nKorea: Disarmament, Negotiations …

Headline News …

Envoy Pushes To Save Deal On Disarming North Korea
(New York Times)…Helene Cooper
The Bush administration’s top envoy for North Korea, Christopher R. Hill, extended his trip to Pyongyang on Wednesday as negotiators from both sides searched for a way to salvage a nuclear disarmament deal that the White House had hoped to portray as a major achievement. 

North Korea Upgrading Missile Test Site: Report
(Reuters.com)…Reuters
North Korea has been upgrading the facilities at the site of its past missile tests in what may be preparations for another long-range missile launch, a news report said on Thursday quoting government sources.

The World Shouldn’t Fear The Collapse Of North Korea
(Wall Street Journal)…John R. Bolton and Nicholas Eberstadt
…In both Washington and Pyongyang, voices have been raised essentially arguing that a regime crisis is the last thing we should want. But is the stability of an internationally criminal, cruelly dictatorial, nuclear-weapons-equipped North Korea really something we should value above all conceivable alternatives?

N. Korea Reportedly Fires Missile Into Yellow Sea
(Washingtonpost.com)…Associated Press
North Korea has fired a short-range missile into the Yellow Sea, media reports said Tuesday.

Nuclear Inspectors Barred From Site In N. Korea
(New York Times)…Helene Cooper, October 10, 2008, Pg. 16

North Korea heightened pressure on the Bush administration on Thursday by barring international inspectors from all parts of its Yongbyon nuclear complex, even as administration officials said they believed that they were close to a deal to end a stalemate with the North over its nuclear program.

U.S., N. Korea May Be Reaching Deal In Nuclear Negotiations
(FNC)…Jennifer Griffin, October 9, 2008 .
There is a possibility that North Korea’s main argument with the U.S. in the nuclear negotiations may soon be resolved. Meanwhile, North Korea is making more noise about restarting its main reactor.