North Korea gives up its nukes!

[Mavdog]

Here's something that (I believe) we can all agree is a great accomplishment.

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North Korea Pledges to Drop Nuke Programs By BURT HERMAN, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 42 minutes ago

North Korea agreed Monday to stop building nuclear weapons and allow international inspections in exchange for energy aid, economic cooperation and security assurances, a breakthrough that marked a first step toward disarmament after two years of six-nation talks.

The chief U.S. envoy to the talks praised the development as a "win-win situation" and "good agreement for all of us." But he promptly urged Pyongyang to make good on its promises by ending operations at its main nuclear facility at Yongbyon.

"What is the purpose of operating it at this point?" said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill. "The time to turn it off would be about now."

Despite the deal's potential to help significantly ease friction between the North and the United States after years of false starts and setbacks, Hill remained cautious.

"We have to see what comes in the days and weeks ahead," he said.

President Bush called it a positive step, but he expressed some skepticism about whether North Korea will live up to its promises.

"They have said — in principle — that they will abandon their weapons programs," Bush said. "And what we have said is, `Great. That's a wonderful step forward.' But now we've got to verify whether that happens."

"The question is, over time will all parties adhere to the agreement," Bush said.

The agreement clinched seven days of talks aimed at setting out general principles for the North's disarmament. Envoys agreed to return in early November to begin hashing out details of how that will be done.

Then, the hard work of ensuring compliance will begin, officials attending the talks said.

"Agreeing to a common document does not mean that the solution to our problems has been found," said Japan's chief envoy, Kenichiro Sasae.

Another Japanese official, who spoke on condition he not be named in order to discuss the issue more freely, noted that there was no common understanding among the participants about the nature of North Korea's nuclear program.

The head of the U.N. nuclear nonproliferation agency welcomed North Korea's decision to allow inspections, saying he hoped his experts could take the country at its word as soon as possible.

"The earlier we go back, the better," said Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Hill and other envoys said the timetable for inspections had not yet been set, although they want compliance as soon as possible.

According to a joint statement issued at the talks' conclusion, the North "committed to abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and returning at an early date" to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.

"The six parties unanimously reaffirmed that the goal of the six-party talks is the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner," the statement said.

Responding to Pyongyang's claims that it needs atomic weapons for defense, North Korea and the United States pledged to respect each other's sovereignty and right to peaceful coexistence, and also to take steps to normalize relations.

"The United States affirmed that it has no nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula and has no intention to attack or invade (North Korea) with nuclear or conventional weapons," according to the statement, in assurances echoed by South Korea.

The talks, which began in August 2003, include China, Japan, Russia, the United States and the two Koreas.

The negotiations had been deadlocked over North Korea's demand to keep the right to civilian nuclear programs after it disarms, and the statement acknowledges the North has made such an assertion but doesn't go beyond that.

North Korea had also demanded that it be given a light-water nuclear reactor at the latest talks — a type less easily diverted for weapons use — but Washington had said it and other countries at the talks wouldn't meet that request.

Putting aside the question for now, the statement said: "The other parties expressed their respect and agreed to discuss at an appropriate time the subject of the provision of light-water reactor" to North Korea.

The North will have to build trust by fulfilling all its pledges before that issue would be discussed, said Sasae, who is director of the Asia and Oceania Bureau at Japan's Foreign Ministry.

North Korea has also refused to totally disarm without getting concessions along the way, while Washington has said it wants to see the weapons programs totally dismantled before granting rewards. The statement, however, says the sides agreed to take steps to implement the agreement "in a phased manner in line with the principle of 'commitment for commitment, action for action.'"

The other countries at the talks said they were willing give energy assistance to the North, including a South Korean plan to deliver electricity across the heavily armed border dividing the peninsula.

"This is the most important result since the six-party talks started more than two years ago," said Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, Beijing's envoy.

North Korea was promised two light-water reactors under a 1994 deal with Washington to abandon its nuclear weapons. That agreement fell apart in late 2002 with the outbreak of the latest nuclear crisis, when U.S. officials said North Korea admitted having a secret uranium enrichment program.

The North is believed to have enough radioactive material for about a half-dozen bombs from its publicly acknowledged plutonium program, but hasn't performed any known nuclear tests to prove its capability. In February, the North claimed it had nuclear weapons.

Japan and North Korea also said in the statement they would move to normalize relations regarding "the outstanding issues of concern." The reference appears to allude to Tokyo's concerns over its citizens that the North has admitted abducting.

[kg_veteran]

It is great that such an agreement was reached. Interestingly enough, it came about because of six-party talks, not bilateral negotiations. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[LRB]

It's definitely great news, but we've still got a long ways to go. The really tricky part is verifying that they no longer have nuclear weapons nor the capacity to make them. It's definitely doable, but far from being easy in any sense of the word.

[Mavdog]

that doe not preclude the idea that bilateral talks could have produced a similar outcome.

the key to this success (or opportunity for success) is the agreement between the N. Koreans and the USA to repect the "sovereignty and right to peaceful coexistence, and also to take steps to normalize relations" between them.

[Drbio]

Originally posted by: Mavdog
that doe not preclude the idea that bilateral talks could have produced a similar outcome.

Pure and worthless speculation on your part.

YOUR President came through once again. Another great idea, another job well done.

[Mavdog]

Originally posted by: Drbio

Pure and worthless speculation on your part.

no, not in the least, we will not know what bilateral talks could have produced because there were none.

therefore it is conceivable that bilateral talks could have produced an agreement.

[Drbio]

The fact is we know EXACTLY what Bush's idea produced.....RESULTS. Scoreboard.

Your idea that bilateral talks would have done anything is pure and worthless speculation. There is a more realistic outcome of total gridlock in that case. Total worthless speculation on your part. Period.


YOUR President is doing great things despite your pathetic desire for him to fail.

[kg_veteran]

The reason I took the jab about six-party talks was that Kerry insisted that we needed bilateral talks to get the job done. Apparently, we didn't.

[Drbio]

Again....Bush insisted on 6-party and now the results come flying in and all the libs can do is whine about not getting those results THEIR way.

Bush takes care of another major situation. Scoreboard.


Everyone here and across this Great Land should be thankful for the incredible job that THEIR President, George W. Bush is doing. Sadly, the doofi will not do so, but DUBYA is on the watch and they will be safe despite their ignorance.

[Mavdog]

Originally posted by: Drbio
Your idea that bilateral talks would have done anything is pure and worthless speculation. There is a more realistic outcome of total gridlock in that case. Total worthless speculation on your part. Period. .

gee, what irony, you claim that you KNOW that blateral talks would have failed but it is "pure and worthless speculation" that they might have been successful.

wow, talk about NO credibility.

yuck yuck yuck.

[kg_veteran]

gee, what irony, you claim that you KNOW that blateral talks would have failed but it is "pure and worthless speculation" that they might have been successful.

wow, talk about NO credibility.

yuck yuck yuck.

I hate to get in the middle of one of your lovefests with Doc, but you're wrong. He didn't claim to KNOW that bilateral talks would have failed. He claimed that you were speculating in asserting that they would have worked -- which is true.

[Mavdog]

Originally posted by: kg_veteran

I hate to get in the middle of one of your lovefests with Doc, but you're wrong. He didn't claim to KNOW that bilateral talks would have failed. He claimed that you were speculating in asserting that they would have worked -- which is true.

hmm, what's "There is a more realistic outcome of total gridlock in that case.", ie failure of bilateral talks.

you must have missed that one.....

[kg_veteran]

I didn't miss it, I just recognize the difference between Doc stating his opinion on what would likely have happened vs. Doc stating that he KNOWS bilateral talks would have failed. The former, rather than the latter, is what happened.

If you had accused Doc of speculation, then you would have been likewise correct. But you didn't. You misquoted him.

[Drbio]

Again...mavdog never let facts get in the way of a good spin.

[dude1394]

Wishing on a star "might" have been successful. But dubya WAS successful. As doc so aptly put it...


SCOREBOARD

[FishForLunch]

Just watch the N Korean's come up with some excuse at the last moment and back out or better cheat.

[LRB]

Originally posted by: FishForLunch
Just watch the N Korean's come up with some excuse at the last moment and back out or better cheat.

As long as Bush is President we'll be fine. If Hillary or Kerry or Gore or anyone else of their ilk succeed bush, then we're very likely to have a huge problem. If Rudy is succeeds Dubya as President, I don't think that he'll let them get away with cheating. We need a strong President who won't put up with crap like that. Right now I see the Republicans as the only party that could possibly provide such a President. That's not to say every republican Presidential candidate would fit that bill, but rather I don't see any Democrat Presidential candidates that could fit that bill.

[Drbio]

If a republican President is in place, North Korea will honor the agreement.

If a democrat is in place, they will receive the appeasement they seek and weaponize their stocks.

[kg_veteran]

They're already trying to wiggle:

North Korea Sets Condition on Nuclear Pact

This, I think, will demonstrate why six-party (as opposed to bilateral) talks are so important. North Korea can't be trusted, and only the weight of criticism from all of the nations involved will be enough to keep North Korea honest. Already, Japan, China, South Korea, and the United States are condemning the attempt to renegotiate the deal.

[LRB]

They'll do a heck of a lot more than wiggle if one of our current Democrats gets in office. Heck Kerry would probably offered to with nuclear armed ICBM's if they'd promise to get rid of their weapons program. [img]i/expressions/anim_roller.gif[/img]

[Drbio]

I'm not surprised by this actually. I think the North Koreans came to the table for the benefit of the UN. I fully expect them to wiggle at every opportunity. As Bush said yesterday, the proof is in the action. Bush will not waver one ounce on this and the North Koreans are gravely in error if they think otherwise. Kerry, Hillary etal on the other hand would appease them into a weapons factory.

Thank God yet again for George W. Bush.

[Mavdog]

the "results" are in, and it's not good.

not only did N Korea NOT give up their nukes, now they are testing their intercontinental missle that could reach the US mainland.

let's review...a republican is in office, and the N Koreans have pushed the needle further into the red zone.

"scoreboard"??? yikes.

it is accurate to say that the Korean peninsula is no less dangerous, and is actually more of a flashpoint and more dangerous today, than it was when bush took office.

long and short, the bush outline in dealing with the N Koreans has been fruitless. while the official position of the current administration is to not speak directly to the N Koreans and hope for a regional solution, the N Koreans have made improvements to their arsenal and to their delivery systems.
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7th N. Korean missile intensifies furor
By JOSEPH COLEMAN, Associated Press Writer
3 minutes ago

North Korea test-fired a seventh missile Wednesday, intensifying the furor that began when the reclusive regime defied international protests by launching a long-range missile and at least five shorter-range rockets earlier in the day.

The missiles, all of which apparently fell harmlessly into the Sea of Japan, provoked international condemnation, the convening of an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council and calls in Tokyo for economic sanctions against the impoverished communist regime.

Ambassadors from the 15 nations on the U.N. Security Council met in an emergency meeting to discuss a response. Japan said it was considering calling for sanctions against North Korea in a U.N. resolution, while China's ambassador indicated that Beijing would favor a much weaker council statement.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the council must send a "strong and unanimous signal" to the North that its actions were unacceptable.

North Korea has remained defiant, with one official arguing it had the right to such launches. The tests and the impenitent North Korean attitude raised fears that further firings could follow.

North Korea's state-run media did not mention the tests but a commentator on its Korean Central Broadcasting Station said the country's "military and people are fully prepared to cope with any provocation and challenge by U.S. imperialists."

"Maintenance of peace in our country is entirely made possible by our strong war deterrent," the announcer said, adding that without it, the North would have suffered a "cruel nuclear disaster."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the outrage heard around the world was a message to Pyongyang to "change its behavior."

An official at the South Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed that North Korea had tested a seventh missile that was either short- or medium-range. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of agency rules.

Japan's Kyodo News agency reported that the missile landed six minutes after launch, but did not say where. The chief of Russia's general staff said that Russian tracking systems showed that Pyongyang may have launched up to 10 missiles during the day, the Interfax news agency reported.

U.S. officials said North Korea fired a long-range Taepodong-2 early in the day, but that it failed shortly after takeoff, calling into question the technological capability of North Korea's feared ballistic missile program. Pyongyang last fired a long-range missile in 1998.

The bold firings came under close international scrutiny of the North's missile launch facilities. The North American Aerospace Defense Command monitored the launches as they progressed but soon determined they were not a threat to the United States, a spokesman said.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said after protesting via telephone to North Korea's ambassador that Pyongyang could test more missiles soon despite the international outcry.

"We think they probably do intend to launch more missiles in the next day or two," Downer told reporters, without explaining if the possibility of more tests came up in his talk with ambassador Chon Jae Hong.

South Korea, separated from the North by the world's most heavily armed border, said the test-launches would further deepen its neighbor's international isolation, sour public opinion in the South toward Pyongyang, and hurt efforts to control weapons of mass destruction.

The tests, which came as the United States celebrated the Fourth of July and launched the space shuttle Discovery, appeared timed to draw the most attention from Washington. Some speculated that Pyongyang wanted some of the spotlight that was focused on Iran's nuclear program.

"North Korea wants to get the U.S. to direct bilateral negotiations by using the missile card," said Paik Hak-soon, a North Korea expert at the Seoul-based Sejong Institute. "Timing the launch date on July 4 is an attempt to apply maximum pressure on the U.S. government."

A North Korea Foreign Ministry official told Japanese journalists in Pyongyang that the regime there has an undeniable right to test missiles.

"The missile launch is an issue that is entirely within our sovereignty. No one has the right to dispute it," Ri Pyong Dok, a researcher on Japanese affairs at the North's Foreign Ministry, said on footage aired by Japanese television network TBS. "On the missile launch, we are not bound by any agreement."

Japanese broadcaster NHK reported that an unidentified Foreign Ministry official in Pyongyang acknowledged the tests, but Ri told reporters that diplomats such as himself are unaware of what the military is doing.

In Russia, Interfax quoted the army chief of staff, Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky as saying the number of missiles fired by North Korea could be higher than the six cited by the U.S., Japan and South Korea.

"According to various data, 10 missiles were launched. Some say that these were missiles of various classes; however, some claim that all missiles were intercontinental," Baluyevsky was quoted as saying in the Russian Far East city of Chita.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso warned of a "very high possibility" the U.N. would level economic sanctions against North Korea. Japan also protested the launches officially through the Chinese capital, and banned a North Korean ferry from Japanese ports for six months.

He also said North Korea may face harsher sanctions from Tokyo depending on Pyongyang's actions. Japan has already prohibited North Korean officials from traveling to the country and has barred a trade boat from entering Japanese waters.

The tests followed weeks of mounting speculation that North Korea would launch a Taepodong-2. U.S. intelligence reports indicated Pyongyang was taking steps to prepare for a launch, but the timing was unknown. North Korea refused to confirm the preparations, but insisted it had the right to such a test.

The test was likely to cast a pall over efforts to lure North Korea back to stalled six-party talks on its nuclear weapons program. Pyongyang has boycotted the negotiations to protest a U.S. crackdown on alleged North Korean counterfeiting and other financial crimes. A North Korean official said Wednesday his country would stand by that stance.

Diplomatic moves over North Korea gathered pace. U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill was to leave Washington for the region later Wednesday, and the launches coincided with a trip by South Korea's security chief to Washington for consultations. China's vice-premier was also scheduled to go to Pyongyang next week.

China, North Korea's neighbor and most important ally, urged all parties to stay calm.

"We are seriously concerned with the situation which has already happened," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in a statement on the ministry's Web site.

"We hope that all the relevant sides ... do more things which are conducive to peace and stability ... and not take any actions to escalate and complicate the situation," the statement said.

Two State Department officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the long-range missile was the Taepodong-2, North Korea's most advanced missile with a range of up to 9,320 miles. Some experts believe it could reach the United States with a light payload.

North Korea's missile program is based on Scud technology provided by the former Soviet Union or Egypt, according to American and South Korean officials. North Korea started its Rodong-1 missile project in the late 1980s and test-fired the missile for the first time in 1993.

North Korea had observed a moratorium on long-range missile launches since 1999.

[capitalcity]

I wish Dubya would just give in to nukeuler blackmail like president BJ did.

Mavdog would be happy and we'd all feel safer at night knowing that Kim Jong Il is a man of his word.

[Mavdog]

Originally Posted by capitalcity

I wish Dubya would just give in to nukeuler blackmail like president BJ did.

Mavdog would be happy and we'd all feel safer at night knowing that Kim Jong Il is a man of his word.

cap, in dubya venacular it's "new-clar"...

did clinton "give in to..blackmail" or did clinton attempt (successfully, I might add) to bring the N Koreans to the negotiating table?

let me ask you this, do you "feel safer at night" about the threat of the N Koreans launching a WMD today versus 6 years ago?

clearly the answer is no.

[capitalcity]

Originally Posted by Mavdog

let me ask you this, do you "feel safer at night" about the threat of the N Koreans launching a WMD today versus 6 years ago?

Considering most of the missles launched at the US would land in moonbat territory, I seriously don't care.

[jleefilled]

Oh sheesh, I should have read the DATE on the thread before prematurely posting. Sorry that I don't take the time to read through the thread. These are scary times in the world, indeed. It's not just that North Korea isn't backing down; it's that China is almost supporting them in what they're doing. I'm no political science expert, but I know this much, there are some serious things brewing all over the world.

[nashtymavsfan13]

Good news.

[mavsman55]

Right as I read that, i saw on the news that a 7th missile was launched. Kim Jong Il is a nut. I hope he realizes how easy it would be for us to blow his country to smitherines.

[FishForLunch]

I hope the Japanese finally wake up from their slumber and start a arming themselves into the military they once were. The Samurai must be turning in their graves right now. Then lets see how Kim reacts, he will go crying to his mommy (China). This would occupy China with a strong nation next to it.

[mqywaaah]

What is the current status Re: North Korea and it's Nukems?

[dude1394]

Almost two years later after mavie started this thread.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articl...-NORTH-USA.xml

GENEVA (Reuters) - North Korea agreed in weekend talks with the United States to fully account for and disable its nuclear programs by the end of this year, negotiators said on Sunday.

"We had very good, very substantive talks," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill told reporters. "One thing that we agreed on is that (North Korea) will provide a full declaration of all of their nuclear programs and will disable their nuclear programs by the end of this year, 2007."

North Korea's top nuclear envoy said separately his delegation was pleased with the outcome of the talks, held to hasten the end of Pyongyang's nuclear programme, a target agreed to in principle in 2005 in exchange for diplomatic and economic benefits.

[Big Shot Rob]

FANTASTIC NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Flacolaco]

"Fool me once, shame on you....."