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North Korea

chinadave2001

By chinadave2001,
in The Middle Kingdom - 中国

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tonado

tonado

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It must be Californicators.

 

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South Korean president-elect says he would not agree to any U.S. attack on North Korea

 

By Sang-Hun Choe, Associated Press, 2/13/2003 12:48

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) South Korea's president-elect said Thursday that he would not go along with the United States in any attack on North Korea to halt its nuclear program, aides said.

 

The United States has said it does not plan to invade North Korea, but the comment by President-elect Roh Moo-hyun highlighted his willingness to voice potential differences with his country's No. 1 ally.

 

It also raised a possible obstacle if President Bush ever considers a strike on North Korea's nuclear facilities, rather than a full-scale invasion. Bush says he wants a peaceful solution to the standoff, but has also said ''all options are on the table.''

 

Roh, who takes office Feb. 25, said in a meeting with labor leaders that he cherished the alliance with Washington and that some media were exaggerating differences between him and U.S. leaders over the North Korean nuclear issue.

 

''We must honor the alliance with the United States and cooperate and try to coordinate our views,'' Roh was quoted as saying by Chung Sye-kyun, chief policy-maker of Roh's Millennium Democratic Party. ''It is impossible not to have differences and I cannot agree to attacking (North Korea). We can fully cooperate, but not on this one.''

 

Roh's comments came a day after the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, decided to refer the North Korea nuclear issue to the Security Council, setting in motion a process which could lead to sanctions against North Korea.

 

The United States said Thursday that sanctions are not an option for now. The deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Williamson, said the Bush administration wants to pursue a diplomatic solution.

 

North Korea has said it would consider sanctions a ''declaration of war.'' China and Russia underlined on Thursday that they oppose sanctions and want Washington to resolve the standoff through direct talks with Pyongyang something the United States has been reluctant to do.

 

''Just because we agreed that the IAEA will report this to the Security Council does not mean we think the Security Council should be involved right now,'' said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue.

 

''We hope that the North Korea issue can still have a political settlement by means of the two sides talking,'' Zhang said. ''We hope the international community can be more patient.''

 

China, which holds a seat on the agency's board of governors, gave tacit approval to the IAEA decision in voting Wednesday. Russia and Cuba criticized the move, saying it would detract from diplomatic efforts.

 

The nuclear agency's decision was a ''premature and counterproductive move that doesn't help to establish a constructive and trusting dialogue between the interested parties,'' the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday.

 

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said the agency would continue to press for a peaceful solution. He suggested that the Security Council would stop short, for now, of punishing the already impoverished country with sanctions.

 

South Korea also hoped that the Security Council would vigorously pursue a diplomatic solution to the nuclear dispute.

 

''We hope the U.N. Security Council can prevent the situation from deteriorating and can handle the issue in a way that encourages a diplomatic solution,'' said the South Korean Foreign Ministry in a statement.

 

The North Korean media did not comment Thursday but an official attending a U.N. conference in Geneva said the IAEA did not have jurisdiction.

 

''We strongly resent the resolution adopted by the board of IAEA...even though it is not in a position to do so. Therefore, we have nothing to do with it (the IAEA) anymore,'' said So Se Pyong, of the North Korean delegation at the U.N. Conference on Disarmament.

 

While showing no signs of easing the nuclear tensions, North Korea engaged in talks with South Korea in Seoul on Thursday aimed at building cross-border railways and an industrial park in North Korea where South Korea wants to relocate garment, footwear and other labor-intensive plants.

 

Separately, a South Korean Red Cross delegation traveled to North Korea's Diamond Mountain resort Thursday for three days of talks on building a permanent reunion center for family members separated by the Korean War.

 

The joint projects are byproducts of a historic inter-Korean summit in 2000. But exchanges have slowed in recent months because of the nuclear dispute.

 

The standoff began in October, when U.S. officials said North Korea admitted it had a clandestine nuclear program. Washington suspended fuel shipments, and the North retaliated by expelling U.N. nuclear monitors, taking steps to restart frozen nuclear facilities and withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

 

North Korea says it is reactivating its facilities to generate badly needed electricity, but U.S. officials say the equipment could be used to produce atomic bombs.

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tonado

tonado

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Flip-Flop

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Government warns industry about terror threat; acknowledges it may have recieved bad tip

 

By Curt Anderson, Associated Press, 2/14/2003 13:50

WASHINGTON (AP) Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge sought to calm a jittery America on Friday, saying there is no need to panic over the prospect of fresh terrorist attacks.

 

Preparations for a possible attack makes sense, but people do not need ''to start sealing the doors or windows,'' Ridge told reporters at the headquarters of the new Cabinet department. There is no plan to either raise or lower the current government assessment that the level of terrorist threat is high, Ridge said.

 

A week after increasing the nation's terrorist alert status from yellow to ''high risk'' orange, President Bush said the decision was a ''stark reminder of the era that we're in, that we're at war and the war goes on.''

 

Bush discussed the decision in public for the first time while unveiling new plans to unify U.S. intelligence efforts. ''We're doing everything in our power to make sure the homeland is secure,'' the president said at the FBI.

 

While Bush and Ridge stressed that business goes on in the nation's capital, signs of preparation for possible terrorism are everywhere. Members of Congress are being told to have necessary supplies ready in the event of evacuation while the government warned key industries about potential attacks.

 

''Everyone in (the Capitol) has remained calm but cautious,'' said Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Administration Committee. ''There is not a panic situation here.''

 

Even so, lawmakers were told to gather up supplies, sensitive documents, medicine and a laminated list of key phone numbers in case they have to leave quickly. Congressional staffers this week received training in how to operate ''escape hoods'' that protect against chemical and biological substances.

 

The security measures are the latest to follow last week's increase in the terror threat level. The threat is now orange, or high, second from the top on a color-coded scale of five. Red, or severe, means an attack was imminent or under way.

 

Meanwhile, a senior government official said Friday the administration now believes some of the information which led to upgrading the terrorist alert status to the second highest level was likely fabricated.

 

Authorities drew that conclusion based on polygraphs given to terrorist suspects interviewed by the government, said this official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The apparent fabrication was first reported by ABC News.

 

But that information was not the sole basis for the decision to raise the alert status, the official said, adding that the change of the status from code yellow to orange was based on multiple intelligence sources and not a single tip.

 

''No one factor has led to this state of alert,'' White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said, though he declined to confirm that some of the information was false.

 

The official also said federal authorities have identified between 20 and 40 people in the United States that trained in al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan. Of those, ''less than a dozen'' are believed to have had recent contact with al-Qaida operatives overseas, this official said, commenting on a report first broadcast by NBC.

 

Authorities also are keeping tabs on roughly 600 al-Qaida ''sympathizers'' in this country, said the official, who cautioned that there may be many more who are unknown to law enforcement authorities.

 

Eying a jittery public, President Bush planned a speech Friday at FBI headquarters to highlight steps the federal government is taking to increase security, Fleischer said. Bush was making the short trip down Pennsylvania Avenue primarily to talk up the new Terrorist Threat Integration Center.

 

First announced in Bush's State of the Union speech, the center will analyze foreign and domestic intelligence gathered from a wide array of federal agencies and report to CIA Director George Tenet. Bush planned to announce that the FBI's counterterrorism division and the CIA's counterintelligence center will locate together in the new facility, although they will continue to report to their home agencies.

 

Visible anti-terror security measures around Washington included officers carrying rifles in the Capitol complex and the deployment of anti-aircraft missile batteries.

 

A new bulletin from the FBI and the National Infrastructure Protection Center was issued to companies involved in such industries as telecommunications, energy, and banking and finance, as well as operators of water systems and electric utilities, law enforcement agencies and emergency services.

 

Officials believe al-Qaida could target these entities with chemical, biological or radiological attacks. Such an attack, officials say, could prompt terror and mass casualties and disrupt the regional or national economy.

 

For people who might be faced with or respond to an attack, the bulletin recommends reading the Chemical, Biological and Radiological Incident handbook available on the CIA Internet site.

 

The FBI bulletin urges people who come in contact with a suspect substance to ''cover their mouths with a cloth while leaving the area, avoid touching surfaces and wash their hands thoroughly.''

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