N Korea charges US rushing towards confrontation

Reuters

[BlackJack]

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea (news - web sites)'s state news agency said Friday that the United States was rushing toward conflict with the communist state by demanding that it scrap its nuclear program before dialogue could begin.

The official Korean Central News Agency said remarks by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other officials showed Washington was keen "topple" North Korea rather than hold discussions to defuse the nuclear row.

"(The United States) is rushing headlong into extremely dangerous confrontation with the DPRK (North Korea), saying that it would neither have dialogue with the DPRK nor rule out a war against it," KCNA said.

"The U.S. much publicized assertion that North Korea should scrap its nuclear program first is nothing but a pipe-dream as it calls for disarming the DPRK under the absurd pretext of its 'nuclear program' and then launching a surprise attack on it to overthrow its political system," it said.

Rumsfeld said earlier this week that the United States, which is focusing on ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, could fight two wars at once and win and North Korea would be mistaken to assume Washington was distracted by the standoff with Baghdad.

[BlackJack]

N Korea is really making a lot of noise lately. Whatssup?

[Mark17]

N Korea is really making a lot of noise lately. Whatssup?

They are scared to death.

[BlackJack]

Thats dangerous.

[Sabertooth]

[Crossbow Eel]

In Beijing, the China Daily denounced a Rumsfeld remark that the United States, which is focusing on ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, could fight two wars at once and win.

He answered a simple question - Idiots !

[BlackJack]

Really enjoyed the pics. Thanks. I remember that trip by Madame
Secretary, snookered.

[BlackJack]

BEIJING (Reuters) - The official China Daily lashed out at the United States on Friday, saying recent remarks by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld were "hawkish and dangerous" after he warned North Korea of his country's military might.

Rumsfeld on Monday said it would be a mistake for North Korea to feel emboldened over its nuclear weapons program while world attention was focused on Iraq. He said the U.S. military was capable of fighting two major conflicts at once.

"This is a hawkish and dangerous warning," the English-language China Daily said. "It will poison the warming relations between the two sides on the Korean peninsula."

Rumsfeld's comments reflected U.S. anger at "being inconvenienced at a delicate stage of its war-planning against Iraq," China Daily said in an editorial.

The newspaper took a harsher line than any Chinese Foreign Ministry official has taken thus far during the stand-off.

Beijing renewed a call for dialogue between North Korea and the United States after U.S. criticism of Pyongyang's recent move to remove U.N. monitoring equipment at a nuclear reactor.

North Korea has since moved fresh fuel to the reactor, which the United States says must remain shut because it can produce plutonium for nuclear weapons.

China, communist North Korea's main ally, said on Tuesday it wanted to see the Korean peninsula free of nuclear weapons, repeating a statement it has made several times in recent weeks.

U.S. envoys stopping in Beijing recently have tried to persuade China to use its leverage over its reclusive neighbor. But a U.S. official said on Thursday China and Russia had yet to show interest in curbing Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

There was no immediate Chinese comment on the charge.

North Korea, denounced by President Bush as part of an "axis of evil" with Iraq and Iran, mothballed the reactor under a 1994 non-proliferation deal with the United States. But the UN's nuclear watchdog has said North Korea plans to restart the reactor within two months.

China fought alongside North Korea against the United States in the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended in a truce between the North and South. The United States has 37,000 troops stationed in the South.

[EGPWS]

N Korea is really making a lot of noise lately. Whatssup?

Change in the US administration.

[Mark17]

That's dangerous.

Yes it is. If they feel they are going down, it is dangerous.

[BlackJack]

SEOUL (Reuters) - A defiant North Korea accused the United States Friday of seeking to overthrow its political system, adding that Washington was rushing into an extremely dangerous confrontation.

The reclusive communist state's latest salvo, carried by its official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), said a U.S. demand that it scrap its nuclear program as a condition for talks was a prelude to a surprise attack.

Its comments followed a demand from South Korea's president-elect, a dove on relations with the North, that it drop plans to reactivate a reactor capable of producing plutonium for nuclear weapons.

"(The United States) is rushing headlong into extremely dangerous confrontation with the DPRK (North Korea), saying that it would neither have dialogue with the DPRK nor rule out a war against it," KCNA said.

"The U.S. much publicized assertion that North Korea should scrap its nuclear program first is nothing but a pipe-dream as it calls for disarming the DPRK under the absurd pretext of its 'nuclear program' and then launching a surprise attack on it to overthrow its political system," it added.

President Bush has denounced North Korea as a member of an "axis of evil" with Iran and Iraq, which also accuses Washington of seeking to topple its president, Saddam Hussein.

Rumsfeld said Monday the United States, which is focusing on ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, could fight two wars at once and win and that North Korea would be mistaken to assume Washington would be distracted by the Iraq standoff.

As Washington pushed for more international pressure on the North, Australia put plans to build an embassy in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, on hold.

South Korea's Roh Moo-hyun, who takes office on February 25, delivered the strongest message to date from Seoul on the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear intentions.

"North Korea must withdraw the nuclear measures it has taken and restore facilities and equipment to their original state," said Roh, who won South Korea's December 19 presidential election on a platform of dialogue with the North.

Roh spoke out after North Korea told the United Nations it planned to restart the reactor within two months.

In Washington, a Bush administration official accused China and Russia of dragging their feet over the crisis.

CHINESE IRRITATION

China has not commented on the U.S. accusation but there were signs Friday of Beijing's irritation with U.S. rhetoric. The official English-language China Daily criticized Rumsfeld's remarks as "hawkish and dangerous."

Roh told the North its defiance of world opinion hindered efforts to help revive its economy and end diplomatic isolation.

"North Korea's moves defy the international community's wishes for an end to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and run counter to the hopes of our nation for peace on the Korean peninsula," he said in a statement.

The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, said Thursday the plan to restart the small, five-megawatt reactor raised serious non-proliferation concerns and was tantamount to nuclear brinkmanship.

The reactor and three related facilities at Yongbyon, 55 miles north of Pyongyang, were mothballed under a 1994 non-proliferation pact with the United States, which offered oil in return for compliance.

The United States said in October the North had admitted operating a secret weapons program using highly enriched uranium. The United States, South Korea and others suspended fuel oil shipments to the impoverished North in December.

North Korea, which says it is reactivating the plant to produce electricity to make up for lost fuel oil supplies, wants Washington to sign a non-aggression pact and hold direct talks on their differences.

U.S. officials describe the standoff as a ploy by the North to force Washington into talks on normalizing relations.

Washington has expressed confidence that diplomacy can defuse the crisis and has been pressing Russia and China, which is the North's chief ally, to use their influence.

But a Bush administration official expressed frustration on Thursday with their response so far.

The official, who spoke on condition he not be named, said that normally, Russia and China signaled when they were working together with U.S. policymakers on a foreign-policy headache.

"The fact that we're not hearing very much is pretty telling evidence," he said. "If there's anybody who can get North Korea to stop this, it would be Russia and China."

In Beijing, the China Daily denounced a Rumsfeld remark that the United States, which is focusing on ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, could fight two wars at once and win.

"This is a hawkish and dangerous warning," the newspaper said of Rumsfeld's comments Monday. "It will poison the warming relations between the two sides on the Korean peninsula."

U.S. officials say Washington, which suspects North Korea has two nuclear bombs, is looking toward a January 6 meeting of the IAEA board of governors, who are expected to move the North's breach of its obligations to the U.N. Security Council.

South Korea's Roh said the crisis could undermine his strategy of promoting aid and dialogue with the North.

"If the worries of South Koreans over North Korea's moves escalate, this government and the new government will be hamstrung and North-South exchanges will suffer a negative impact," he added.

[BlackJack]

BBC-N Korea a time bomb

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2604587.stm

[WatchNKorea]

Saturday, Oct. 19, 2002 11:49 a.m. EDT

"Clinton Deal Gave N. Korea 100-Nuke-Per-Year Capacity"

[WatchNKorea]

www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2002/10/19/114657

[Monty22]

clinton and carter's actions on this seem to be high treason. How the hell did anyone anywhere think that the solution to stop North Korea from going nuclear is to... yes... give them nuclear reactors.

Honestly, this is almost like giving bin laden nukes if he promises to not use them. It's one of many very, very stupid moves the clinton admin made that has pushed the world to the brink of all out WW3.

[Rain-maker]

When you identify EVIL you eliminate it! Who the hell would have dialogue with the evil?!

[AmericanInTokyo]

Oh, it's evil incarnate, that's for sure.

Just three weeks ago I stood at the south line of the JSA demarcation area, and looked right at these KPA buzzards. One guy stands outside with the binoculars (at Panmungak, the North's JSA building), while the other Northie inside peers through another long lens at the US/ROK guards in the south.

No goose stepping this time, but everytime one visits there, you can sense how nuts these guys are. They live in their own decrepit, isolated world....hence plenty of room for them to make a historic miscalculation.

And didn't they already do that one June morning with Soviet assistance?

[gnarledmaw]

"Whatssup?"

We're at war with China. Their fingers were showing up in the middle east, theyre behind Korea, and theyre readying for Taiwan. They get our forces spread all over and since our manufacturing industry is already in their country...

This is gonna get ugly...

[Mixer]

Yes it is. If they feel they are going down, it is dangerous.

Especially if they have purchased nukes from China that are able to reach Alaska and Hawaii. Otherwise, they will take out SK with them the same way Iraq will try to take down Israel. Either way it looks real ugly for our allies in the region.

[Grampa Dave]

Besides their own desire of development of a nuclear WMD, how about this possibility:

Uncle Soddomite is paying them a few billion $'s to create a diversion and draw attention away from Uncle Soddomite.

So now, we can expect the left wing maggots and the so called conservative maggots to holler and shout that Uncle Soddomite isn't really dangerous. The NK's are dangerous. So then, we should forget the invasion of Iraq and erradication of Uncle Soddomite and focus on NK. This changing entrees on the Axis of Evil dinner table could go on for years if the Axis of Evil and the left wingers of the USA and world got their way.

Rummy cleared the air when he said that we can handle both of them.

As the dancing with Uncle Soddomite winds down and approaches the first of February, we can expect more outrageous remarks from the insane leaders of NK. They need the billions promised by Uncle Soddomite.

Then if they are successful in making a nuclear bomb, they can auction it off to the highest bidder some Islamofacist Country or group or to Uncle Sam!

[Mo1]

Rummy cleared the air when he said that we can handle both of them.

Rummy is right .. I guess some forget how we won WWII

It wouldn't be easy, but we can do it