolation, which is pretty deep right now."

Concern over a second test stems partly from new satellite imagery showing increased activity around at least two other North Korean sites, a senior defense official said Tuesday.

The activity, started a number of days ago, included ground preparation at one site and construction of some buildings and other structures, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because it involved intelligence gathering. He said that although the purpose of the structures was unclear, officials were concerned because North Korea has left open the possibility of another test.

At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said that while it was unclear what role the U.S. military might take in enforcing new U.N. sanctions, he did not expect the United States or any other nation to do so unilaterally.

With Aloha,

# Posted by harry at 10/18/2006 06:47 am - reply- forum

Subject: 1994
To all:

1994 - North Korea nuclear weapons program: North Korea and the United States sign an agreement that requires North Korea to stop its nuclear weapons program and agree to inspections.

Comment: So much for treaties!

With Aloha,

# Posted by harry at 10/19/2006 10:10 am - reply- forum

October 17, 2006