NK wants direct military talks with U.S.

SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) - North Korea called on Friday for military talks with the United States for peace and security on the peninsula, with Washington saying it can discuss a peace treaty after Pyongyang abandons its nuclear program.

Pyongyang, which often muddies the waters ahead of crucial moves concerning its atomic ambitions, is set to receive a team of U.N. nuclear personnel on Saturday who are to oversee the shutdown of its reactor and source of weapons-grade plutonium.

Six-way talks on ending North Korea's nuclear arms programs are set to resume on Wednesday in Beijing. The North, which has long sought direct talks with the United States, usually holds bilateral meetings with U.S. officials within those discussions.

"The Korean People's Army side proposes having talks between the DPRK and U.S. militaries to be attended by a U.N. representative," the North's military said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.

The North, officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, said the talks would be for "discussing the issues related to ensuring the peace and security on the Korean peninsula".

U.S. officials have said in recent weeks that Washington is ready to discuss normalizing ties and a peace treaty to end the Korean War if the North follows up on its recent progress in disarmament and completely scraps its atomic arms program.

An analyst said this may be a ploy from reclusive North Korea to drive a wedge between the United States and it ally, the South.

"The comments appear to be intended to exclude South Korea and China in any talks for a peace treaty and to include the subject of removing U.S. troops from the South as part of the talks," head of North Korean military research at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, Baek Seung-joo said.

There have been reports in the South Korean media that officials are seeking a four-way dialogue among China, the two Koreas and the United States to examine a peace treaty. The North may have been responding to these reports, Baek said.

The 1950-1953 Korean War ended in a truce. The United States, which led U.N. forces, was a signatory to the armistice as well as North Korea and its ally, China. South Korea did not sign.

The United States stations about 30,000 troops in the South to support the country's some 670,000 strong military against an attack by the North.

The North repeated an often used line that the United States is bringing the peninsula to the brink of nuclear war and called on it to stop joint military drills with the South as well as cut out what it saw as a hostile policy to stifle it.

"It is the undeniable and legitimate right of the DPRK to have in place all the necessary self-defensive means to cope with the threat and blackmail of the U.S. in order to protect its right to existence," the North's statement said.

In a February deal among the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, the North agreed to shut down its antiquated reactor in return for 50,000 tonnes of oil aid. E-mail to a friend.

Report warns of nuclear arms race by Pakistan, India

Source: CNN.

June 21, 2007.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Satellite images show that Pakistan is building a nuclear reactor that can produce weapons-grade plutonium, an American watchdog group said Thursday, warning that it could contribute to an atomic arms race with archrival India.

A picture taken June 3 shows work progressing rapidly on the reactor at the Khushab nuclear site, 100 miles southwest of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, the Institute of Science for International Security said.

The development of the reactor and other nuclear-related activities "imply" that Pakistan has decided to "increase significantly its production of plutonium for nuclear weapons," the Washington-based institute said in a report analyzing the images.

A senior official at the Pakistan Atomic Energy Authority said the country was "extending our infrastructure," but declined to address the details of the report.

"We are a declared nuclear state and we are pursuing our nuclear program for peaceful purposes," said the official, who asked that he not be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject. "We are doing it for our national interests."

Pakistan has stated repeatedly that it will develop its secretive nuclear program and maintain an atomic arsenal to deter India, its more powerful neighbor, despite past leaks of sensitive technology to countries including Iran.

The report, co-authored by former U.N. inspector David Albright, said Pakistan may have decided to produce more plutonium for lighter warheads for cruise missiles, or to upgrade weapons aimed at Indian cities.

Most Pakistani nuclear weapons use highly enriched uranium, it noted.

Albright said the work on the reactor shows that the country is trying to improve its nuclear capabilities with a "new generation" of plutonium-based weapons.

Plutonium-based weapons pack more explosive power into smaller, lighter packages than those made with uranium, which Pakistan has been using for years, according to Albright.

"The work on these reactors reflects a Pakistani decision to create a new generation of nuclear weapons. By going plutonium ... we have to interpret that as an attempt to make smaller, more powerful weapons that are going to be more destructive in India," Albright said in a telephone interview.

The Pakistani official declined to comment on what Pakistan might do with extra plutonium.

The report said that, with India also trying to expand its ability to enrich uranium, Pakistan's activities "should be viewed as a sign of an accelerated nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan."

It also accused the U.S. government of soft-pedaling the risk to avoid endangering Islamabad's cooperation against terrorism and a proposed nuclear pact with New Delhi.

"The bottom line for us is that the U.S. isn't doing enough to stop these countries from expanding their nuclear arsenals. They're turning a blind eye," said Albright.

The institute said it used commercially available satellite imagery to conclude that Pakistan was building a third nuclear reactor at Khushab.

A first reactor entered service in 1998, and a second one begun between 2000 and 2002 was still under construction earlier this month, it said in the report. The third and newest reactor has sprung up rapidly just a few hundred yards away, it said.

The images also purportedly show work progressing on a plutonium reprocessing facility at Chashma, 50 miles to the west.

A report by the same institute about the second reactor at Khushab saying it could eventually produce enough fissile material for 50 atomic bombs a year prompted the U.S. government last July to urge Pakistan not to expand its nuclear weapons program.

Pakistan conducted its only nuclear tests in May 1998 after Indian tests earlier that month. India detonated its first nuclear bomb in 1974.

The two countries came close to open conflict in 2002, fueling fear of the world's first nuclear exchange, after terrorists attacked India's Parliament. New Delhi accused Islamabad-backed militants of carrying out the attack, but Pakistan denied the claims. Both countries have since embarked on a stop-start peace process.

In February 2004, Abdul Qadeer Khan, considered to be the father of Pakistan's atomic program, confessed to giving nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya.

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf pardoned Khan and U.S. officials regularly praise Islamabad's role in helping prevent nuclear smuggling.

N. Korea: Atomic inspectors can return

Source: CNN, June 16, 2007.

(CNN) -- North Korea has invited inspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog back into the country to monitor the shut down of its main nuclear reactor, state media reports.

A letter inviting a "working level" delegation to visit and monitor the suspension of the operations of nuclear facilities was sent to the International Atomic Energy Agency, North's Korean Central News Agency reported Saturday.

Earlier Saturday, frozen North Korean funds that were thawed as part of a February agreement to get Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program were transferred out of a bank in Macau, China, to a Russian bank, where North Korea has an account.

Ri Je Son, North Korea's director general of the General Department of Atomic Energy, sent a letter to the IAEA confirming that transfer of the funds was completed as required before the invitation would be extended, according to KCNA.

Francis Tam Pak-yuen, Macau's secretary of economy and finance, said more than $20 million went from Banco Delta Asia to a North Korean account in a small private Russian bank via the Macau Monetary Authority, the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Russian central bank.

The funding, $25 million, was frozen at the bank in late 2005 at the request of the United States, which claimed some of the funding came from illegal activities. As part of a February deal agreed upon during six-party talks aimed at North Korea's denuclearization, however, the funds were freed.

North Korea had been expected to announce its steps in implementing the six-party agreement upon confirmation of the money transfer. Under the agreement, North Korea will shut down its Yongbyon reactor and allow the IAEA back into the country to monitor the process.

Besides freeing up the funds, countries involved in the six-party talks are to provide emergency energy assistance equivalent to 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil.

The agreement was reached in September after six-party talks involving North Korea, the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia.

At a February 13 meeting, a set of initial actions were agreed upon, including freeing the Macau funding.

In exchange for North Korea's denuclearization, the nations have pledged to provide the reclusive Communist nation with political and economic incentives and security guarantees.

'Military plan against Iran is ready'

This article has been reprinted from The Jerusalem Post. Go Sen. Joe! At least someone is watching...

By YAAKOV KATZ

Predicting that Iran will obtain a nuclear weapon within three years and claiming to have a strike plan in place, senior American military officers have told The Jerusalem Post they support President George W. Bush's stance to do everything necessary to stop the Islamic Republic's race for nuclear power.

Bush has repeatedly said the United States would not allow Iran to "go nuclear."

• Israel successfully launches Ofek 7 spy satellite.
• JPost special: US candidates talk tough on Iran.

A high-ranking American military officer told the Post that senior officers in the US armed forces had thrown their support behind Bush and believed that additional steps needed to be taken to stop Iran.

Predictions within the US military are that Bush will do what is needed to stop Teheran before he leaves office in 2009, including possibly launching a military strike against its nuclear facilities.

On Sunday, Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut said the US should consider a military strike against Iran over its support of Iraqi insurgents.

"I think we've got to be prepared to take aggressive military action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq," he said. "And to me, that would include a strike over the border into Iran, where we have good evidence that they have a base at which they are training these people coming back into Iraq to kill our soldiers."

According to a high-ranking American military officer, the US Navy and Air Force would play the primary roles in any military action taken against Iran. One idea under consideration is a naval blockade designed to cut off Iran's oil exports.

The officer said that if the US government or the UN Security Council decided on this course of action, the US Navy would most probably not block the Strait of Hormuz - a step that would definitely draw an Iranian military response - but would patrol farther out and turn away tankers on their way to load oil.

On Sunday, the Israel Air Force held joint exercises with visiting US pilots, but IDF sources dismissed speculation that the drills were connected to an attack on Iran.

The US officer said that perhaps even more dangerous to Israel and the Western world than Iranian nukes was the possibility that a terrorists cell associated with al-Qaida or global jihad would acquire a highly radioactive "dirty bomb" or a vial of deadly chemical or biological agents. The officer said al-Qaida was gaining a strong foothold in the Middle East and that Israel was being surrounded by global jihad elements in Lebanon, Jordan and Sinai.

"Iran is a state-sponsored type of terrorism that can be dealt with," he said, adding that it was far more difficult to strike at the source of an isolated terrorist cell.

To combat this threat, the US Navy has come up with a plan for a "1,000-ship navy" - a transnational network composed of navies from around the world that would raise awareness of maritime threats and more effectively thwart sea-based terrorism and the illicit transfer of arms by sea.

"The idea is to allow free trade and to prevent criminal and terror activity at sea," the officer said.

A smaller-scale example of the US Navy's vision is NATO's Active Endeavor antiterrorism operation based in Naples. Israel plans to send an officer to be stationed there in the coming months. NATO launched Operation Active Endeavor in wake of 9/11 and has succeeded in bringing together a number of Mediterranean countries to work together in Naples to share information on naval terrorism and suspicious vessels in the region.

Bush to North Korea: Patience 'not unlimited'

Source: CNN.

CAMP DAVID, Maryland (AP) -- President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe demanded on Friday that North Korea live up to its promises and abandon its nuclear weapons program.

The two leaders threatened more sanctions against Pyongyang.

"There's a price to pay," Bush said, standing alongside Abe at the presidential retreat in the Maryland mountains. (Watch why Japan has special concerns about North Korea.)

"Our partners in the six-party talks are patient, but our patience is not unlimited," Bush said, referring to disarmament negotiations between the United States, Japan, China, Russia, South Korea and North Korea

For his part, Abe said, "We completely see eye to eye on this matter. They need to respond properly on these issues. Otherwise we will have to take a tougher response on our side."

North Korea missed a deadline to shut down its nuclear reactor under an agreement reached in February.

Bush's words appeared to be an attempt to persuade Abe that the United States is not softening its stance on North Korea.

Japan is already withholding economic and food aid to the reclusive communist regime.

Abe said that sanctions "will worsen" if North Korea continues to defy the international community.

On another subject, Abe apologized for the Japanese military's actions in forcing women to work in military brothels during World War II. He said he wanted to "express my apologies that they were placed in that circumstance."

Abe created a controversy recently by suggesting their was no evidence Japan's Imperial Army had directly coerced the so-called "comfort women" to work in brothels.

In his Camp David remarks, Abe said he had apologized for those remarks in his meetings with members of Congress on Thursday, and again with Bush on Friday.

Bush said the comfort women situation was "a regrettable chapter in the history of the world. And I accept the prime minister's apology."

Abe expressed "deep-hearted sympathies" for the comfort women, saying they had been placed "in extreme hardship."

At the same time, Abe said that "human rights were violated in many parts of the world" at the time. "So we have to make the 21st century a century in which no human rights are violated," he said. He pledged to make "a significant contribution to this end."

On the North Korea issue, Bush said, "We expect North Korea to meet all its commitments under the February 13th agreement. And we will continue working closely with our partners."

A U.S. decision to allow the return of $25 million in disputed North Korean money in an attempt to move the disarmament process forward has been criticized in Japan as a sign of softness.

Bush addressed this issue. "There's a financial arrangement that we're now trying to clarify for the North Koreans, so that that will enable them to have no excuse for moving forward. And that's where we are right now," he said.

"I think it's wise to show the North Korean leader as well that there's a better way forward. I wouldn't call that soft," said Bush.

On another nuclear weapons issue, Bush also said that "we speak with one voice to the regime in Iran. Our nations have fully implemented the sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council in response to Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons.

"Further defiance by Iran will only lead to additional sanctions and to further isolation from the international community," Bush said.

S. Korea: Aid to North conditional on disarmament moves

Source: CNN, April 23, 2007.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Korea's top official on North Korea stressed Monday that delivery of promised rice aid to Pyongyang depends on whether the communist nation lives up to its commitment to start dismantling its nuclear weapons program.

At talks between the two Koreas that ended Sunday, the South agreed to send 400,000 tons of rice to the North despite its failure to meet a deadline more than two weeks ago to shut down its main nuclear reactor. The text of the agreement contains no preconditions for the aid delivery that is to begin in late May.

However, Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said Monday that South Korea has "strongly delivered" its position that delivery of rice aid depends on whether North Korea implements the February accord reached at international arms talks.

Under the accord, North Korea was to shut down its Yongbyon reactor by April 14 and allow U.N. inspectors to verify and seal the facility in exchange for energy assistance.

"The rice issue is not just a humanitarian issue, but a very symbolic and essential task for peace ... so I believe it is very important that measures under the [February] agreement are implemented," Lee told MBC radio.

The two Koreas also agreed Sunday to conduct test runs of trains on rebuilt tracks across their shared border on May 17. A planned test run was called off last year because the North Korean military refused to guarantee the safety of travelers during the test.

"This is one of the tasks that has to be solved through dialogue with the [North Korean] military," Lee said. "If [the test run] is canceled again this time, it will bring difficulties to fundamental South-North relations."

South Korea remains technically at war with the North since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.

However, in the past decade, Seoul has tried to reconcile with its former wartime foe -- lavishing aid on the North and sometimes playing a middleman between Pyongyang and Washington at nuclear arms negotiations.

North Korea has refused to move on disarmament because of a delay in getting funds frozen in a Macau bank after it was blacklisted by the United States for allegedly assisting the North with money laundering and counterfeiting.

The US$25 million (euro18.6 million) has been freed for withdrawal, but for unknown reasons the North has not yet moved to remove the money.

In an attempt to resolve the impasse, South Korea's chief negotiator to nuclear talks, Chun Yung-woo, left for Washington on Monday to discuss the issue with his U.S. counterparts.

"We can't keep putting off discussions on denuclearization that are more important because of the [bank] issue," Chun said before departure, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

Chun said they had "a general understanding of North Korea's demands" regarding its money, without elaborating, according to the report.

The nuclear talks also involve China, Japan and Russia.

Hey idiot. The money which in my opinion should never have been freed up, has been available for over a month now. It is another stall tactic, or don't you diplomats have the good sense to know when you are being taken for ride? For crying out loud.

Nuclear pact not reached; S. Korea still to give North food

Source: , April 21, 2007.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Korea agreed Sunday to send 400,000 tons of rice to impoverished North Korea despite the communist government's failure to meet a deadline to shut down its nuclear reactor.

The agreement was reached early Sunday after five days of economic aid talks in the North Korean capital. It was seen as a setback in South Korea's attempt to use food aid as leverage to pressure the North to honor its pledge to shut down the reactor under the Feb. 13 nuclear disarmament deal with the United States and its regional partners.

The first batch of rice will be sent in late May, the agreement said. The South will ship 350,000 tons, and the remaining 50,000 tons be driven over land, across the world's most heavily fortified border. There were no conditions attached to the aid delivery, according to the agreement.

The Koreas also agreed Sunday to test a railway service to run on rebuilt rail tracks across their shared border. The North promised its military would guarantee the safety of travelers during the rail tests on May 17.

Last year, the North unilaterally called off a similar planned test run, citing objections from its military.

The two sides also agreed that South Korea would send raw materials for making clothes, shoes and soap to the North. In exchange, the South would have the right to develop mineral resources in the North.

Seoul, a key aid donor to the North, has sent more than 2 million tons of rice since the mid-1990s, when natural disasters and mismanagement devastated North Korea's economy and led to a famine estimated to have killed some 2 million people.

Following the February accord, Seoul decided to resume the aid shipments that it had suspended after the North conducted missile and nuclear tests last year.

But fearing it could be criticized for lavishing aid on North Korea before it takes steps to disarm, the South had sought to delay actual shipments until the North made progress on the nuclear deal.

North Korea failed to meet an April 14 deadline to shut the Yongbyon nuclear facility amid a prolonged financial dispute with the United States.

North Korea boycotted international nuclear talks for more than a year because Washington blacklisted a Macau bank where the communist country held $25 million. The United States accused Banco Delta Asia of helping the North to launder money and pass counterfeit $100 bills. Authorities in Macau froze the North's accounts.

The United States and Banco Delta Asia said earlier this month that the North's money had been unfrozen. But for unknown reasons, North Korea has yet to withdraw the money.

The two Koreas are still technically at war, as the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. But their relations have warmed significantly since the first and only summit of their leaders in 2000.

Have I got a problem with S. Korea over this. How are we supposed to carry out any type of plan if all the players will fold at the first sign of failure? Ridiculuos. I expect more of you, S. Korea. After all, we saved your butts!

The State Department yields (again) to North Korea

Source: Opinion Journal Online.
April 13, 2007.

Tomorrow is the 60-day deadline for North Korea to come clean about its nuclear program, and it will be fascinating to see how much it admits. On the evidence of the last week, however, don't be surprised if Kim Jong Il concludes that the Bush Administration will accept whatever he declares.

The U.S. has sent precisely that signal by succumbing to the dictator's demands that the U.S. release $25 million gained by North Korea's criminal enterprises. The money comes from 52 North Korean accounts at Banco Delta Asia, a little bank in the Chinese territory of Macau. Macau froze the funds 18 months ago at the behest of the U.S. Treasury.

The U.S. had originally agreed to release half of the money in return for North Korea's February promise to give up its nuclear weapons program. But Treasury initially said it would not release some $12.5 million that was the clear product of such illegal activity as drug trafficking, money laundering, missile proliferation and a huge counterfeiting operation in hundred-dollar U.S. bills. The money was to go into a fund for humanitarian use in North Korea.

In its report on the Macau bank released last month, Treasury cited the "routine use" of couriers to ferry huge sums of currency in and out of the bank, to the tune of $50 million by a single depositor in 2002. It said individuals and entities with ties to North Korea have been linked to "trade in counterfeit U.S. currency, counterfeit cigarettes, and narcotics." That includes companies suspected of laundering "hundreds of millions of dollars in cash" through Banco Delta Asia.

Not surprisingly, North Korea immediately declared that it would refuse any further negotiation until the U.S. turned over the entire $25 million. Also not surprisingly, the State Department argued that the U.S. should do so lest the nuclear talks fall apart. President Bush agreed with State, and Macau lifted its hold on the money this week.

The Bush Administration is selling this dirty-money deal as a requirement of diplomatic realism and a price that must be paid for the larger strategic goal of getting North Korea to cooperate. But it's also true that the U.S. is allowing Kim to get away with his ill-gotten gains. Only weeks after the Treasury laid out a detailed rap sheet, the U.S. says never mind.

The bigger issue is the message this sends about the "arms control" process now under way. Under the February deal, Kim is obliged to shut down the nuclear facility at Yongbyon and disclose all of his nuclear programs and weapons. He is also obliged to open all of those to international inspection before the U.S. and other countries give him any more aid or money. But Pyongyang's pattern has long been to admit as little as possible every step of the way, and then insist that the U.S. must make further concessions at every instance. By caving on the $25 million, the U.S. is telling Kim he can keep playing this game.

Japan has the better idea. This week it extended its sanctions for another six months--no imports of North Korean products, no port visits by North Korean ships. Last month it testified at the U.N. Commission on Narcotic Drugs about the North's illegal trade in amphetamines. Under the February nuclear deal, it is refusing aid to the North until Pyongyang provides information on the Japanese citizens it abducted and may still be holding.

Meanwhile, life for the 23 million North Koreans is, if anything, grimmer than ever. There were reports of famine this winter. The authorities are cracking down harder on Koreans who flee to China seeking food or work and are caught and repatriated, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch. The South Korean press reports that Pyongyang has ordered its diplomats stationed abroad to send their children home, apparently to help prevent defections. The return of the $25 million will only help Kim reinforce his control.

Assuming Pyongyang even meets tomorrow's deadline, the U.S. will have to decide how much it can believe the North Korean declaration. The goal should be dismantling North Korea's entire nuclear program, not continuing arms-control negotiation for its own sake.

North Korea disarmament deadline slips

Source: CNN.
April 14, 2007.

BEIJING, China (AP) -- The U.S. envoy to North Korea's nuclear talks said Saturday that a two-month-old disarmament plan lacks "momentum" as North Korea failed to meet a deadline for shutting down its main nuclear reactor and processing facility.

"We don't have a lot of momentum right now. That is for sure," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters before meeting his Chinese counterpart, Wu Dawei.

The disarmament plan, reached in February after nearly four years of arduous negotiations, laid out a timetable for North Korea to dismantle its nuclear programs. The plan was unexpectedly disrupted by a dispute over frozen North Korean funds in a Macau bank that Washington said this past week was finally resolved.

On Friday, Hill did not say what the consequences would be if the North missed the Saturday deadline.

"There is no reason why the DPRK can't get on with the task of denuclearization," said Hill, using the official name of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"We are not indifferent to missing a deadline. Obviously it is a very important date," he said. "We will work with our other partners on the appropriate response to the current circumstances."

As part of the disarmament agreement, the North was supposed to gain access to $25 million in frozen funds at the Banco Delta Asia bank in the Chinese territory of Macau. The bank was blacklisted by Washington in September 2005 for allegedly helping the North launder money and pass counterfeit $100 bills.

The funds were unblocked this week, but North Korea's Foreign Ministry said Friday it was still confirming the release. The Ministry said the country would carry out its side of the February agreement "when the lifting of the sanction is proved to be a reality."

North Korea alarmed the world in October when it conducted its first-ever underground nuclear test. After a 13-month boycott of nuclear talks, it agreed in February with the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia to give up its nuclear programs in exchange for energy aid and political concessions, along with a U.S. promise to resolve the bank issue.

Macau's Monetary Authority, which has taken control of the bank, has been tightlipped about the process of releasing the frozen funds.

But Hill said Friday that the U.S. considered the problem resolved.

"It's certainly worrisome to all of us to see them approaching this date rather lethargically. ... We understood their concerns about the banking issue and frankly those concerns have been met," he said.

U.S. officials and experts say the process of shutting down a reactor and having U.N. nuclear inspectors verify it would take at least several days -- making it virtually impossible for the North to meet the Saturday deadline.

"It's a technical question, but it does not take that long," Hill said. "We're not talking months or anything like that. There should be no reason to go slow in this process."

He would not say how long the other countries would wait for North Korea to act on its promises.

"I don't want to put a date or an hour, but another month is not in my constitution," he said.

The only immediate cost the impoverished North would suffer for not shutting the reactor by the deadline would be an initial 50,000 ton shipment of heavy fuel oil promised as a reward. That shipment was part of 1 million tons of oil it would get for dismantling its nuclear program.

However, it is unlikely the U.S. or other countries would take any punitive action, as Washington also failed to resolve the bank issue within 30 days as promised.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, was still awaiting an invitation from North Korea for a preliminary visit, a diplomat familiar with the issue said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

After a visit by two senior IAEA officials to establish procedures for an inspection tour, the agency's board would meet to approve the first return of inspectors since December 2002, when North Korea kicked them out and quit the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The process could take weeks.

U.S. retrieves soldiers' remains

Source: CNN.

PANMUNJOM, Korea (AP) -- U.S. envoys entered South Korea from North Korea in a rare border-crossing Wednesday after securing the remains of six American soldiers from the Korean War and pushing for action on the North's nuclear disarmament.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Anthony Principi, former U.S. veterans affairs secretary, were greeted at the frontier between North and South by U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Alexander Vershbow and U.S. military officials.

Richardson spent four days in North Korea, also joined by the top White House adviser on Korea, Victor Cha.

"Hopefully, we've done our bit to relieve the tension between our two countries," Richardson said after crossing the border, referring to the U.S. and the North.

While in the North on a mission to recover the remains of the U.S. soldiers, the delegation met with officials to press Pyongyang to meet a Saturday deadline to shut down its sole operating nuclear reactor. The agreement was reached in February with the U.S. and other regional powers.

It's unclear if the deadline will be met due to a separate dispute over frozen North Korean funds that Pyongyang has insisted be resolved before it moves to disarm.

Authorities in the Chinese territory of Macau, where North Korea had its accounts, said Wednesday that the money is now free for withdrawal. North Korea has yet to say whether it is satisfied with the resolution of the issue. (Full story)

On Wednesday, the Americans drove two hours from the North Korean capital Pyongyang along virtually empty roads, with the remains of the soldiers transported separately in small, black cases. They then walked across the North-South frontier at the truce village of Panmunjom, where the two Koreas stand face-to-face across the border that has divided the peninsula since a 1953 cease-fire ended the Korean War.

Principi said the mission to deliver the remains was one of the most emotional moments of his life.

"To participate in such a noble mission to bring home the remains of men who 50 years ago were in harm's way, and now they're home, it was really quite moving," he said.

More than 33,000 U.S. troops died in the Korean War, which began in June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea. Some 8,100 U.S. servicemen still are listed as missing.

In 2005, the U.S. government halted a separate cooperative program that permitted U.S. military teams to excavate remains from North Korean battlefields, saying the North had created an unsafe environment. The program had recovered remains believed to be from 220 soldiers since 1996.

Later Wednesday, Richardson was to meet with South Korean diplomats before departing Thursday to Hawaii.

North Korea replaces its prime minister

Source: CNN.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea has replaced its prime minister during a session of its rubber-stamp legislature, an official report said.

Pak Pong Ju was replaced by Kim Yong Il, the North's Korean Central News Agency reported late Wednesday, without giving any reasons for the change.

Pak had been promoted in 2003 from his job as minister of chemical industries in a move that was believed to indicate North Korea's attempt to revive its moribund economy. His replacement, Kim, 62, has served as transport minister since 1998, according to South Korean intelligence.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il attended the meeting Wednesday of the Supreme People's Assembly, KCNA reported, but apparently did not make any comments there.

The move comes amid intense diplomacy aimed at getting North Korea to meet a Saturday deadline under a February disarmament agreement to shut down its main nuclear reactor in exchange for aid and political concessions.

The Supreme People's Assembly usually convenes once or twice a year to approve budgets or discuss policy, but has little real power in a country ruled with an iron fist by Kim Jong Il.

At the assembly's meeting, the delegates heard reports on the budget with officials claiming success in meeting goals for revenue and spending, although no money figures were given.

Vice Premier Kwak Pom Gi, who led the session instead of the ousted Pak, said the country's main economic goals this year are to "improve the standard of people's living" along with the "modernization of the national economy," KCNA reported.

The premiership is among several high-ranking positions, but the country's No. 2 leader is Kim Yong Nam, the president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly.

North Korea is one of the poorest countries in the world. As many as 2 million people are estimated to have died from famine that began in the 1990s because of poor harvests caused by mismanagement and natural disasters and the loss of the North's main benefactor, the Soviet Union.

All eyes on North Korea nuke action

Source: CNN.

(CNN) -- The United States will assess on Saturday whether North Korea has taken action to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, now that the communist nation has gained access to unfrozen funds, said U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

"It's now up to them, and we have to see," said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the chief U.S. envoy involved in nuclear talks with North Korea. "If they don't fulfill their obligations here, we'll know that very soon, and we'll have to deal with that accordingly."

Under a deal announced on February, North Korea said it would disarm its nuclear facilities in return for energy, financial and humanitarian aid. The agreement followed six-party talks involving the United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia.

A major sticking point was the $25 million in North Korean funds, claimed by the United States to contain money from illegal activities, that had been frozen at the Banco Delta Asia in Macau since late 2005.

North Korea said it would close the nuclear reactor 30 days after the money was released, which occurred on Wednesday. (Full story)

"The problem in giving the money back to these accounts is, the North Koreans have not started the process of denuclearization," Hill said. (why the release of funds is so significant)

"We've made it clear to them that we're going to be watching carefully," Hill said. "They are really on notice."

The process of shutting down the reactor and reprocessing facility should be completed in a matter of weeks, Hill said.

Asked about whether North Korea may seek a 30-day extension, Hill said, "I just don't think it's very helpful to talk about extensions of any time at this point." The focus, he said, needs to be on starting the process of shutting down the reactor.

Concerns about keeping the money from going to "nefarious people for nefarious purposes" have been communicated to North Korea, and Pyongyang has pledged to work to keep that from happening, Hill said.

Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said North Korea is willing to let its monitors verify the shutdown of the Yongbyon facility.

The release of North Korea's frozen funds coincided with a four-day trip by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a presidential contender, to bring the remains of U.S. soldiers from the Korean War home. He left North Korea Wednesday with the remains of six U.S. soldiers, according to the communist nation's official news agency, KCNA. (Details)

"I am optimistic North Korea will shut down their reactor and return to six-party talks ... after our discussions," Richardson said. "Now the ball is in North Korea's court to take the next important steps."

The United States halted oil shipments to Pyongyang after North Korea admitted in October 2002 that it was developing a nuclear-weapons program in violation of the 1994 Agreed Framework between the United States and North Korea.

Such oil shipments would resume under the February agreement.

U.S. presses N. Korea to shut reactor

Source: CNN.

April 9, 2007

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- The top U.S. nuclear envoy said Tuesday that North Korea's reported willingness to immediately invite U.N. inspectors into the country once a dispute over frozen North Korean funds is resolved was "positive."

"I think what was positive coming out of Pyongyang yesterday was the report that the DPRK is prepared to take these steps and get the (International Atomic Energy Agency) in there," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters in Tokyo.

North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan told a visiting U.S. delegation in Pyongyang Monday that his government would invite inspectors back "the moment the funds are released to the North Korean government," according to Anthony Principi, U.S. President George W. Bush's former veteran affairs secretary.

But Principi said Kim told the Americans that it would be difficult to shut down the nuclear reactor by a Saturday deadline called for in a February 13 nuclear disarmament accord. Under that agreement, the North must shut down and seal the Yongbyon nuclear reactor and a reprocessing facility in exchange for an initial shipment of aid.

The International Atomic Energy Agency is slated to monitor and verify the shutdown in what would be its first visit since late 2002, when North Korea expelled IAEA inspectors after U.S. officials accused the communist nation of running a secret uranium-enrichment program in violation of a 1994 disarmament deal.

"They can make a beginning, but whether they can completely shut down a nuclear reactor in such a short time would be very difficult," Principi said.

The North agreed to shut the reactor only after the U.S. promised to resolve the key financial issue within 30 days -- which Washington failed to do because the fund transfer has been mired in technical complications.

Kim "indicated that the North Korean government would invite the ... inspectors back the moment the funds are released to the North Korean government," Principi told reporters.

"They believe that it's critical that the $25 million be returned to their government," he said.

Hill: Timeline 'becoming difficult'

In Tokyo, U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill said the deadline was going to be difficult to meet because of the ongoing dispute over the frozen funds.

"Clearly, we're aiming for the complete implementation of the February agreement by day 60 ... but that timeline is becoming difficult," said Hill, who is in Japan to discuss the next stage of the nuclear talks.

He said resolving the financial dispute in the "next day or two" will be key in order for the North to meet the reactor shutdown deadline.

"We feel this should never have held up the nuclear process, but unfortunately it has," Hill said. "We have some ideas for how to go forward, and we'll see if we can do that in the next couple of days."

The U.S. envoy also said Washington would push the North to fully meet its obligations. "There's no such thing as partial implementation" of the agreement, Hill said.

The only immediate cost the impoverished North would suffer for not shutting down the reactor by the deadline would be an initial 50,000 ton shipment of heavy fuel oil promised as a reward. That shipment was part of 1 million tons of oil it would get for dismantling its nuclear programs.

The money dispute has held up progress in implementing the landmark agreement in which North Korea promised to take initial steps toward dismantling its nuclear program, including closing its main nuclear reactor, in exchange for economic aid and political concessions.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack declined to comment on what might happen if North Korea misses the deadline, but said the United States continued to believe that all parties to the agreement are "working in good faith to meet it."

But, he told reporters the money issue "was more complicated than anyone could have imagined," and suggested Washington might not object to an extension of the deadline.

"We'll take a look at where we are on Saturday," McCormack said.

Japan approves extension of sanctions

On Tuesday, Japan's Cabinet approved a six-month extension on trade sanctions against North Korea, which were imposed in the wake of the communist state's nuclear test last year, Cabinet Office spokeswoman Miwako Fujishige said. The measures include closing ports to North Korean ships and banning the import of North Korean goods.

North Korea has refused to move forward because of the delayed transfer of the money frozen by Macau authorities after the U.S. blacklisted a bank in the Chinese-administered region in 2005 for allegedly helping Pyongyang launder money.

The delegation, which includes Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democratic presidential candidate, and Victor Cha, Bush's top adviser on North Korea, is on a four-day trip to Pyongyang to recover remains of U.S. servicemen killed in the Korean War.

Richardson said his delegation pushed Kim for a show of good faith that North Korea was ready to meet its obligations under the February deal, asking for a meeting of the six nations involved in the nuclear disarmament talks before the deadline.

He said he was hoping to travel to the reactor site in Yongbyon, 55 miles north of Pyongyang, but there were a lot of "political issues involved." He did not elaborate.

In the first minutes of the meeting between the North Koreans and the Americans, which reporters were allowed to watch before being escorted out, Kim said the visit, the first that included both Democratic and Republican officials since Bush took office, was of "very great significance."

Kim and the Americans met at the Foreign Ministry building, which overlooks Kim Il Sung square. Hundreds of children and women in brightly colored traditional Korean dresses practiced dances that they will perform on Sunday, when North Koreans celebrate the 95th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the country's founding president and the father of current leader Kim Jong Il.

Richardson and Principi also visited the USS Pueblo, the only active-duty U.S. warship in the hands of a foreign power. A North Korean official called the vessel a living example of continued U.S. aggression toward his country.

Richardson, a former ambassador to the U.N., has regularly made diplomatic trips, often on his own initiative, to global hot spots. Although visits to North Korea by senior U.S. officials are rare, this was Richardson's sixth.

In a possible sign of improved ties, a North Korean general said the remains of six U.S. servicemen would be handed over to the Americans. Three of the sets of remains had identification tags, U.S. officials said after meeting with the general.

Richardson called it a noble humanitarian gesture that would bring comfort to American families.

N. Korea funds impasse resolved

Source: CNN.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Negotiators have agreed on a method to release $25 million (euro18.7 million) in North Korean funds that are frozen in an Asian bank, clearing up a hitch that has stalled nuclear disarmament efforts.

After two weeks of talks in Beijing, banking officials from the United States, China, North and South Korea and the Bank of China have agreed on a "pathway" for the money to be returned to Pyongyang, the State Department said Friday.

"We support the release of all the funds. It is now a matter of technical implementation," spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters, adding that the actual return of the money would be up to China and North Korea.

Previously, U.S. officials had suggested privately that some of the $25 million held in the blacklisted and now-shuttered Banco Delta Asia in the Chinese territory of Macau might be tainted and not released.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that Washington's top East Asia diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, secretly met a senior North Korean diplomat in New York recently and discussed how to resolve the financial dispute.

The Treasury Department said Friday its negotiators at the talks in China had worked to ensure the release of the money was consistent with international money laundering and other financial regulations.

"We stand ready to assist the Macanese authorities in their efforts to release the funds and with all parties to effectuate the North Korean pledge that any money received by them would be used for humanitarian purposes of benefit to the North Korean people," it said.

McCormack declined to comment on South Korean reports the money would be transferred to North Korea through the Bank of China in Hong Kong. He referred questions about specifics to authorities in China and Macau. A U.S. official in Beijing, however, denied the reports.

McCormack refused to predict if, or even when, the "pathway" would actually be employed but said the money returned must be used for the "betterment of the North Korean people and for humanitarian purposes."

He also announced that Hill would travel to the region on Sunday for talks with officials there on North Korea's progress in shutting down its main nuclear facility by a mid-April deadline.

Hill will travel to Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing to discuss the six-party process between North and South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan aimed at getting Pyongyang to halt its nuclear weapons program.

Hill's visit will coincide with a trip to North Korea by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and former Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi that will focus on the repatriation of the remains of U.S. servicemen killed in the Korean War.

The standoff over the money has threatened the next step in a February agreement committing North Korea to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear facility by April 14 in return for economic aid and political concessions.

The funds were frozen after Washington blacklisted the small Banco Delta Asia for alleged complicity in money laundering and other illicit activities by North Korea.

Pyongyang said the freeze showed Washington's hostile intentions toward it and refused to return to international talks on its nuclear program for more than a year.

The problems holding up the transfer of the money were believed to be related to difficulties finding a bank willing to accept the North Korean funds.

A top U.S. Treasury official, Daniel Glaser, had been in Beijing for 13 days trying to sort out the matter. He and his delegation left China on Friday without commenting on the resolution of the hitch.

China, Russia urge Iran to play ball

Source: CNN.

MOSCOW, Russia (AP) -- The presidents of Russia and China have called on Iran to fulfill the U.N. Security Council's resolutions over its disputed nuclear program.

Vladimir Putin and Hu Jintao also said Monday in a joint statement that their countries -- permanent, veto-wielding Security Council members -- were ready to "search for a comprehensive, long-term and mutually acceptable solution to the Iranian nuclear problem."

"Russia and China are calling on Iran to take the necessary constructive steps to fulfill the U.N. Security Council resolutions and (International Atomic Energy Agency) board decisions and believe that Iran ... has the right to pursue peaceful use of nuclear energy while observing its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty," the statement said.

They emphasized again that the increasingly tense dispute should be resolved "exclusively through peaceful means."

Russia and China joined other members of the Security Council on Saturday in voting to impose new sanctions on Iran. The sanctions included the banning of Iranian arms exports and the freezing of assets of 28 people and organizations involved in Iran's nuclear and missile programs.

Iran rejected the sanctions and later announced a partial suspension of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"We intend to extend our partnerships in all areas," Putin said after the statement was signed. "The development of trade and economic relations remains the priority."

"The strengthening of the strategic cooperation between Russia and China ... is very important from the point of view of a multi-polar world and the democratization of the international relations," Hu said.

The visit by Hu to Moscow comes amid efforts by both countries to bolster what they say is a "strategic partnership" forged since the 1991 Soviet collapse. Before Hu's arrival, Russian and Chinese officials said that North Korea's nuclear efforts -- as well as Iran's -- would be on the agenda.

Like Russia, China has been reluctant to join the United States and other Western nations in an aggressive push for punitive sanctions against Iran, which says its nuclear programs are of a peaceful nature.

Washington and some of its allies fear the Iranian efforts are a cover for producing atomic weapons.

The new sanctions could be lifted if Tehran helped assuage global concerns, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak said earlier, according to ITAR-Tass.

Earlier on Monday, the Russian state-run company building Iran's first atomic power plant said that Tehran had made its first payment toward the delayed construction of the Bushehr plant since a dispute over financing halted the project.

Moscow and Tehran have been at loggerheads over financing of the plant, and Russia earlier this month said that nuclear fuel would not be supplied this month, as had been planned. The delays prompted Russia to indefinitely postpone the reactor's launch, set for September.

Iran, meanwhile, angrily denied falling behind in payments and accused Russia of caving in to U.S. pressure to take a tougher line on Tehran for defying international demands to halt parts of its nuclear program.

Russian officials denied media speculation that it was putting political pressure on Iran under cover of the financial dispute.

"The fact that our Iranian partners have overcome their difficulties is positive, however, it far from compensates for the requirements of the (project) that have arisen during the period of nonpayment," Atomstroiexport spokesman Sergei Novikov said in a statement.

The company also said the new payment was just half of the monthly amount needed for a normal construction schedule to be resumed.

ElBaradei upbeat on N. Korea talks

Source: CNN.

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- The chief U.N. nuclear inspector, after a one-day trip to Pyongyang, said Wednesday North Korea was "fully committed" to an agreement that requires it to shutter its main nuclear reactor and let in inspectors as soon as the U.S. drops financial sanctions against it.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, described the talks on how North Korea will close its main atomic reactor as "quite useful."

"They said they are fully committed to the February 13 agreement, that they are ready to work with the agency to make sure that we monitor and verify the shutdown of the Yongbyon facility," he said, adding officials in Pyongyang also "reiterated they are committed to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula."

ElBaradei's trip comes ahead of international talks in Beijing on Monday that will look at progress after a milestone deal last month in which North Korea has 60 days to shut down and seal its Yongbyon nuclear reactor in exchange for economic aid and political concessions.

ElBaradei dismissed concerns that he had not meet Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan, North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, as originally scheduled, saying Kim was sick.

The IAEA is supposed to monitor and verify the shutdown. The reactor is believed to have produced the plutonium for the nuclear weapon North Korea detonated in a test blast on October 9.

He said North Korea "was very clear they are ready to implement the February 13 agreement once the other parties implement their part of the deal."

He said that included the lifting of sanctions against a Macau bank, adding once that happens North Korea will allow the return of inspectors from his watchdog agency.

The frozen accounts in the Banco Delta Asia, including $24 million (€18.2 million) in North Korean assets, have been a sore spot for the North Korean government.

A U.S. government official said Monday the Treasury Department is expected to make an announcement this week that could help overseas regulators identify highest-risk and lower-risk account holders. This risk assessment in turn could be used by Macau to release money that has been frozen. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The U.S. alleged the bank helped North Korea distribute counterfeit currency and engage in other illicit activities. Banks around the world, meanwhile, severed ties with North Korea for fear of losing access to the U.S. financial system.

ElBaradei's trip was a significant first step toward renewed relations between the IAEA and the North, which kicked out the agency's inspectors in late 2002, but he cautioned "the agreement is still quite fragile, precarious, so I hope all parties will see to it we continue to solidify that agreement."

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the top American nuclear negotiator, told reporters after arriving in Beijing that ElBaradei's trip was a "good sign."

Hill said he was likely to meet ElBaradei in Beijing on Thursday.

Besides the United States and North Korea, the talks also include South Korea, Japan, Russia and host China.

Delegates from those countries were set this week to meet with their counterparts to discuss economic and energy cooperation, peace and security in Northeast Asia and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as part of working group sessions established under the landmark pact. Those meetings were to take place through the weekend.

South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator Chun Yung-woo said after flying into Beijing Wednesday that the talks were not aimed "at producing any breakthrough" or a new agreement.

The North Korean nuclear crisis began in 2002, when Washington alleged that Pyongyang had a uranium enrichment program in addition to its acknowledged plutonium program. North Korea then withdrew from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and expelled ElBaradei's inspectors.

The North is to eventually receive 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil for abandoning all its nuclear programs. U.S. officials have stressed this must include an alleged uranium enrichment program, which the North has never publicly admitted having.

High expectations set for NK talks

Source: CNN.

SEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) -- North Korea is fully prepared to shut down its nuclear facilities and allow inspections, a South Korean official said in New York, where envoys from Pyongyang and Washington are set to begin rare talks on improving ties.

North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan has been on a visit to the United States since Thursday, becoming the highest-ranking official to do so since 2000.

"I don't think there's any doubt about the North's readiness to execute the initial steps," South Korean envoy Chun Yung-woo was quoted as saying in New York, referring to measures Pyongyang has agreed to on shutting down its nuclear activities.

"The North has agreed to the initial steps and has the intention to fully do its part," Chun was quoted as saying by South Korean media after he met Kim at a hotel on Saturday.

Chun, South Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, is accompanying Foreign Minister Song Ming-soon's visit to the United States.

In Beijing, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said he hoped Pyongyang would not delay in fulfilling its commitments but declined to comment further.

"I would be reluctant to give you an assessment as to whether they have begun activity leading to the shutdown or not," he told a news conference.

Highest-level meeting in U.S. since 2000

Kim is scheduled to meet U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill on Monday to discuss improving ties.

It will be the highest-level meeting on U.S. soil since a top military officer and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's special envoy, Jo Myong Rok, visited Washington in 2000.

That was followed by U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's visit to Pyongyang and eased tensions -- until George W. Bush took office in 2001 and labeled North Korea as part of an "axis of evil".

In a breakthrough February 13 agreement in Beijing, North Korea agreed with South Korea, the United States, and three other countries to shut down within 60 days its nuclear facilities and allow inspectors in return for 50,000 tons of fuel oil.

Further steps to completely "disable" its nuclear weapons program will entitle the energy-strapped state to another 950,000 tons of oil or other forms of aid of equivalent value.

North Korea is also set to hold similar discussions with Japan in Hanoi next week, and separate meetings on energy aid are planned among the six countries in the international talks, which include China, Russia and Japan.

Negroponte said that the working group on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, one of five working groups to be set up under the February 13 agreement, would begin its work imminently.

"It's a matter of days, not weeks," he said of the group, which will be chaired by China.

On March 13, International Atomic Energy Agency director Mohamed ElBaradei will be in Pyongyang to discuss the mechanics of North Korea's deal to close down its nuclear program and readmit inspectors from the U.N. watchdog.