We already heard similar remarks.

“While the DPRK keeps nuclear weapons, it will act in a responsible manner as regards their management and use and nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.” — Pak Kil Yon, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK, at the plenary session of the 64th UN General Assembly on September 28.

General Debate of the 64th Session (2009) by Democratic People’s Republic of Korea H.E. Mr. Pak Kil Yon, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs

Full text (PDF): English

Video (Real Player): English / Original Language [14 min] (As delivered)

One idea that apparently won’t work is South Korean President Lee Myung-bak’s suggestion of a “Grand Bargain” with the North to resolve all outstanding issues, which the North Koreans rejected recently through their public statement Web site.

Although the survey was conducted on behalf of the National Unification Advisory Council that has been kept by the south Korean government whose current head is an anti-north Korean die-hard, its reported result shows a glimpse of truth with regard to Korean mind as follows:

- South Koreans mostly don’t expect that north Korea will give up its nuclear deterrent.

- South Koreans are interested in national reunification.

Anybody can expect that south Koreans will surely taunt north Korea if the country gives up its nuclear deterrent in vain.

“They, soldier-builders, entered into construction sites before taking care of their housing sites. Singing the song ‘Where Are You, Dear General,’ they continued do-or-die battles night and day.”

BY PENG KUANG, China Daily

Through the report, we can conclude that although the US has undergone a historic presidential election and a series of world-shaking events after 9/11, its strategic objective and modes of conduct have not changed, but continue to be enhancement of its global hegemony and prevention of any new emerging power. …

It is strange that the world’s largest nuclear power, the US, is said to have now become the country most vulnerable to a nuclear threat. Shortly after he headed to the White House, President Obama outlined his vision of a nuclear-free world, appealing for worldwide nuclear disarmament. …

The report reflects a kind of typical Cold War and power politics mentality, which not only runs counter to modern international political reality and hinders goodwill for cooperation among countries in the current crisis-torn world, but is also out of line with the US long-term national interests. People who always assume others to be enemies may end up in isolation. The US would not like to see its self-fulfilling prophecy come true someday.

Source: China Daily – September 24, 2009

New York, September 28 (Yonhap) — A senior North Korean diplomat warned Monday that his country will beef up its nuclear arsenal unless the United States changes its policy of “confrontation” towards Pyongyang but said it will also respond to dialogue.

“The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula depends on whether or not the U.S. changes its policy towards Korea,” North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Pak Kil-yon said in a speech at the U.N. General Assembly.

The envoy also said his government will “react to dialogue with dialogue.”

“If the U.S. comes to dialogue with ’sanctions’, we will also participate in dialogue with bolstered nuclear deterrence,” Pak, former ambassador to the U.N., said in the speech. “In order to realize the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. administration must discard its old concept of confrontation and show the ‘change’ that it recently stated on several occasions, in practice.”

He reaffirmed that the communist state, aiming for a nuclear-free peninsula, is willing to replace the ceasefire that effectively ended the 1950-53 Korean War with a permanent peace agreement and sign a nonaggression treaty with Washington.

The speech was mostly a repeat of the North’s stated stance and a renewed call for bilateral dialogue with the U.S. to discuss the mentioned issues.

The U.S. has said it was open to direct talks with the North, but only to persuade it to return to the six-nation denuclearization forum also involving South Korea, China, Russia and Japan.

U.S. officials, however, have not set a date or venue, and have not detailed the characteristics of such a one-on-one meeting. They stress that the Obama administration will keep pushing for the implementation of the U.N. sanctions on the North for its nuclear test in May, even if the two sides are engaged in bilateral talks.

“I think one of the lessons that the United States has learned in this process is a certain degree of patience pays off,” Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs told reporters in Washington. “I think we’re in the process now of planning our next steps in terms of diplomacy in Northeast Asia.”

He was referring to the ongoing tour of Asia by Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg. He was to arrive in Seoul on Tuesday night (local time) from Beijing for discussions on how to deal with North Korea.

Steinberg is scheduled to have a breakfast meeting with Kim Sung-hwan, senior secretary to President Lee Myung-bak for security and foreign affairs, and Seoul’s top nuclear envoy Wi Sung-lac on Wednesday, followed by a meeting with Vice Foreign Minister Kwon Jong-rak. He will then fly to Tokyo, the last leg of his five-nation trip which also took him to Vietnam and Malaysia.

China, the host of the six-party talks, will be also sending Premier Wen Jiabao to Pyongyang next week, a trip closely watched as an opportunity to glean North Korea’s intentions.

Diplomatic sources in Beijing said the North’s leader Kim Jong-il may make an important proposal on the disarmament talks in his meeting with Wen.

Source: Yonhap News – 2009/09/29 11:32 KST

Bill Clinton says Kim Jong-il is healthy, in command
BY HWANG DOO HYONG

Washington — North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is healthier than many people thought and clearly in command of state affairs, former U.S. President Bill Clinton has said.

In the first description of the health of Kim Jong-il since his three-hour meeting with the reclusive North Korean leader early last month, Clinton said in an interview with CNN’s Larry King Live Monday, “I found him alert, in better health than most people thought, and clearly in command of the situation and clearly interested in whether there was some positive outcomes, more positive than the ones that are generated by their policies today.”

Clinton met with Kim Jong-il for more than three hours to win the release of two American journalists who were detained in Pyongyang for months for illegal entry on a reporting tour, as well as to discuss other issues of mutual concern, including the North’s nuclear weapons ambitions.

Clinton’s Pyongyang trip appears to have terminated suspicions over the health of the reclusive leader amid reports he had begun the process to cede power to his third and youngest son, Jong-un, after apparently suffering a stroke in the summer of last year.

Kim’s health failure has been often cited for the North’s provocations early this year, including its second nuclear test and a barrage of missile and rocket tests, only to invite international sanctions.

A possible regime collapse has since been a topic of discussion.

In another interview with NBC’s “Today” show Tuesday, Clinton said Kim Jong-il released the journalists to help enhance bilateral ties after the North’s earlier provocations, probably related to his failing health and an ensuing succession scenario.

“It’s obvious that the leader, Kim Jong-il, having gone through a period where they were dealing with a succession crisis and questions about his health, had reached the point where he thought he knew that these young women — even though they have admitted they crossed very briefly into a very tiny portion of North Korea on the Chinese border — had no business going to prison for 12 years and that there was way more down side than up side there,” he said.

U.S. President Barack Obama said Sunday, “I think President Clinton’s assessment was that (Kim Jong-il is) pretty healthy and in control. There’s no doubt that this is somebody who, you know, I think for a while people thought was slipping away. He’s reasserted himself. He was more concerned about succession when he was sick, maybe less so now that he’s well.”

Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, however, was still cautious Monday, when he stressed the need for international cooperation in coping with possible contingencies.

“We’ve agreed privately among several of states that we need very close coordination and dialogue about developments inside North Korea,” Campbell said. “It’s an uncertain time. We appear to be witnessing some issues associated with future transition, uncertain health of Kim Jong-il. So, quiet dialogue and discussion about developments there is essential.”

Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, said in July that the U.S. was “prepared to execute a wide range of options” to cope with any contingency in North Korea in the event of the death of the ailing leader.

A U.S. government team is also examining several scenarios, including “regime collapse in North Korea,” for inclusion in the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review, the first to be released under the Obama administration, according to a report of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The U.S. has also reached out to China, but the Beijing government refused to discuss the possibility of a regime change or collapse in the North, apparently to avoid provoking its closest communist ally.

Source: Yonhap News – September 22, 2009

Why I value them at “silly” and “vain” is that none has stopped the north Korean nuclearization. They rather precipitated it under their gaudy splendors. It is a paradoxical fruit of the Cold War policy anachronistically applied to north Korea in the post-Cold War era. Strange as it may sound, the US has treated the DPRK as super power like the USSR.

Changing attitude of the US results from the north Korean nuclear test. It is CIA Director Leon Panetta that confirmed the point.

What we are seeing is that the north Korean nuclearization will bring about peace accord between north Korea and the US ironically. It has become a powerful means of canceling the supremacy of the US.

Although international situation grows acute, the political community of south Korea does not sense it at all. This is the problem.

Source: Plus Korea (ko) – September 22, 2009

The U.S. and North Korea “are discussing the ability to try to talk with one another,” Panetta said. “We’re in a honeymoon situation right now.” He credited former President Bill Clinton’s visit to the Stalinist state last month with opening up dialogue.

When did they wed? Did they wed in secret?

Source: CIA Adding Bases in Afghanistan as Taliban Gains, Panetta Says Bloomberg – September 19, 2009

North Korea are set to kick-off their preparations for the 2010 World Cup by taking on French club Nantes…

Source: Goal.com – September 19, 2009

Alexander Zhebin, head of the Korean Studies Department at the Institute of the Far East, Russian Academy of Sciences

QUESTION: At today’s meeting, Kim Jong Il told a special representative of Chinese President Hu Jintao that he is ready to resolve the issue of his country’s national nuclear program through negotiation, perhaps even through multilateral talks. How serious is his intention, and what does it mean?

ANSWER: Obviously, his statement about the possibility of multilateral talks is worthy of attention. After the UN Security Council’s recent denunciation of North Korea’s attempt to launch an artificial satellite and the country’s subsequent second nuclear test, Pyongyang rejected an opportunity to resume the six-party talks. In effect, North Korea began insisting on bilateral talks exclusively with the United States on the nuclear issue, as well as on other security issues on the Korean peninsula. Some other parties, for instance, South Korea and China, may join them. This four-party format was tried in the late 1990s.

Japan is actually obstructing the talks, to the obvious disappointment of North Korea. I believe the Japanese may be dismissed from the negotiations team for this reason. North Korea has publicly suggested this more than once.

During this year’s Security Council discussion of the nuclear missile issue on the Korean peninsula, Russia largely shared the American and Japanese position, which upset Pyongyang. Russia may also be excluded from the talks, as was the case in the mid 1990s, when Russia generally supported Western policies towards North Korea, and Pyongyang considered Russian participation useless. However, Russia still hopes to join the discussion.

In any event, Kim Jong Il’s statement about resuming international talks does not necessarily imply resuming the six-party talks.

QUESTION: But do you think his statement is encouraging?

ANSWER: Without a doubt. First, his statement means that North Korea has not renounced the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, or the previously declared ultimate goal of the Korean negotiating process. Second, it shows that North Korea is willing to be flexible in determining the format of these talks – they could be bilateral or multilateral. In principle, this opens up the opportunity of resuming the six-party talks, but, of course, under certain circumstances.

Source: RIA Novosti – September 18, 2009

MOSCOW, September 18 (RIA Novosti) – Six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program may be resumed but with only four parties, excluding Russia and Japan, a leading Russian expert on Korea told RIA Novosti on Friday.

Earlier on Friday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il met with a special Chinese presidential envoy to discuss bilateral and international issues “in a cordial atmosphere,” South Korea’s Yonhap agency quoted Pyongyang’s Korean Central Broadcasting Station as saying.

“North Korea has virtually insisted on two-party dialogue with the U.S. to solve the nuclear issue, among other security issues on the Korean Peninsula…and someone else could also join [the talks], like South Korea or China,” Alexander Zhebin, the head of the Center for Korean Studies at the Far East Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said.

Zhebin said since Japan has taken a boycotting position in the talks, it “would be excluded from the team” as Japan has “disappointed the North Koreans.”

China is one of the countries – along with Russia, Japan, South Korea and the United States – trying to persuade Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program through six-party talks.

“During discussions at the UN Security Council earlier this year on the nuclear missile issue… Russia showed its solidarity with the U.S. and Japan’s position, which clearly disappointed Pyongyang,” Zhebin said.

He said a similar situation had occurred in the 1990s when Russia followed the West’s position in regard to relations with North Korea, resulting in the North considering Russia’s participation in multi-party talks at the time to be useless. He added: “Russia may be excluded from participating in the talks.”

Ties between North Korea and its main ally China have been strained since the North’s nuclear test blast in May this year, and ensuing missile tests.

Beijing has recently been pressing the North to return to the negotiating table.

According to Zhebin, Pyongyang is making a positive move by showing some flexibility in the format of possible talks and is willing to hold bilateral dialogue with the U.S. or expand the negotiations to include China and South Korea.

Yonhap news agency said Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is expected to visit the country in early October to mediate envisioned one-on-one talks between North Korea and the United States.

Source: RIA Novosti – September 19, 2009

When asked in a parliament committee meeting whether Wen would be visiting the North early next month, South Korea’s Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said: “I understand that’s the case.”

Source: Reuters September 17, 2009

Pyongyang, September 16 (KCNA) — A ceremony for the completion of the first-phase construction of Pyongyang University of Science and Technology was held Wednesday.

Present there were Jon Kuk Man, vice-minister of Education, officials concerned and members of a delegation led by Chin Kyung Kim, founding-president of the university.

Speeches were made there.

After a certificate on nominating the co-managerial president of the university was conveyed to the founding-president, the participants looked round the building of the university completed as the first-phase construction.

Source: KCNA – September 16, 2009

Today, 2.5 kilograms of enriched uranium would mean a nuclear weapon whose destructive power is equivalent to 1 kiloton of TNT.

It is said that “laser uranium enrichment process” enables mass production of nuclear weapons.

For example, if you operate 1,000 laser uranium enrichment processing equipments, you can get more than 2,000 nuclear weapons everyday.

Laser uranium enrichment process requires developed optical science.

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