North Korea:  U.S. Diplomat Plays Down Hopes for Progress in Talks

The U.S. ambassador to South Korea said Tuesday that he does not expect the first round of six-nation talks on the Korean nuclear crisis to yield significant results (see GSN, Aug. 20).

“I think we’ve hit upon a good formula for talks.  Obviously, we don’t enter into talks without some degree of hope or optimism that they will succeed,” Thomas Hubbard said.  “But I don’t think we can expect early, quick results,” he added.

Choi Young-jin, chancellor of the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security in South Korea, said the talks could take years “to deal with the whole spectrum of questions” (William Cole, Honolulu Advertiser, Aug. 20).

Japan, a participant in the negotiations, indicated it wants to include the issue of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s.

“We are talking about comprehensive resolutions,” said the top Japanese negotiator, Mitoji Yabunaka, noting that Japan would focus on nuclear weapons, missile development and the kidnappings.  “It is our policy,” he added (Yuri Kageyama, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Aug. 20).

Russia, meanwhile, is conducting military exercises to test its response to a war on the Korean Peninsula, Reuters reported.

One section of the exercises involves the discovery of a ship carrying a nuclear weapon, according to Alexander Golts, a Russian analyst (Richard Balmforth, Reuters/Washington Times, Aug. 21).

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United States:  University of California Pays $930,000 for Firings

The University of California has paid a whistleblower at Los Alamos National Laboratory $930,000 to settle claims that the laboratory fired him for uncovering extensive fraud and security violations, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Feb. 4).

Glenn Walp and Steve Doran were hired to investigate missing equipment and questionable practices at Los Alamos, but they were fired in November, shortly before they were going to implicate a number of laboratory officials.  In January, the university offered consulting jobs to both men.

“The university is glad to put this settlement matter that occurred under former labor management behind us, and we continue to ensure that strong business practices are in place at the laboratory,” said Chris Harrington, a spokesman for the university.  “We continue to focus on the mission of the lab and the work the laboratory is doing,” he added.

Walp was awarded $900,000 in compensation and $30,000 in missed pay.

“They’re trying to make it look now like it’s not a big thing, it’s just a few people, we’ve got it all under control.  It’s fluff.  It’s just fluff,” Walp said (Robert Gehrke, Associated Press/New Orleans Times-Picayune, Aug. 21).

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Iran:  Tehran Wants Technology in Exchange for Additional Protocol

Iranian officials want other countries to share civilian nuclear technology if Tehran agrees to sign the Additional Protocol to its nuclear safeguards agreement, which would allow greater international oversight of Iran’s nuclear activities, the Financial Times reported today (see GSN, Aug. 19).

Iran wants to “add pages” to the proposed protocol that would direct the International Atomic Energy Agency to push other countries to provide nuclear assistance, according to Hossein Afarideh, the head of the Iranian parliament’s energy commission.

Iran is also looking for a clause in the protocol that would prevent inspectors from visiting religious shrines or the homes of top officials.

“Iranians have bad memories of what happened in Iraq,” said an Iranian official.  “There’s a feeling that the Americans would use the protocol to create a crisis, by demanding that the inspectors go to the leader’s house,” the official added (Bozorgmehr/Khalaf, Financial Times, Aug. 20).

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North Korea:  South Korea Says Initial Talks Will Not Solve Standoff

South Korean Foreign Minister Yoon Young-kwan tried to lower expectations today for the results of next week’s six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear crisis (see GSN, Aug. 19).

“It would be hard to resolve the problem through a few rounds of talks, given the nature of nuclear issues,” Yoon said.

North and South Korea are scheduled to meet with diplomats from China, Russia, Japan and the United States for three-day talks starting Aug. 27.

“It is a correct view to say that a long process for settlement is now beginning, rather than being too optimistic or pessimistic about the outcomes of the first round of talks,” according to Yoon (Agence France-Presse, Aug. 20).

Pyongyang, meanwhile, said the United States is insisting on new teams — with officials from China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States — to conduct early inspections of North Korean facilities.

“The U.S. demand for an early inspection of the D.P.R.K. nuclear facilities is absolutely unacceptable as it is a blatant interference in its internal affairs and an infringement upon its sovereignty,” said the state-run Korean Central News Agency (Agence France-Presse II, Aug. 20).

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United States I:  Navy Planning to Use Nuclear Submarine in 2004 Exercise

U.S. Navy officials are finalizing plans to use an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine in “Silent Hammer,” an exercise to examine the Trident submarine’s conversion to carry conventional cruise missiles, Jane’s Defense Weekly reported today (see GSN, June 16).

The exercise is slated to take place in mid-2004 off the coast of Southern California, according to Rear Adm. Stephen Johnson, the Navy’s director for undersea technology.

During the event, a submerged submarine will strike targets, send special forces personnel ashore “from a couple of different platforms,” and conduct “pathfinding” for the larger force, Johnson said (Andrew Koch, Jane’s Defense Weekly, Aug. 20).

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United States II:  All Nuclear Weapons Materials Have Been Removed From Rocky Flats

The Rocky Flats site in Colorado is now free of nuclear weapons material, U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced yesterday (see GSN, June 27).  The facility fabricated the plutonium cores of every nuclear weapon now in the U.S. stockpile.

“Rocky Flats helped the United States win the Cold War and it is no longer in the nuclear weapons business,” Abraham said.  “Rocky Flats is on a path to close under budget.  The hard work of all those involved in the Rocky Flats cleanup has helped beat target dates for key milestones and maintained the commitment to the American people of this country to shutdown and cleanup this facility.  This removal of the weapons-usable material is a historic event,” he added.

The Energy Department currently is cleaning the facility.

According to Energy officials, the removal of the nuclear-weapons material was achieved 12 years ahead of schedule.

“This accomplishment is probably the most important milestone of the Rocky Flats Closure Project to date,” said Energy Department Rocky Flats Site Manager Gene Schmitt.  “It also saves close to $2 million in security costs each month that can be applied directly to accomplishing more cleanup work,” he added (Energy Department release, Aug. 19).

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North Korea:  Pyongyang Says Kidnapping Issue Would Disrupt Talks

North Korea said yesterday that Japan could ruin talks aimed at resolving the nuclear crisis by bringing up the issue of kidnapped Japanese citizens (see GSN, Aug. 18).

Japan and North Korea stopped negotiations over renewing diplomatic ties last October after North Korea admitted kidnapping 13 Japanese civilians in the 1970s.  The talks on the Korean Peninsula’s nuclear standoff are scheduled to begin Aug. 27.

A Japanese effort to raise the issue “may create unnecessary complications” and “throw the discussion into confusion and divert its focus,” said the state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun.

During a visit to China yesterday, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said the talks would most likely go forward.

“North Korea is the issue of the day — the issue, really, of the year — in this part of the world.  We are moving in the right direction,” he said (Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Aug. 19).

The United States is not insisting that the talks focus only on nuclear issues, according to State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.

Japanese officials “certainly have had and continue to have U.S. support in terms of dealing with the issue of abductions,” Boucher said.  “Whether it will come up directly in these discussions, I don’t know.  Whether the Japanese might raise it on the side or not, I don’t know.  But at this point I think we have to proceed to the discussions,” he added (State Department transcript, Aug. 19).

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Iran:  Tehran Continues Considering Additional Protocol

Iran is still considering signing the Additional Protocol to its nuclear safeguards agreement, which would allow the International Atomic Energy Agency to conduct more intrusive monitoring of Tehran’s nuclear activities, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 18).

“Any decision will depend on the explanations given by the agency, on the ambiguities that exist (over the Additional Protocol), our responsibilities and those of the international community with regard to Iran,” said Hamid Reza Asefi.

Asefi also played down reports that the IAEA found evidence of uranium enrichment in Iran.  Diplomatic officials had indicated that environmental samples had detected uranium enrichment, but Asefi said judgment should be withheld until the IAEA releases its official report Sept. 8.

“It was not up to the diplomats to speak about such a technical and expert subject without knowing the details.  It is up to the agency to judge and to give its point of view.  We will wait until September,” he said (Agence France-Presse/Jordan Times, Aug. 19).

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China:  New U.S. System Will Search For Nuclear Submarines Near Japan

The U.S. Navy will begin testing a new submarine detection system this fall in the Sea of Japan, and the test will help develop technologies that could detect Chinese nuclear ballistic missile submarines (see GSN, Aug. 18).

The test of the Littoral Airborne Sensor Hyperspectral will ostensibly focus on finding friendly submarines, most likely from Japan, USA Today reported.  The system is designed to detect changes in underwater color patterns and color gradations.  Pentagon officials, however, are focused on Chinese and North Korean submarines as a serious threat, should a conflict erupt.  During the exercise, officials will be looking for those vessels, as well as the Japanese submarines.

“The subs can put special operations teams in place, they can target aircraft carriers, locate other targets, and with the Chinese nuclear (weapon) capability, there are different threat categories altogether,” said William Taylor, a retired Army colonel who was director of national security studies at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and has specialized in studying Korea.

China currently has one strategic missile submarine, which is mostly confined to port, according to USA Today.

The exercise, however, could provoke North Korea, some experts say.

“No matter what the U.S. military says, you are going to get an adverse reaction from the North Koreans,” said Charles Ferguson, who served as a Korea expert at the State Department from 2000 to 2002.  “I think the Pentagon is willing to live with that,” he added (Schwartz/Squitieri, USA Today, Aug. 19).

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Iran:  Tehran Claims Uranium Traces Not From Illicit Activity

Iranian officials have said enriched uranium reportedly found in environmental sampling by U.N. officials is a result of contamination and not illicit enrichment, Reuters reported today (see GSN, July 18).

After publicly denying the first reports of the enriched uranium discovery, Iranian officials have since told the International Atomic Energy Agency that the enriched uranium particles found at the Natanz centrifuge enrichment facility must have already been in equipment when it was imported, according to diplomats.

Iran is suspected of having tested its uranium enrichment centrifuges without notifying the IAEA, but Iranian officials have denied any such activity.

Diplomats said the Iranian explanation was possible, but they want the International Atomic Energy Agency to fully investigate the issue.

“We can’t be satisfied with excuses,” a Western diplomat said.  “We don’t expect the case to be closed at this point.  The pressure must continue on Iran to cooperate with the IAEA,” the diplomat added (Reuters/Jordan Times, Aug. 18).

Iranian officials are beginning initial studies for a third nuclear reactor with a 5,000-megawatt capacity, the Associated Press reported.  Iran and Russia are currently building a reactor at Bushehr, and Iranian leaders recently approved a second, 1,000-megawatt reactor (see GSN, Aug. 14; Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Aug. 14).

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North Korea I:  Pyongyang Says U.S. ‘Hostile Policy’ Prevents Disarmament

North Korea said today that it will not abandon its nuclear weapons program during multinational peace talks later this month unless the United States drops its “hostile policy” toward Pyongyang (see GSN, Aug. 15).

“If the U.S. does not express its will to make a switchover in its policy toward the D.P.R.K. the D.P.R.K. will have no option but to declare that it cannot dismantle its nuclear deterrent force at the talks,” the official state-run media outlet announced (Paul Eckert, Reuters/Boston Globe, Aug. 18).

A senior South Korean diplomat today said that Washington and Pyongyang could hold direct talks during the three-day multinational meetings in Beijing scheduled to begin Aug. 27.

“My understanding is that the United States has not ruled out North Korea-U.S. bilateral contact,” said Wi Sung-lac, director general of the South Korean Foreign Ministry’s North American affairs bureau.  “Nothing has been decided on what form such contact would take,” Wi added (Yonhap News Agency/BBC Monitoring, Aug. 18).

Germany Charges Tube Smugglers

German prosecutors, meanwhile, charged three people Saturday with attempting to smuggle aluminum tubes to North Korea for use in its nuclear weapons program.  The German firm Optronic attempted to ship 214 aluminum tubes through China to a North Korea uranium processing plant.  The tubes were intercepted in Egypt (see GSN, Aug. 15).

The tubes’ purpose was “clearly nuclear,” according to a Western diplomat.

German authorities also charged two exporters in Hamburg with helping to smuggle the shipment, according to Eckhard Maak, a spokesman for the prosecutors (Reuters/Sydney Morning Herald, Aug. 18).

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North Korea II:  China Pushes Diplomacy in Korean Nuclear Standoff

Chinese officials have decided to act with new initiative to help resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis, reflecting their wariness of North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, the Washington Post reported Saturday (see GSN, Aug. 15).

“China is playing a constructive role in helping to bring the nuclear issue of the peninsula on to the track of a peaceful solution,” said Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.  “And we are happy that we seem to enjoy full support of all the international community,” Li added.

Analysts said China feared a potential conflict between the United States and North Korea.

“China realized that if things got out of control, North Korea could go crazy and [U.S.] President [George W.] Bush could go crazy, too,” said Chu Shulong, an expert in international security at Tsinghua University.  “We saw danger on both sides,” Chu added (John Pomfret, Washington Post, Aug. 16).

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak, meanwhile, left for Washington today in part to discuss the Korean crisis (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Aug. 18).

Meanwhile, Chinese General Xu Caihou, director of the Chinese Army’s general political department, left for North Korea today (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Aug. 18).

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Russia:  Russian Nuclear Weapon Research Has Outpaced U.S., Russian Official Says

A senior Russian nuclear official has said that since the 1950s, when Russia tested its first hydrogen bomb, Moscow has maintained a lead over the United States in nuclear weapons technology, including the development of low-yield “bunker-busting” weapons, The Hindu reported today (see GSN, June 20).

“Whereas before 1953 we trailed the U.S. in the sphere of nuclear weapon technology, after 1953 — and to this day — they have been trailing us,” said Viktor Mikhailov, head of research at the Russian Federal Nuclear Center.

Center Director Radyi Ilkayev said that despite funding difficulties, Russia was continuing work on developing new types of nuclear weapons.  Over the past two years, the center has received more government orders and has hired more staff, Ilkayev said.

“The past 15 years have been tough for our nuclear center, but we have never halted weapon programs,” Ilkayev said (Vladimir Radyuhin, The Hindu, Aug. 18).

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North Korea:  Kelly to Head Delegation for Six-Nation Nuclear Talks

Although he has been deemed “arrogant” and “high-handed” by North Korean officials, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly has been tapped to lead the U.S. delegation to talks this month aimed at easing the Korean Peninsula’s nuclear standoff, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, Aug. 14).

Countries involved in the six-nation talks, slated for Aug. 27 to 29 in Beijing, include North Korea, China, Russia, South Korea, Japan and the United States.

“We have been on the same page for a long time; we are all agreed what the goal is,” a U.S. State Department official said.

Kelly met with officials from Japan and South Korea yesterday in Washington to formulate a unified front when dealing with Pyongyang (Agence France-Presse/YahooNews, Aug. 15).

Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said he is concerned that the six-nation talks could fail if North Korea is not guaranteed a nonagression pact from the United States, AFP reported.

“We face a nuclear problem.  There are expectations for a good settlement but it is true that there is a danger,” Li said (Agence France-Presse II/Singapore Straits Times, Aug. 15).

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