N Korea rejects discussion on nukes

[Evanauto]

North Korea on Sunday rejected the U.N. Security Council's plan to discuss the standoff over its suspected nuclear weapons development, calling it "a prelude to war."

South Korea's Unification Ministry also announced that Cabinet-level talks with the communist North that had been due to start Monday were canceled after Pyongyang failed to confirm the meetings.

The 15-nation Security Council is scheduled to discuss North Korea's nuclear program on Wednesday, and Pyongyang has said that any sanctions imposed on it will be tantamount to war.

Seoul had hoped to use this week's talks to try to persuade its communist neighbor to scrap its nuclear ambitions in return for aid and better relations with the outside world.

"North Korea did not respond to our offer last week, and therefore the talks have been automatically canceled," Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Jong-ro said.

North Korea called off two working-level talks with South Korea last month.

For months, North Korea has insisted on direct talks with the United States to negotiate a nonaggression treaty.

Washington has refused, saying a multilateral solution to the crisis was needed. The U.S. administration has been pressing the Security Council to adopt a statement condemning Pyongyang for failing to meet its obligations to prevent the spread of nuclear arms.

The U.N. discussions are "a grave provocation act intended to scuttle all (the North's) effort for dialogue and aggravate the situation on the Korean Peninsula," a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by state-run news agency KCNA.

The Security Council's "handling of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula itself is precisely a prelude to war," the spokesman said.

KCNA also quoted the spokesman as saying that the U.S. invasion of Iraq showed that Washington was not bound by international agreements. A nonaggression treaty with Pyongyang would not necessarily avert war because it might not be honored, he said.

It was not immediately clear if Pyongyang would drop its demand for a nonaggression pact.

North Korea also said Washington is "seriously mistaken" if it thinks that the communist country will accept the U.S. demand to disarm. It said it will ignore any U.N. resolution on the nuclear issue.

For weeks, North Korea has claimed that the United States plans to attack it after Iraq. Washington says it seeks a diplomatic end, but has not ruled out a military solution.

Last year, President Bush said North Korea was part of an "axis of evil" along with Iraq and Iran, and accused it of developing weapons of mass destruction.

South Korea has tried to keep a lid on rising tensions between Washington and Pyongyang.

Also Sunday, South Korean lawmakers said they would work to quickly set up a special parliamentary committee to deal with the North's nuclear issue.

The nuclear standoff began in October, when U.S. officials said North Korea admitted having a secret nuclear program in violation of a 1994 agreement.

The Korean peninsula was divided in 1945. Washington keeps 37,000 U.S. troops in South Korea in a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.

[bumcheekcity]

summarise these, and add your own opinions. theyre really irritating.

incidentally, who do people post long copied bits of text from news sites?

[JMHX]

Korea's not going to submit to anything. End of story. Next time, give your own opinion, too. That's the purpose of debate.

[aviewaskewed]

This one scares me...I've called Bush trigger-happy in the past...North Korea is trigger-happy too. Bush made a bungle in an early press conference about the war in Iraq when he almost said "we're applying for...pressure on North Korea to disarm." What was that Mister Bush? I didn't quite hear...it almost sounded like you were saying you were applying FORCE on North Korea to disarm. Am I the only one that caught that? That scares me, it scares me because the North Koreans may have a point. I've said elsewhere Bush strikes me as the "if they won't play it my way, I'm going to blow them up!" type of guy, and that simply isn't going to work here, Asian countries have different culture (as I am painfully aware in trying to have a relationship with my g/f because she lives in Vietnam and the culture clashes cause flare ups occassionally), there is an overall philosophical view that the individual is not as important as the overall culture, they are willing to have a nasty bitter war to "preserve" their culture as they know it. My opinion, we should do everything within our power to try and get this situation taken care of diplomatically...and if it does come down to war...hope I have enough time to build that fall out shelter in my backyard.

[Jimsween]

At 4/7/03 05:15 PM, JudgeMeHarshX wrote: Korea's not going to submit to anything. End of story. Next time, give your own opinion, too. That's the purpose of debate.

It's odd, evantuo has many qualities that are the same as Spock;

1. He has trouble giving opinions
2. only states facts
3. When he tries to give opinions it seems like he just made them up forcibly "I really dont like this war but i couldnt be happier that it might be over."
4. Has no human emotions... Prove me wrong!

[mysecondstar]

At 4/7/03 11:56 PM, aviewaskewed wrote: This one scares me...I've called Bush trigger-happy in the past...North Korea is trigger-happy too. Bush made a bungle in an early press conference about the war in Iraq when he almost said "we're applying for...pressure on North Korea to disarm." What was that Mister Bush? I didn't quite hear...it almost sounded like you were saying you were applying FORCE on North Korea to disarm. Am I the only one that caught that? That scares me, it scares me because the North Koreans may have a point. I've said elsewhere Bush strikes me as the "if they won't play it my way, I'm going to blow them up!" type of guy, and that simply isn't going to work here, Asian countries have different culture (as I am painfully aware in trying to have a relationship with my g/f because she lives in Vietnam and the culture clashes cause flare ups occassionally), there is an overall philosophical view that the individual is not as important as the overall culture, they are willing to have a nasty bitter war to "preserve" their culture as they know it. My opinion, we should do everything within our power to try and get this situation taken care of diplomatically...and if it does come down to war...hope I have enough time to build that fall out shelter in my backyard.

oh good god help your askewed view, aviewaskewed. regardless of how doofy Dubya is, and how straightfoward he may get, he isn't stupid by any means. diplomacy is the only way to take care of the dilenma in Korea. if shots start firing, you have 20+ million people just 20 miles from the DMZ. let's say Dubya really is as stupid as people make him out to be. his cabinet won't let him do something so poorly thought out.

and don't pretend like you know about asian "culture' because you have a girlfriend who just happens to be one. NK isn't afraid of losing their culture. in fact they destroyed Korean culture. Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il's late father, obliterated historical artifacts and landmarks due to their religious connotations, killed Buddhist monks, wiped out entire villages, all in the name of communism.

i will tell you what Kim Jong Il is afraid of. he is afraid to lose his grasp on his entire country. they all live in fear and awe of him. he is their god. he controls what they do when they do it. and if you deviate off his set course, you will die. do you know why he shuts himself off from the the rest of the world? so his people won't know any better. ignorance is bliss. and if you don't know what you're missing you will feel exactly how your leader tells you to feel.

is the US trigger happy? yes. is NK trigger happy? it has yet to be seen, but it's a scary thought not knowing what a man with a potent arsenal will do.

[Evanauto]

At 4/8/03 12:15 AM, jimsween wrote: It's odd, evantuo has many qualities that are the same as Spock;

1. He has trouble giving opinions
2. only states facts
3. When he tries to give opinions it seems like he just made them up forcibly "I really dont like this war but i couldnt be happier that it might be over."
4. Has no human emotions... Prove me wrong!

Well i guess i cant. i find when i give my opinion, i stick my foot in my mouth and im not real big on tasting feet.

i have human emotions, but it all seems to revolve around my sarcasm and cynasism

[JMHX]

Nothing wrong with remaining cold and emotionless to the world, especially at times like this. I'll just curl up with Mao's Little Red Book and quote the psychotic bastard until this entire situation comes to pass.

[TheShrike]

Kim Jong is playing a power game. He wants to scare the US into leaving him alone.

This isn't going to happen. He is a warmonger and oppressor. Just like Saddam. And Bush...
*ducks from flying objects*

Bush isn't stupid enough to challenge Kim to war. N Korea could actually do some damage, unlike pre-war Iraq, which was pretty much neutered. And even though US intelligence doesn't believe that N Korea has the capabilities for ICBM-type nukes, it remains that they aren't sure if N Korea has nukes or not at this point.

This will be solved diplomatically. And if not... I think this time Bush (or whoever may be president) will wait for UN support.

At least I hope so

[BinLadenmustdie]

China is the key to solving the N.Korea problem. Or at least tempering it for now. China has the most leverage on N. Korea. China just changed leaders and is still in a transition period. The US is aware of this and have been giving China some time before requesting bilateral talks with N. Korea. It will probably be another month or two before China becomes involved.

Kim Jong Il mostly wants a freebie handout from the US and a guarantee of non-aggression. His regime is already starting to crumble and his people are starving. Unfortunately, he's too wigged out to realize that the US doesn't respond favorably to threats. Breaking the proliferation treaty was another poor move by them as well.

[Jimsween]

At 4/8/03 02:42 AM, Evanauto wrote:

Well i guess i cant. i find when i give my opinion, i stick my foot in my mouth and im not real big on tasting feet.

That happened to spock too

i have human emotions, but it all seems to revolve around my sarcasm and cynasism

Once again right on with spock