Free Republic

North Korea: Not the Time for Talks Restarting negotiations after the recent deadly attack on South Korea will be seen as a sign of weakness. By JOHN BOLTON President Obama's North Korea policy has come to an entirely predictable dead end. Having for two years correctly resisted resuming the six party talks on the North's nuclear-weapons program, Mr. Obama is now pressuring South Korea to do just that. This is a significant mistake. It would have been bad enough had Mr. Obama simply picked up where the Bush administration left off in January 2009, but restarting the talks now will...

(LEAD) Bosworth calls for 'serious negotiations' as key strategy to deal with N. Korea By Chang Jae-soon and Lee Haye-ah INCHEON/SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. special envoy on North Korea called for "serious negotiations" Tuesday as a key means of dealing with the communist nation, as talk of resuming six-party nuclear talks with Pyongyang has been gaining pace ahead of a U.S.-China summit. "We are here to consult and coordinate our positions on the way forward in dealing with North Korea," Stephen Bosworth, Washington's special representative for North Korea policy, told reporters after arriving at Incheon International Airport....

/begin my summary N. Korean Newspaper Repeats the Claim of "Successful Nuclear Fusion" with Added Details of Technical Difficulty 2010.05.15 11:51 N. Korea repeated its claims that it successfully achieved nuclear fusion with indigenous technology. In a May 15th article titled 'Nuclear Fusion for Developing Future Energy (source),' N. Korea's (official daily) Rodong Shinmun claimed, "Despite vicious sanction and pressure, we successfully achieved nuclear fusion process for new energy with our own unique way. It is a feat we should be proud of," accompanied by detailed report on the principles of nuclear fusion and its technical difficulty. /end my summary

(2nd LD) N. Korea claims it succeeded in nuclear fusion By Sam Kim and Byun Duk-kun SEOUL, May 12 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Wednesday it succeeded in producing a nuclear fusion reaction, a claim that appeared to be aimed at increasing its bargaining power before the communist state rejoins stalled six-nation talks on its nuclear ambitions. Fusion reaction results in a thermonuclear explosion, such as one generated by a hydrogen bomb, which is far more powerful than a fission atomic device. Experts, however, say practical energy creation from fusion is decades away. "The successful nuclear fusion marks a great...

U.S. 'Won't Seek Talks with N.Korea Until Shipwreck Is Explained' The U.S. will start discussions on the resumption of six-party nuclear talks with North Korea once it is known what caused the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan to sink in the West Sea on March 26, a senior U.S. official said Wednesday. Kurt Campbell, the U.S. assistant secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, made the remarks when he met reporters after a seminar hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. When asked about the resumption of the six-party talks, he said, "Let's find...

North Korea demands end to sanctions at Beijing talks Posted: 11 February 2010 0447 hrs SEOUL: North Korea on Wednesday repeated demands for sanctions to be lifted before it returns to nuclear disarmament talks, resisting appeals from its ally China to resume dialogue, a news report said. Pyongyang's nuclear negotiators were holding a second day of talks in Beijing amid international efforts to kick-start the stalled negotiations, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported from the Chinese capital. North Korea restated its stance that it would not come back to the six-party forum as long as sanctions are in force, Yonhap...

North Korea presses US to accept direct talks Sun Nov 1, 10:36 pm ET SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea pressed the United States to accept its demand for direct talks on the communist regime's nuclear program, saying Monday "we will go our own way" unless Washington agrees. North Korea's Foreign Ministry did not elaborate on its comment, which appeared to be a threat to enlarge its nuclear arsenal. The ministry statement came as North Korea's No. 2 nuclear negotiator, Ri Gun, wrapped up a rare trip to the U.S. where he met with the chief American nuclear negotiator, Sung...

N.Korea's No. 2 Leader Says Nuclear Talks Are Over North Korea's Kim Yong-nam says the six-party nuclear talks are over for good. The reclusive regime's second-highest official told delegates at the Non-Aligned Meeting in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh that there can be no dialogue or negotiations "where the principles of respect for sovereign rights and equality are denied." Kim claimed Pyongyang had no choice but to take "decisive measures" to further strengthen its nuclear deterrence. The six-party nuclear dismantlement talks were suspended late last year and Pyongyang declared this April it was not returning to the talks after...

U.S. to make efforts to revive stalled 6-way talks: White House By Hwang Doo-hyong WASHINGTON, April 15 (Yonhap) -- The United States Wednesday said that it will try to persuade North Korea to come back to six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear programs despite the North's reluctance after a U.N. rebuke over its recent rocket launch. "It was important what the U.N. Security Council did, while at the same time we have to look forward and figure out ways to continue toward the agreement that ends the nuclear program of North Korea," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. The...

N. Korea Doesn't Agree To Written Nuclear Pact Earlier Assurances Contradicted, U.S. Says By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, December 12, 2008; A22 North Korea balked yesterday at agreeing to a written plan for verifying its nuclear claims, handing President Bush a diplomatic defeat and the incoming Obama administration a new diplomatic headache. Bush took a gamble two months ago when he agreed to remove North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, based on spoken assurances from Pyongyang that it had agreed to a verification plan. At the time, there were signs North Korea was...

N Korea happy to stay on terror blacklist September 19, 2008 07:20pm Article from: Agence France-Presse Send this article: Print Email N Kora doesn't care about US terror blacklist Going ahead with atomic reactor rebuild US trying to make "house search" of N Korea territory NORTH Korea said today it no longer wants to be dropped from a US terrorism blacklist and will rebuild its atomic reactor following a deadlock in an international nuclear disarmament deal. A foreign ministry spokesman said work has been under way "since some time ago" to restore the plutonium producing reactor, in response to the...

Washington Greets Deal With N.Korea With Skepticism Some U.S. government officials and congressmen have expressed opposition to a tentative deal reached with North Korea in Singapore last week regarding the North’s overdue declaration of all its nuclear programs and stockpiles. One deputy secretary in the Bush administration says the Singapore deal does not clearly specify Pyongyang's proliferation record and uranium enrichment program, which have hitherto been key sticking points in the matter. Radio Free Asia reports that there was some discontent for congressmen when U.S. chief nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill briefed the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs on the...

No breakthrough in North Korea talks, U.S. says 39 minutes ago The United States and North Korea have made no breakthrough toward a final resolution for Pyongyang's declaration of its nuclear program, U.S. Secretary of State Christopher Hill said on Wednesday. Six-nation talks aimed at curbing North Korea's nuclear ambitions have been held up pending a full accounting of North Korea's nuclear activities, a declaration due at the end of last year. Negotiators to the six-party talks met Chinese foreign ministry officials in Beijing on Wednesday. Hill said he had "good discussions" with his Chinese, Japanese and South Korean counterparts,...

<p>Once and for all: Can we please stop pretending that Kim Jong Il is negotiating with us in good faith? The only surprise about North Korea's latest missed deadline--and broken promise--in the ongoing "six-party talks" is Washington's seemingly unending tolerance for this diplomatic masquerade.</p>

U.S. to set 3 more tasks for N. Korea / New hurdles for delisting as terror sponsor Takashi Sakamoto / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent WASHINGTON--The U.S. government has decided to impose three new conditions for removing North Korea from Washington's list of state sponsors of terrorism, sources close to the six-party talks said Friday. Pyongyang must reveal the amount of plutonium it has extracted; the reality of its uranium enrichment program; and the alleged transfer of nuclear technology and materials to other countries such as Syria, the sources said. These points should be made clear when North Korea completes its declaration...

BEIJING, China (AP) -- Arms negotiators failed to agree on a deadline for North Korea to disable its nuclear facilities, the United States said Thursday, casting doubt on when Pyongyang will proceed with its promised disarmament after shuttering its sole operating reactor. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill entered the six-nation talks this week saying he hoped to get a commitment from the North to declare its nuclear programs and disable them by year's end -- rendering the communist nation unable to easily make more bombs. But on the eve of the talks' end Friday, he said the sides had...

BDA: Hill?s Tactical Miscalculation By Tong Kim It is now clear what the confusion was all about in Beijing last week, concerning the technicalities involved in transferring the freed North Korean funds of $25 million from the Banco Delta Asia (BDA) in Macau to an account held by North Korea in the Bank of China (BOC) in Beijing, or transferring them through BOC to a bank account in a third country. No party in the talks seemed to have expected the money transfer issue would hold up the serious talks of nuclear dismantlement. No diplomat at the talks seemed to...

Negroponte to shore up N Korea deal By Guy Dinmore in Washington Published: February 21 2007 02:00 | Last updated: February 21 2007 02:00 John Negroponte's first mission as US deputy secretary of state is expected to take him to Asia next week to shore up last week's breakthrough deal with North Korea, under which Pyongyang is to close its nuclear bomb-making facilities in return for aid and peace talks. Mr Negroponte, the former national director of intelligence who took up his new post only last week, would visit China, South Korea and Japan, officials said. One senior official said...

/begin my translation N. Korea: No Successor to N. Korea's Deputy Ambassador to UN Implies the rejection of 6-party talks, Counsel Kim Myong-gil to take over his job Han Sung-ryol, N. Korea's Deputy Ambassador to UN N. Korea won't send the successor to Han Sung-ryol, its Deputy UN Ambassador to UN, who served as a liaison to U.S. government, according to Oct. 7 report of Manichi Shimbun of Japan, quoting sources on N. Korea-U.S. relations. It said that Kim Myong-gil, who is known as Han's successor and used to be senior research staff at Arms Control and Peace Institute (under...

‘Hill Said U.S., N.Korea Ties Depend on Human Rights’ Washington’s chief negotiator in six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear program, Christopher Hill, reportedly said the Stalinist country must discuss its human rights record, plans to develop biochemical weapons, support for terrorism and other illegitimate activities before the U.S. is ready to normalize ties. Reports on Sunday said Hill made the remark in a closed-door address right after signing a statement of principles that ended the fourth round of the talks on Sept. 19. He said other parties in the talks must take a clear stance in the next round slated...