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$25.00
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By Chris Abani
$23
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Is the Iranian regime taking a page from North Korea with its recent, potentially provocative displays of missile-launching power? Or are those preplanned exercises (nothing to see here, move along, folks)? Or, as White House press wrangler Robert Gibbs suggests, a little bit of both?
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AP / Ajit Kumar
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A U.N. Security Council session led by President Obama has adopted a resolution calling for nuclear disarmament, focusing largely on measures aimed at halting weapons proliferation and lowering the risk of “nuclear terrorism.”
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AP / Yonhap
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Did Bill Clinton shake something loose during his recent visit to Pyongyang? No, Kim Jong Il’s overtures to his southern neighbors this week are the legacy of Kim Dae-jung, the former president and first modern South Korean leader to visit the North. Kim died Tuesday. He survived political persecution and attempted assassination to cross the neutral zone and step into history.
Posted on Aug 19, 2009
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The North Korean dictator seems to be in control of both his government and his personal faculties, U.S. national security adviser James Jones said Sunday. Reports in South Korean media and elsewhere have suggested Kim’s health is failing, but Jones, referring to Bill Clinton’s recent visit to the Hermit Kingdom, said “obviously we didn’t have any time to make an assessment there. But he [Kim] seemed in control of his faculties.”
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AP / Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service
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Although his wife is usually the one making headlines about international relations these days, former President Bill Clinton put on his diplomat’s hat Tuesday, visiting North Korea in an attempt to negotiate the release of two American journalists jailed there. Updated
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guardian.co.uk
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A South Korean TV station is reporting that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il has pancreatic cancer, based on information from Chinese and South Korean intelligence. Whether or not Kim actually suffers from that especially deadly disease, he did appear ill during a rare public appearance last week and is rumored to have appointed his youngest son as his successor.
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AP photo / Lee Jin-man
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In the latest North Korean madness, the communist country has declared it would respond to any attack by the U.S. with a nuclear “fire shower” and said it would increase its nuclear arsenal. The statement came on Thursday, the day after President Obama warned of the “unusual and extraordinary threat” that Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program poses to the U.S.
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smh.com.au
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After an uninspiring scoreless draw with fellow autocratic state Saudi Arabia, it seems that North Korea’s football (soccer) team has managed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The qualification raises the possibility of a cup confrontation with South Korea—or even the U.S.—next summer.
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gb.cri.cn
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Kim Jong-un, the heir apparent to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, reportedly has been caught in mid assassination attempt. According to South Korean media citing Chinese government sources, the 26-year-old was trying to kill Kim Jong-nam, the first son in the lineage, after first doing away with his older half brother’s top aides.
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Flickr/ninjawil
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Shortly after the U.N. Security Council imposed new sanctions against North Korea for carrying out a nuclear test, the communist country has reacted by warning of possible nuclear war. As a result, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who is to meet with President Obama on Tuesday, is expected to seek a written commitment of nuclear protection from the U.S.
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Flickr / yeowatzup
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As the U.N. struggles to figure out how to punish North Korea for its second nuclear test, it’s clear that past sanctions have done little to discourage Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions. On Wednesday, the U.S., China and others agreed on a draft resolution that tightens military and financial sanctions on the North but puts no damper on its lucrative trade with China.
Posted on Jun 11, 2009
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Two U.S. journalists have been sentenced to 12 years in a labor camp in North Korea for an unnamed “grave crime” and illegal entry into the country. The women were investigating the trafficking of women on the China-North Korea border for a story for Al Gore’s Current TV network when they were arrested in March.
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Wikimedia Commons
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South Korean media outlets are reporting that North Korea’s Kim Jong-il (above) has chosen his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as his successor. Little is known about Kim the younger, except that he was born in either 1983 or 1984 and is considered the most capable of the Kim brood.
Posted on Jun 2, 2009
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Mr. Fish
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China takes a lot of heat for being too buddy-buddy with North Korea, but if the harsh words in one of the middle kingdom’s tabloids are any indication, Beijing is none too happy with Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions. “This is an unprecedented threat that China has never faced in its thousands of years,” says a writer in the Global Times, a People’s Daily spinoff.
Posted on Jun 1, 2009
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twitter.com / kcna_dprk
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Sure, Obama and McCain (well, actually their staffs) joined micro-blogging site Twitter for propaganda purposes. But now the nuke-happy and secretive North Koreans are getting in on the Web 2.0 revolution, offering an interesting state-controlled glimpse into the isolated country.
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Petar Pismestrovic, Kleine Zeitung, Austria —
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AP photo / Lee Jin-man
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The U.N. Security Council condemned North Korea for carrying out an underground nuclear test on Monday. Pyongyang responded by test-launching two short-range missiles, after which the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, said the actions were “clearly provocative” and that North Korea will “pay a price” for them.
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AP photo / Lee Jin-man
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North Korea carried out its second nuclear test on Monday and said it was “on a new higher level in terms of its explosive power and technology,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency. The test sparked international condemnation and protests in South Korea, while the U.N. Security Council called an emergency session to discuss the incident.
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AP photo / Ahn Young-joon
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By Scott Ritter — North Korea has come under strong international criticism and sanctions for its missile launch, but as a signatory to the 1966 Outer Space Treaty, it is legally permitted to pursue space launch activity. Besides, where is the pandemonium when Japan, Pakistan, Israel, India, Russia and the U.S. refine, test and launch their own ballistic missiles?
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White House / Pete Souza
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The U.S. led a round of chest-thumping following North Korea’s alleged missile test Sunday, but President Obama also acknowledged that the United States is the only country to have used nuclear weapons against others and, as such, has a “moral responsibility” to lead the world toward a nuclear stockpile of zero.
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AP photo / Lee Jin-man
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The U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting following what North Korea described as a satellite launch but what the U.S. and South Korea said was actually a long-range missile test. The U.S., the European Union, Japan and South Korea have all weighed in with varying degrees of concern, while China and Russia have urged calm and restraint.
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Air Force
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In announcing her department’s annual human rights report, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made multiple references to the elephant in the room—the United States’ own tarnished record, saying “America must first be an exemplar of our own ideals.”
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Wikimedia Commons / Fastfission
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North Korea and the U.S. have agreed to the broad strokes of a nuclear disarmament deal, but hammering out the details is proving to be a monumental challenge. U.S. envoy Christopher Hill announced Thursday that talks were essentially on ice. It may or may not help that Kim Jong Il has been missing in action for months.
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commons.wikimedia.org
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Japan’s prime minister says he has information that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is “probably in hospital,” though capable of making decisions. “Anyway, his condition isn’t good,” added Prime Minister Taro Aso, who has been known to dip his toe in outrageous waters.
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While Americans from the president on down were preoccupied with the financial meltdown, the disarmament deal with North Korea was quietly falling apart. Actually, talks with the nuclear hermit state have been on the rocks for some time, and have only grown more complicated since Kim Jong Il went MIA.
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commons.wikimedia.org
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Rumors are flying after the North Korean dictator skipped a parade in honor of the country’s 60th anniversary. A U.S. intelligence official said Kim apparently “suffered a health setback, potentially a stroke.” Or he could be fine. News travels slow out of the hermit kingdom.
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U.S. Department of Energy
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Four decades ago, officials from countries around the world signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), pledging to bring the spread of those weapons to a halt. The treaty also pledged the signatories that possessed said weapons at the time—such as the United States—to get rid of their nuclear arms.
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By Eugene Robinson — George W. Bush’s presidency seems exhausted and irrelevant, but that’s a dangerous illusion.
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AP photo / Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service
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Remember when North Korea loomed menacingly as the next big nuclear threat on the world stage, with cognac-swilling Communist Kim Jong Il starring as the latest dictator du jour? What a difference a few years can make: The North Korean government has now demonstrated its willingness to halt the country’s nuclear weapons program and has begun accepting food shipments from the U.S. and increased aid from the World Food Program.
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sfgate.com
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Did he or didn’t he? Four years ago, A.Q. Khan, often referred to as the “Father of the Pakistani Bomb,” confessed that he had passed nuclear secrets to North Korea, Iran and Libya. Now, as he awaits his possible release from house arrest, Khan says he made a false confession.
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This past week, Syria made headlines not once but twice. One story implicates the country in enriching uranium and says that the CIA confirmed to Congress that the target of a mysterious Israeli air raid in northern Syria on Sept. 6, 2007, was a reactor built with North Korean help.
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The North Korean government has denied allegations that it shared nuclear technology with Syria. A senior U.S. nuclear official earlier insisted that North Koreans were in Syria, possibly to supply the latter with illicit equipment.
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AP Photo / Keystone, Salvatore Di Nolfi
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If the Bush administration is now in peacenik mode with North Korea, why not more aggressively follow the diplomatic track with Iran? As a result of a startling turnabout by an administration committed to wage war against “rogue nations,” it turns out offers of aid and diplomatic recognition might work wonders in stemming the spread of the nuclear threat.
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By Joe Conason — For the first time in a long time, encouraging news is emerging from North Korea. Yet the Bush administration so far has drawn little attention to this happy achievement by its own diplomats.
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AP Photo / Yonhap
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Score one for diplomacy: North Korea is toeing the line and following the dictates of a deal struck with the U.N. in February to shut down one of its nuclear reactors in exchange for heavy fuel oil, according to the BBC.
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A South Korean newspaper has quoted CIA Director Michael Hayden as saying “the United States does not recognize North Korea as a nuclear weapons state. ... It’s because the nuclear test last year was a failure.” Hayden reportedly made the comment while speaking with a South Korean defense official. The administration has said in the past it was uncertain of the test’s success.
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North Korea simply refuses to engage in the six-party talks until it receives $25 million in disputed funds. The disarmament deal struck by Washington and Pyongyang is now being held up by “technical problems.” U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill expressed his frustration: “The problem is, you can’t expect all these large delegations to sit around while it is being sorted out.”
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washtimes.com
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A top North Korean leader on Thursday reaffirmed his nation’s intention to disarm, calling a nuclear-free Korean peninsula the “dying wish” of former dictator Kim Il Sung. Kim Yong Nam, the North’s second-in-command, said his regime “will make efforts to realize” that wish.
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AP Photo / Greg Baker
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By Robert Scheer — There is nothing wrong with negotiating with our enemies rather than weakly blustering at cartoon images of them—I wish we would do the same in our dealings with Iran—but it would be nice if we would stop shooting ourselves in the foot first.
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The Bush administration hopes its deal with North Korea will serve as a “template” for Iran, but convincing Tehran to abandon its nuclear program won’t be a walk in the park. Unlike North Korea, Iran has no use for energy aid and has managed to outmaneuver the U.S. in several regional conflicts.
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North Korea has agreed to shut down its main nuclear reactor within 60 days in exchange for either energy or economic aid. The U.S. has also promised to drop North Korea from a list of terrorist states and normalize relations.
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The U.S. envoy to the six-party North Korea talks says all parties have reached tentative agreement on a deal, which would, according to previous reports, provide North Korea with energy assistance in exchange for an end to its nuclear program. A final text of the proposal has been distributed for review, and the delegates will meet again Tuesday to consider approving the agreement.
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AP Photo / Greg Baker
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North Korea’s nuclear envoy announced on Thursday that his government is prepared to discuss nuclear disarmament, provided the United States softens its approach: “We are going to make a judgment based on whether the United States will give up its hostile policy and come out toward peaceful coexistence.”
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In response to North Korea’s nuclear test last year, the U.S. has banned the export of luxury goods including iPods, jet skis and cognac. That’ll teach ‘em.
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The U.S. and North Korea may meet for a second and possibly even a third round of talks following a surprise meeting. The White House had steadfastly refused to give in to Pyongyang’s desire for direct discussions outside of the six-party talks, but the recent rendezvous between the two countries suggests there may be more flexibility in Washington these days.
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rottentomatoes.com
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The Japanese daily Sankei says it has obtained an internal government report outlining the requirements for building a nuclear weapon. The Japanese government denies that it intends to build such a device. However, public pressure has mounted following North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests.
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