|
As talks in Beijing regarding North Korea's nuclear program
stall, analysts say North Korea may be waiting for a gesture from Barack Obama
once he assumes the presidency. See story from
Christian Science Monitor
North Korea has agreed to allow United Nations inspectors
back into its main nuclear complex at Yongbyon, in response to the United
States' decision to remove the North from its list of states sponsoring
terrorism. See
story from Christian Science Monitor
North Korea needs a half a billion dollars' worth of emergency
food aid to avert a famine, a United Nations official warned. Banbury blamed
an estimated 20 percent shortfall in food supplies on several factors,
including floods last year, less aid from China (down sharply in the past two
years due to new restrictions on grain exports generally), and South Korea's
suspension of food and fertilizer shipments this year. South Korea's President
Lee Myung Bak, who took office in February, has vowed to take a harder line
against his country's northern neighbor. See story from
Christian Science Monitor
Even as he declared that "the United States has no
illusions about the regime in Pyongyang," President Bush announced his intention
to remove North Korea from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism. That
action, along with US plans to remove sanctions that date to the Korean War,
follow North Korea's submission of a partial declaration of its past nuclear
activities. In addition North Korea has destroyed part of the Yongbyon nuclear
reactor that produced plutonium for the country's nuclear weapons. See story from
Christian Science Monitor
The United States and North Korea had "productive"
talks in Pyongyang in April 2008 about a long-overdue declaration of North
Korean nuclear programs. See story
from Reuters
North Korea has agreed to declare and disable all its nuclear facilities by the end of this year, the chief US negotiator has said. See
story from Sky News
Progress on improved cooperation between North and South
Korea appears to be stalled as high level talks begin between the two
countries. The matter is complicated because by US responses to North Korea's
nuclear intentions. See story
from Christian Science Monitor
International negotiations on North Korea's nuclear program
resume in Beijing with more optimism than at any time in more than 18 months –
largely because the two principal parties in the talks, North Korea and the United
States, both have reason for craving the appearance of progress. See story from
Christian Science Monitor The arrangement eventually reached in which North
Korea again agreed to inspections in exchange for economic aid is a
breakthrough even though the agreement is tenuous. See story
from Christian Science Monitor
Even as missile and nuclear tests alienate humanitarian aid
donors, North Korea is facing a cold winter in which it is unlikely to be able
to feed its people. The danger of widespread suffering raises the critical
question of how the world can unite in a forceful response to North Korea's nuclear
test and still rescue the North's hungry people. See story from
Christian Science Monitor
Even as missile and nuclear tests alienate humanitarian aid donors, North Korea is facing a cold winter in which it is unlikely to be able to feed its people. The danger of widespread suffering raises the critical question of how the world can unite in a forceful response to North Korea's nuclear test and still rescue the North's hungry people. See story from Christian Science Monitor
North Korea's nuclear weapon test has spawned widespread
denunciation but the fallout also includes divergent positions on how to
respond. Some U.S. analysts and policy makers say they believe that a
combination of sticks and carrots might be used to bring about a change in North
Korea's nuclear behavior. Others, however, suggest that neither sanctions nor
incentives will stop the spread of nuclear weapons in the world unless major
nuclear powers also agree and follow a timetable for disarmament. See story from One
World Net
The North Korean government announced it will conduct a safe
test nuclear explosion. The government statement alleged the United States was
trying to "isolate and stifle" the country. Talks among North Korea
and five other countries on its nuclear program have been stalled for almost a
year since the United States imposed economic sanctions on North Korea based on
a Southeast Asian counterfeiting ring. See story from BBC
North Korea's apparent test of a nuclear device could have a
devastating effect on the world's long struggle to contain the spread of the
most powerful military weapon known to man. Everything depends on what the US
and other interested governments do to try to repair a nonproliferation system
that, despite its faults, has served the globe well for decades. See story from
Christian Science Monitor
There was surprising unanimity in the UN vote to ban the
shipment of missile parts and nuclear material to North Korea. See story from
Christian Science Monitor
North Korea may be preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile that could reach parts of the United States, Japanese media reports said on Friday, but Japan's government said it did not believe a launch was imminent. See story from Reuters
The World Food Program will halt humanitarian food aid to 6 million North Koreans at the end of this month because the North Korean government says it now has enough food to feed its hungry people. See story from Knight Ridder
North and South Korea - still technically at war - agreed to compete as a single team at the Asia Games in 2006 and at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. See story from Independent
North Korea is financing illicit activities by printing up bogus U.S. $100 bills and passing them abroad to banking centers such as Macau, the former Portuguese colony now under China's control, a senior U.S. Treasury official charged. See story from Knight Ridder
North Korea has formally told the UN it no longer needs food aid, despite reports of malnutrition in the country. Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Su-hon said the country now had enough food, due to a good harvest, and accused the US of using aid as a political weapon but top UN relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland said an "abrupt" end to food aid would harm North Korea's most vulnerable. See story from BBC
North Korea has agreed to give up all nuclear activities and rejoin the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, in a move diplomats called a breakthrough. In return, the US said it had no intention of attacking the North, which was also promised aid and electricity. See story from BBC
The most protracted talks over the standoff on the Korean peninsula since the Korean war ended in 1953 concluded Monday with a facesaving "statement of principles." North Korea agreed to give up its "existing nuclear weapons" and return to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The United States joined others at the six-party talks in expressing "respect" for North Korea's claim to "the right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy," and offering energy assistance and economic cooperation. The agreement skirts key issues, such as the timing of concessions, that will be addressed when talks resume in November. But the deal is seen as a major victory for international diplomacy. See story from Christian Science Monitor
The impasse in the Korean talks appears to involve U.S. insistence that North Korea abandon all nuclear activities, including peaceful ones, as a condition of receiving necessary economic aid. This view does not appear to be shared by South Korea. The fact that the two allies appear to disagree so fundamentally does not bode well for on-going talks on the issue which are due to resume late in August 2005. See story from BBC
In the North Korea talks, a glimmer of hope exists as some experts expect the US to make a good faith effort in order to promote a perception of reasonableness. See story from Christian Science Monitor
China is a key player in the soon to be resumed negotiations on North Korea's nuclear policy. See story from Christian Science Monitor
U.S. officials were skeptical yesterday that North Korea's statement that it was committed to returning to multinational disarmament talks signaled a breakthrough in the year-long effort to arrange another meeting. But Asian officials were optimistic, with China's U.N. ambassador even predicting that talks would resume within the next few weeks. See story from Washington Post
The North Korean regime's collapse looks less likely as trade rises 20 percent a year. This traffic which was visible on a recent trip to the border, as well as conversations in Asian capitals and in Washington, all suggest that the position of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is not weakening, and that the uptick in economic activity represents a new lifeline for the regime. See story from Christian Science Monitor
In a remarkable escalation of the tense diplomatic situation involving North Korea, North Korea has indicated that it possesses nuclear weapons. The admission appears to be an effort to spur concessions from the U.S. that it has failed to obtain so far through diplomacy. The U.S. response to the situation at the moment is relatively mute in comparison with its response to threats previously existing in Iraq. It is important to note that some of the international leverage with respect to potential nuclear weapons North Korea, Iraq and Iran exists because all three countries are signatories of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Three of the four countries who are not signatories to the treaty - India, Pakistan and Israel - all have nuclear weapons but the existence of these arsenals provokes comparatively little international concern. See summary of North Korea problem from the BBC
Two-and-a-half years after North Korea introduced sweeping reforms to its economy, income differences are widening while millions live on the edge of starvation, observers say. See story from Christian Science Monitor
There are shifting signs in North Korea as Kim Jong II scales back the personality cult he has created amid fledging signs of internal dissent. See story from Christian Science Monitor
The current White House position on North Korea seems to suggest a tactically kinder and gentler approach to the hard-core Stalinist regime, something desired by at least two other members of the six-nation talks. It came about partly from a sense among US officials that Washington was wrongly being framed as the hostile or intractable actor in the talks. See story from Christian Science Monitor
Six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear program ended without any major breakthrough, but a U.S. official declared them "very successful" and the governments involved promised to push ahead with diplomatic efforts. See story from Washington Post
The United States said it would donate 60,000 tons of food to North Korea, freeing up a donation it had withheld amid concerns that Pyongyang may prevent the aid reach undernourished people. The Christmas Eve donation was announced by the State Department, which said US concerns over North Korea's nuclear crusade would not stop it helping North Korea's people. The move followed an appeal by the United World Food Program (WFP) this month for the international community to commit itself to a new 171 million dollar emergency operation to feed 6.5 million starving people in North Korea. See story from Voice of America
The North Korean regime's collapse looks less likely as trade rises 20 percent a year. This traffic which was visible on a recent trip to the border, as well as conversations in Asian capitals and in Washington, all suggest that the position of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is not weakening, and that the uptick in economic activity represents a new lifeline for the regime. See story from Christian Science Monitor
In a remarkable escalation of the tense diplomatic situation involving North Korea, North Korea has indicated that it possesses nuclear weapons. The admission appears to be an effort to spur concessions from the U.S. that it has failed to obtain so far through diplomacy. The U.S. response to the situation at the moment is relatively mute in comparison with its response to threats previously existing in Iraq. It is important to note that some of the international leverage with respect to potential nuclear weapons North Korea, Iraq and Iran exists because all three countries are signatories of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Three of the four countries who are not signatories to the treaty - India, Pakistan and Israel - all have nuclear weapons but the existence of these arsenals provokes comparatively little international concern. See summary of North Korea problem from the BBC
Two-and-a-half years after North Korea introduced sweeping reforms to its economy, income differences are widening while millions live on the edge of starvation, observers say. See story from Christian Science Monitor
|
