Posted on 02/10/2003 6:22:50 AM PST by Indy Pendance
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- South Korea's No. 2 official said Monday that he believes North Korea does not possess nuclear weapons, contradicting U.S. assertions that the communist nation has one or two atomic bombs.
The comment by Prime Minister Kim Suk-soo reflected differences in how South Korea and its main ally, the United States, view North Korea. Many South Koreans do not think their neighbor's nuclear development is a serious threat, while President Bush has defined the North as part of an "axis of evil" intent on acquiring weapons of mass destruction.
In Tokyo, the top U.S. diplomat warned of a possible North Korean missile test over Japan. North Korea alarmed the region by firing a rocket over Japan and into the Pacific in 1998.
"We hear reports that they may engage in a missile test, perhaps overflying the island of Japan," U.S. Ambassador Howard H. Baker said during a speech at a forum on regional security. He cited unidentified sources, including news reports.
In comments in the South Korean National Assembly, Kim said there was no evidence that North Korea had atomic bombs.
"North Korea is believed to have extracted enough plutonium to make one or two bombs before 1994," Kim said. "Since there has been no confirmation that it actually has produced nuclear weapons, we believe that they do not have any."
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said last week that most intelligence services know the North Koreans have "one or two nuclear weapons" and "they may have enough nuclear material to make an additional six to eight nuclear weapons" by May or June.
North Korea has only said it has the right to develop nuclear weapons.
In Washington on Sunday, Secretary of State Colin Powell said China should take a more active role in urging North Korea to abandon its nuclear activities.
Powell said he believed there eventually would be talks between Washington and Pyongyang. But he said they should occur in a multilateral setting because China, Russia, Japan, South Korea and other countries are also involved.
North Korea wants talks with the United States alone, and South Korea wants the two adversaries to negotiate soon.
"We should not let North Korea dictate the terms under which these conversations take place. I think there will ultimately be conversations, but I think other nations have a role to play," Powell said on "Fox News Sunday."
Powell singled out China, which wants the Korean Peninsula to be free of nuclear weapons, and is a traditional ally of North Korea.
"Half their foreign aid goes to North Korea," Powell said. "Eighty percent of North Korea's wherewithal, with respect to energy and economic activity, comes from China. China has a role to play, and I hope China will play that role."
However, China's ties with North Korea have waned over the years. Also, China likely is mindful that economic pressure on North Korea could send more destitute North Koreans across the border, leading to a humanitarian crisis on Chinese soil.
The U.N. World Food Program said Monday shortfalls in food donations have affected people in eastern North Korea for the first time, and the prospect of more supplies in the immediate future is bleak.
"We're really scraping the bottom of the barrel now," said Gerald Bourke, a spokesman for the WFP's Beijing office, which oversees North Korea. "It's indicative of a deepening crisis."
That means 2.9 million fewer North Koreans will be fed by the WFP than were receiving food for much of last year. North Korea has been dependent on outside aid to help feed its 22 million people.
The crisis over North Korea's nuclear programs began in October when the United States said North Korean officials admitted they had a clandestine nuclear weapons program.
Washington and its allies then suspended oil shipments, and North Korea responded by taking steps to reactivate nuclear facilities frozen under a 1994 energy deal with the United States.
The board of the Vienna, Austria-based U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, will meet Wednesday to review the standoff with North Korea.
Chun Young-woo, director general for international organizations at the South Korean Foreign Ministry, said it was "almost certain" that the board would refer the matter to the U.N. Security Council. The council could consider economic and political sanctions.
While Bush believes the standoff can be resolved peacefully, he said Friday that "all options are on the table," suggesting that Washington could consider military action.
Because they scammed $billions of tax dollars from the failure Clinton, who hid his ugly HUGE head in the sand (his head is literally huge. He must wear a size 50 hat!), they think they can scam Bush.
It ain't gonna happen. Bush is an adult.
Kim is probably going to find out the hard way that he is wrong.
Marxists are anti-American. They put Hillary there to keep our nations enemies informed.
I hope someone is keeping an eye on where those DNC donations are comming from. Watch for groups like BinLadin, Saddam, China, Korea, and Cubas cash. (Feel free to add to the DNC donation list).
They're certainly asking for it.
One nuke here would mean 5 nukes there.
I don't think they're willing to take that chance. America is huge. We'll survive. N Korea is small. They'll be extinct.
Four years ago NEWSMAX reported that Russia was on the verge of a first strike against the US. Ran a series of lead articles on the claim. Worthless piece of crap.
At least they appreciate it.
Heck, in America, we've never gotten one "Thank you for paying all our expences for us" from the social leeches on the left.
Know your enemy!
Omitted from this article was the fact the Kim-Suk conducted his interview via satellite from his underground bunker 500' below the surface.
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