aria
Former Moderator
- Joined
- Dec 4, 1977
- Posts
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This article is out of the NY Times. The question that kept popping up in my head as I read it is: Are we getting ready to attack the lessor of two problems? I bolded a few passages of note.
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February 6, 2003
North Korea Intensifies War of Words With U.S.
By DON KIRK
SEOUL, South Korea, Feb. 6 — North Korea stepped up its verbal bombardment of the United States today, warning of "total war" if the United States dared to attack its nuclear complex.
The North fired its strongest salvo a day after declaring that its five-megawatt reactor was up and running "on a normal footing" after what it said was its "restart."
The United States defense secretary, Donald H. Rumsfeld, added to the war of words by charging that North Korea was ruled by "a terrorist regime" that had been "involved in things that are harmful to other countries."
Mr. Rumsfeld made the remark to the armed services committee of the House of Representatives as he and other high-level officials in Washington and Seoul sought to discern how seriously to view North Korea's claim that the reactor was now operational.
The North Korean party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, warned of the consequences if the United Staates seriously considered a pre-emptive strike on the nuclear complex, saying "a surprise attack on our peaceful nuclear facilities" would "spark a total war."
Making clear the potential of North Korea to wreak havoc on South Korea and possibly targets in Japan, the commentary said it would be "foolish for the United States to think that we sit idle with folded arms to wait until it gives orders" to initiate the attack.
The inference of the commentary was that North Korea might be the first to strike if the United States built up its forces in the western Pacific, as the Pentagon has indicated may well happen. The North Korean commentary appeared as a response to the disclosure that the United States is preparing to send two dozen bombers to Pacific bases while senior American officers have reportedly requested an aircraft carrier and additional troops to brace up the defense of South Korea.
The United States ambassador to South Korea, Thomas Hubbard, acknowledged the threat posed by North Korea's 1.1-million troops, 80 percent of them within 50 miles of the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas.
"Your country would be the one most immediately and directly affected should, God forbid, conflict break out again," he reminded an audience of senior South Korean officials and foreign ambassadors tonight. The North, he said, "has the capability to devastate Seoul and neighboring areas through conventional forces alone."
The remark reflected what is viewed as the central reason why the United States shrinks from attacking the North Korean nuclear complex at Yongbyon, site of the nuclear reactor. Intelligence officials believe North Korean artillery, most of it at least a generation old, could in a day pour thousands of shells on the Seoul metropolitan area, including the surrounding province and the port city of Inchon, where half of the South's 48 million people live.
Mr. Hubbard sought, however, to temper the sense of crisis generated by North Korea as well as comments from Washington by pledging "the support and cooperation of the United States" for efforts of President-elect Roh Moo Hyun to seek "dialogue with Pyongyang within the framework of a broad international effort."
The reference to an international effort reflected American insistence on including other countries in any negotiations with North Korea, which has been equally adamant in stating that it wants negotiations only with the United States.
While American officials seemed to think that the North had raised the stakes in the confrontation by saying that it had restarted its reactor, South Koreans did not seem nearly so concerned.
Mr. Roh, addressing economic officials and foreign business leaders at the end of a two-hour panel discussion on South Korea's potential as Asia's leading financial center, drew applause as he remarked, "Please don't worry about investing in Korea."
He was, he said, "going to assure peace on this Peninsula" of his basic commitment and was going "to prevent war on this peninsula."
At the foreign ministry, a senior official scoffed at the latest commentary from Pyongyang, calling it "a repetition of their usual rhetoric." As for Mr. Rumsfeld's remark referring to North Korea's leadership as "a terrorist regime," the official said he was commenting "only in general terms."
Officials in both South Korea and the United States, however, have derided North Korea's claim that it was operating its reactor at Yongbyon "for the production of electricity," observing that the reactor was not capable of generating more than minimal amounts of electrical power.
American intelligence analysts are still greatly puzzled by satellite imagery that has shown trucks covered with tarpaulin moving in and out of the reactor site.
One suspicion is that the trucks are picking up the 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods that North Korean technicians removed from a cooling pond after withdrawing from the nuclear nonproliferation treaty in December and expelling inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency on New Year's Eve. The next step would be to extract plutonium, from which technicians could then produce nuclear warheads.
American officials here and in Washington said that North Korea, at every stage of stepping up the crisis, has further cut itself off from the rest of the world.
"We are not trying to isolate North Korea," Mr. Hubbard said tonight. Rather, he said, in another plea for a multilateral solution, "North Korea's leader is doing that himself, by pursuing dangerous weapons programs and by refusing to engage the international community on the subject."
Mr. Hubbard pointedly avoided mentioning the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, by name. Both President Kim Dae Jung, author of the South's so-called sunshine policy of reconciliation with the North, and President-elect Roh, who has vowed to continue the policy, refer to him as "Chairman Kim," a reference to his post as head of North Korea's national defense commission.
<small>[ February 06, 2003, 04:06 PM: Message edited by: Bobak ]</small>
-----------------
February 6, 2003
North Korea Intensifies War of Words With U.S.
By DON KIRK
SEOUL, South Korea, Feb. 6 — North Korea stepped up its verbal bombardment of the United States today, warning of "total war" if the United States dared to attack its nuclear complex.
The North fired its strongest salvo a day after declaring that its five-megawatt reactor was up and running "on a normal footing" after what it said was its "restart."
The United States defense secretary, Donald H. Rumsfeld, added to the war of words by charging that North Korea was ruled by "a terrorist regime" that had been "involved in things that are harmful to other countries."
Mr. Rumsfeld made the remark to the armed services committee of the House of Representatives as he and other high-level officials in Washington and Seoul sought to discern how seriously to view North Korea's claim that the reactor was now operational.
The North Korean party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, warned of the consequences if the United Staates seriously considered a pre-emptive strike on the nuclear complex, saying "a surprise attack on our peaceful nuclear facilities" would "spark a total war."
Making clear the potential of North Korea to wreak havoc on South Korea and possibly targets in Japan, the commentary said it would be "foolish for the United States to think that we sit idle with folded arms to wait until it gives orders" to initiate the attack.
The inference of the commentary was that North Korea might be the first to strike if the United States built up its forces in the western Pacific, as the Pentagon has indicated may well happen. The North Korean commentary appeared as a response to the disclosure that the United States is preparing to send two dozen bombers to Pacific bases while senior American officers have reportedly requested an aircraft carrier and additional troops to brace up the defense of South Korea.
The United States ambassador to South Korea, Thomas Hubbard, acknowledged the threat posed by North Korea's 1.1-million troops, 80 percent of them within 50 miles of the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas.
"Your country would be the one most immediately and directly affected should, God forbid, conflict break out again," he reminded an audience of senior South Korean officials and foreign ambassadors tonight. The North, he said, "has the capability to devastate Seoul and neighboring areas through conventional forces alone."
The remark reflected what is viewed as the central reason why the United States shrinks from attacking the North Korean nuclear complex at Yongbyon, site of the nuclear reactor. Intelligence officials believe North Korean artillery, most of it at least a generation old, could in a day pour thousands of shells on the Seoul metropolitan area, including the surrounding province and the port city of Inchon, where half of the South's 48 million people live.
Mr. Hubbard sought, however, to temper the sense of crisis generated by North Korea as well as comments from Washington by pledging "the support and cooperation of the United States" for efforts of President-elect Roh Moo Hyun to seek "dialogue with Pyongyang within the framework of a broad international effort."
The reference to an international effort reflected American insistence on including other countries in any negotiations with North Korea, which has been equally adamant in stating that it wants negotiations only with the United States.
While American officials seemed to think that the North had raised the stakes in the confrontation by saying that it had restarted its reactor, South Koreans did not seem nearly so concerned.
Mr. Roh, addressing economic officials and foreign business leaders at the end of a two-hour panel discussion on South Korea's potential as Asia's leading financial center, drew applause as he remarked, "Please don't worry about investing in Korea."
He was, he said, "going to assure peace on this Peninsula" of his basic commitment and was going "to prevent war on this peninsula."
At the foreign ministry, a senior official scoffed at the latest commentary from Pyongyang, calling it "a repetition of their usual rhetoric." As for Mr. Rumsfeld's remark referring to North Korea's leadership as "a terrorist regime," the official said he was commenting "only in general terms."
Officials in both South Korea and the United States, however, have derided North Korea's claim that it was operating its reactor at Yongbyon "for the production of electricity," observing that the reactor was not capable of generating more than minimal amounts of electrical power.
American intelligence analysts are still greatly puzzled by satellite imagery that has shown trucks covered with tarpaulin moving in and out of the reactor site.
One suspicion is that the trucks are picking up the 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods that North Korean technicians removed from a cooling pond after withdrawing from the nuclear nonproliferation treaty in December and expelling inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency on New Year's Eve. The next step would be to extract plutonium, from which technicians could then produce nuclear warheads.
American officials here and in Washington said that North Korea, at every stage of stepping up the crisis, has further cut itself off from the rest of the world.
"We are not trying to isolate North Korea," Mr. Hubbard said tonight. Rather, he said, in another plea for a multilateral solution, "North Korea's leader is doing that himself, by pursuing dangerous weapons programs and by refusing to engage the international community on the subject."
Mr. Hubbard pointedly avoided mentioning the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, by name. Both President Kim Dae Jung, author of the South's so-called sunshine policy of reconciliation with the North, and President-elect Roh, who has vowed to continue the policy, refer to him as "Chairman Kim," a reference to his post as head of North Korea's national defense commission.
<small>[ February 06, 2003, 04:06 PM: Message edited by: Bobak ]</small>
h,well,just another two cents added to the grand total........
