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North Korea: Pyongyang Says Talks Will Begin Soon North Korea said today that it will soon begin negotiations in Beijing with five other nations in an attempt to end the nuclear standoff on the Korean Peninsula (see GSN, Aug. 1). “Six-party talks for a solution to the nuclear issue between the D.P.R.K. and the U.S. will be held in Beijing soon thanks to the former’s initiative and peaceful efforts,” said a spokesman from the North Korean Foreign Ministry. “As the multilateral talks are slated to take place as called for by the U.S. side so far, the forthcoming talks will clearly show the world community whether the U.S. has a true willingness to make a switchover in its policy toward the D.P.R.K. or not,” the spokesman added. A South Korean official said the talks would probably begin this month rather than September, Reuters reported (Reuters/Washington Post, Aug. 4). North Korea agreed to the talks after Washington said it was willing to meet directly with diplomats from Pyongyang within the multilateral format. North Korean officials have long demanded direct talks with the United States. “Some time ago, the U.S. informed the D.P.R.K. through a third party that the D.P.R.K.-U.S. bilateral talks may be held within the framework of multilateral talks,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman said. U.S. President George W. Bush said the United States will not enter into a “bilateral agreement” with North Korea. “There are now five nations and North Korea sitting at a table,” Bush said. “The discussions will be all aimed at convincing (North Korean leader) Mr. Kim Jong Il to change his attitude about nuclear weaponry,” he added (Pan/Kessler, Washington Post, Aug. 2). North Korea, however, said it would not negotiate with U.S. Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton. During a recent speech in South Korea, Bolton called North Korea’s Kim a “tyrannical dictator.” “Such human scum and bloodsucker is not entitled to take part in the talks,” said the North Korean Foreign Ministry (Soo-jeong Lee, Associated Press/Chicago Tribune, Aug. 4). The Foreign Ministry added that due to Bolton’s “political vulgarity and psychopathological condition,” North Korea has “decided not to consider him as an official of the U.S. administration any longer, nor to deal with him” (Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, Aug. 4). Regardless of who attends the summit on behalf of the United States, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Washington will not trade aid for security. “We’re not doing nonaggression pacts … we, as a practice, don’t do that. But there are ways to talk about security, and there are ways to talk about intent,” he said (Agence France-Presse, Aug. 4). Washington, Tokyo Consider Inspection Teams Meanwhile, the United States and Japan are considering whether to form inspection teams — separate from the International Atomic Energy Agency — to investigate North Korean nuclear facilities. The potential inspection teams could be used if an agreement is reached to end the nuclear standoff and would include experts from the United States, Japan, China, South Korea and Russia. Although they would be indepentdent, the teams would would cooperate with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Agence France-Presse reported (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Aug. 3). Plan for War, Woolsey Says The U.S. public’s rejection of war on the Korean Peninsula has undermined U.S. officials trying to influence China to intercede with North Korea, according to former CIA chief James Woolsey and retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney. In a Wall Street Journal commentary, the two said that China is the only nation with any leverage over North Korea, and that improving U.S. readiness to attack North Korea would signal China that the Washington would act if Beijing does not. As for military planning, the two said the United States cannot limit military action to surgical strikes on nuclear facilities. “We must be prepared to win a war, not execute a strike,” the two wrote. Woolsey and McInerney advocated overwhelming air power and improved air defenses. “The U.S. should begin planning immediately to deploy the Patriot tactical ballistic missile defense system plus Aegis ships to South Korea and Japan, and also to reinforce our tactical air forces by moving in several air wings and aircraft carrier battle groups, together with the all-important surveillance aircraft and drones,” they wrote. A U.S. air attack would be overwhelmingly successful, they added. “North Korea’s geriatric air defenses — both fighter aircraft and missiles — would not last long. As the Iraqis understood when facing our air power, if you fly, you die,” according to the commentary. The two officials estimated that North Korea could be defeated in 30 to 60 days (Woolsey/McInerney, Wall Street Journal, Aug. 4).
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