Category: North Korea

N.Korea: Incremental Strategy

Bush Rebuffs Hard-Liners To Ease North Korean Curbs
(New York Times)…Helene Cooper, June 27, 2008

…In the internal Bush administration war between the State Department and Mr. Cheney’s office over North Korea, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her top North Korea envoy, Christopher R. Hill, won a major battle against the Cheney camp when President Bush announced Thursday that he was taking the country he once described as part of the “axis of evil” off the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism.

But the declaration falls short of the full accounting that the administration had sought, since it omits any information about North Korea’s suspected efforts to enrich uranium, or the extent of any of the North’s sharing of technology around the world.

Removing N. Korea from the terrorism blacklist is significant.

North Korea: Prime Time

Tower Destruction To Be Aired On TV
(Washington Times)…Unattributed, June 23, 2008
Pg. 22

North Korea has invited foreign television stations to broadcast its planned destruction of a key facility at the Yongbyon nuclear complex, South Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator said Sunday.

North Korea: Nuclear Assets

North Korea To List Nuclear Assets
(Wall Street Journal)…Jay Solomon, June 24, 1980.

North Korea is expected to turn over a declaration of its plutonium-producing nuclear assets this week in what could mark a breakthrough in the Bush administration’s five-year campaign to disarm Pyongyang, according to U.S. officials.

North Korea: New Info

New Data Found On North Korea’s Nuclear Capacity
(Washington Post)…Glenn Kessler

The United States in recent weeks has obtained new intelligence — fresh traces of highly enriched uranium discovered among 18,000 pages of North Korean documents — that are raising new questions about whether Pyongyang pursued an alternative route to producing a nuclear weapon, according to sources familiar with the intelligence findings.

"As we’ve gotten deeper into the process, we’ve been troubled by additional information about North Korea’s uranium-enrichment capability," Rice said. "And this information has reaffirmed skepticism about dealing with North Korea." — Secretary Rice

North Korea: Planning for change

North Korea Conundrum, (Washington Times)…Richard Halloran, June 15, 2008, Pg. B4

A former senior official in President Bush´s White House has dropped a proverbial bombshell by asserting the United States and South Korea have no coordinated plan to cope with a collapse of the North Korean regime of "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-il, a prospect that becomes more possible with each passing day.

Korea: The Right Balance

New USFK Commander Talks About His Priorities
(Pacific Stars and Stripes)…T.D. Flack, June 16, 2008

Just 10 days into his new command, the senior U.S. leader in South Korea sat down with Stars and Stripes to discuss what he sees as his top priorities.

I think the most difficult challenge is going to be to be able to take the structures, the organizations that we have now, that have been proven over time … and develop the new structures needed for the ROK side and our side as supporting. So … once we come to April of 2012, we have a seamless move into OPCON transfer.

The dance of doing day-to-day business and trying to transform headquarters to increase capabilities to fight the way we fight today, with (Combined Forces Command) in charge, with me in charge, and at the same time helping the ROK develop their capabilities … it’s really a ballet that we’ve got to orchestrate. … The first big test is coming up with Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise in August.

N. Korea – Syria and Proliferation

Talks Are Best Approach To N. Korea, Gates Says, (Los Angeles Times)…Peter Spiegel

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Tuesday that despite intelligence allegedly showing that North Korea aided Syria in developing a nuclear facility, the United States would continue six-party talks with the communist regime over its nuclear program.

North Korea Has Confined Nuclear Help, Gates Says. (Wall Street Journal)…Yochi J. Dreazen

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the U.S. had no evidence that North Korea was helping countries other than Syria develop nuclear capabilities, playing down a longstanding concern about Pyongyang.

N. Korea: Keeping their Nukes?

N. Korea Taking Tougher Stance, Ex-Envoy Warns(Washington Post)…Glenn Kessler, May 30, 2008 .Pg. 10

Senior North Korean officials recently said that the United States should get used to a nuclear-armed North Korea, and they refused to acknowledge the validity of U.S. concerns about Pyongyang’s interest in uranium enrichment or its nuclear collaboration with Syria, according to Charles “Jack” Pritchard, a former top U.S. negotiator with North Korea.

North Korea: Nuclear Declaration

Talks With U.S. Begin, Washington Post, )…Unattributed
May 28, 2008, Pg. 9

The United States and North Korea began talks in Beijing on Tuesday on the communist nation’s delayed nuclear declaration and the political concessions it will receive in return, including the North’s goal of removal from a U.S. terrorism blacklist.

Reinforcing the “Signal vs Noise” theme, NK giving up its nuclear capability would certainly be a Signal.