[The Turbanator]

Good God. Will George Bush ever get a break? What next?

[Centurion2000]

The scary thing is that the fuel rods have already moved .... which means that there is unaccountable plutonium bouncing around in NK .... God forbid it gets sold on the black market.

[jigsaw]

AmericanInTokyo, in addition to the news value of your post, you again demostrate the amazing reach and speed of FreeRepublic. Thanks for your post and for keeping us all informed.

[Dog Gone]

It seems that we are in for a wild ride during 2003. Hang tough and good luck to all.

[anobjectivist]

two front war here we go

[AmericanInTokyo]

"Axis of Evil, Pacific Front" - Bump!

[DaGman]

IMHO, N Korea is the main threat to world peace and not Iraq. N Korea needs to be handled and handled now before this gets out of control.

[Cindy]

YAHOO! News - Articles - Topic: "NORTH KOREA"

NORTH KOREA DAILY News Online

NewsMax.com: HOT TOPICS: "NORTH KOREA"

GLOBAL SECURITY.org: YONGBYON [NYONGBYON]

IAEA.org - INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY: Press Releases

[Cindy]

NKDAILY.com - NORTH KOREA DAILY (AP): "NORTH KOREA: MILITARY READY FOR ATTACK" (February 3, 2003)
http://www.nkoreadaily.com/p/8e/ad7311912235.html?id=1186d03

[Zebra]

There are really only two possibilities here. One, that Kim Jong il is insane and has sincere militaristic designs on his neighbors and intends to continue his support of axis nations. Two, that he his using the removal of the rods as an upping of the ante to gain concessions on power plant aid and other payola.

If it is the former, you can bet that US, Japanese, Russian and Chinese intelligence have jointly determined as much. In that case, I would expect a devastating attack that would leave counter-attack capabilties essentially destroyed. North Korea would be jointly occupied.

If it is the latter, my sense is that Kim Jong il has badly overplayed his hand, probably because he cannot distinguish Bush from Clinton (remembering how easy and fun it was to snooker a U.S. President). That is a gross miscalculation. It is one thing to pressure concessions by implication--this allows for face-saving appeasement in certain circumstances. Any concession in the face of ecpressed threats is akin to negotiating with terrorists, which is anathema to US foreign policy and national security. In this instance, I think the build up is more show--W's way of saying "get back in line now."

The smart money is on the latter scenario. My bet is that the build up scares Kim Jong il back into his rabbit hole.

I am a hedger, though. If this clown does not back down at once, I believe that we will see Rumsfeld's two front campaign. And I wil bet the farm that both operations are over in less than six weeks. The only difference is that in the case of a Korean conflict, in light of the proximity of Seoul to the DMZ and the number of U.S. troops on active duty in the South, we are MUCH more likely to use tactical nuclear weapons to overwhelm the enemy.

[realpatriot71]

I'm not up on my "North Korean Politics," but what would happen if we left NK alone? I mean, seriously, why or why not would that be a good/bad idea?

[LaGrone]

Add me to the list of folks who appreciate your thoughtful posts. Thanks again.

[redhead]

Bumping...

[F16Fighter]

AIT -- thanks for the update...

What seems to be the emotional level of alarm or threat for the Japanese people if any, and is there some hue and cry for it's leaders to lean on NK politically, if not militarily?

[Cindy]

LINKS OF INTEREST:

CNN.com: "NORTH KOREA NUCLEAR WORK 'HAS BEGUN'" (012403)

WASHINGTON TIMES.com: "CHINA SHIPS NORTH KOREA INGREDIENT FOR NUCLEAR ARMS" by Bill Gertz (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "North Korean procurement agents succeeded in buying 20 tons of tributyl phosphate, known as TBP, a key chemical used to extract material for nuclear bombs from spent nuclear fuel, said officials familiar with intelligence reports of the transfer.") (121702)

WorldNetDaily.com: "NORTH KOREA: A FUMBLED FRAMEWORK" -Commentary by Hugh Hewitt (011503)

***NEWS4COLORADO.com: "NORTH KOREA CALLS FOR 'HOLY WAR' AGAINST U.S." (January 11, 2003) - Note: url expired.

***WASHINGTON TIMES.com: "IRAQ URGES ARABS TO FOLLOW NORTH KOREA" (010203)

NewsMax.com: "NORTH KOREA NUKES CLINTON LEGACY" by Charles R. Smith (010803)

FrontPageMagazine.com (WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORIAL): "PYONGYANG'S NUCLEAR BLACKMAIL" (010203)

USA TODAY.com (AP): "EX-SERGEANT FACES DEATH PENALTY IN SPYING CASE" (011203)

NewsMax.com: "CLINTON AND CHINESE MISSILES" by Charles R. Smith (January 14, 2003)

***BOOK: "UNRESTRICTED WARFARE: CHINA'S MASTER PLAN TO DESTROY AMERICA" by Col. Qiao Liang, Col. Wang Xiangsui, and Al Santoli

An Interesting Discussion on FREEREPUBLIC.com regarding an AP article via HERALDTRIBUNE.com: "CUPERTINO MAN ARRESTED FOR SELLING MISSILE TECHNOLOGY TO CHINA" (ARTICLE NOTE: The suspect is identified as Qing Chang Jiang aka Frank Jiang.) (January 11, 2003)

WorldNetDaily.com: "U.S. FIRMS HELPED CHINA WITH NUKES? State Accuses Hughes, Boeing of Providing Missile Technology" by Jon Dougherty (010203)

GertzFile.com

SoftWar.net

FREE CONGRESS.org - Notable News Now: "NEGLIGENCE: BILL CLINTON'S REAL LEGACY ON NATIONAL DEFENSE" -Commentary by Paul M. Weyrich (120502)

NewsMax.com: "Clinton Audio Exclusive: Pre-September 11 Bin Laden Strike Wouldn't Have Worked" (August 7, 2002)

stepping back in time....RPC.SENATE.GOV: "Clinton-Approved Iranian Arms Transfers Help Turn Bosnia Into Militant Islamic Base" (011697)

[GOPJ]

Nice post. Thanks.

[Cindy]

FOX NEWS.com (AP): "NORTH KOREAN LEADER CALLS HIS SAILORS 'HUMAN BOMBS' DEFENDING SOCIALISM" (February 4, 2003)
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,77509,00.html

[Guillermo]

Wonder is S Korea is still blaming this whole thing on the USA...

[aruanan]

The funny thing about those two reactors for electrical power built for North Korea thanks to Clinton: there are NO transmission lines.

[Cindy]

An Interesting Discussion on FREEREPUBLIC.com regarding a FOX NEWS.com article: "NORTH KOREA LEADER CALLS HIS SAILORS 'HUMAN BOMBS' DEFENDING SOCIALISM" (February 4, 2003)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/836009/posts

CNS NEWS.com: "EXPERTS WARN OF POTENTIAL BOMB BUILDUP IN NORTH KOREA" by Patrick Goodenough (February 4, 2003)
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=\ForeignBureaus\archive\200302\FOR20030204a.html

GOOGLE Search Term: "NORTH KOREA"
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22NORTH+KOREA%22&btnG=Google+Search