Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (150637)	8/29/2002 12:45:36 AM
From: Tenchusatsu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1585337

Ted, US Envoy Calls N.Korea World's Top Missile Peddler Personally, I think diplomacy will work much better with North Korea than it will with Iraq. Of course, I might be guilty of a little ethno-centricism here ... story.news.yahoo.com US Envoy Calls N.Korea World's Top Missile Peddler Wed Aug 28,11:23 PM ET By Martin Nesirky SEOUL (Reuters) - The top U.S. arms negotiator branded North Korea ( news - web sites) as the world's foremost peddler of ballistic missile technology on Thursday and said the communist state needed drastic reforms to survive. Reuters Photo In a major policy speech, U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton said President Bush ( news - web sites)'s description of North Korea as part of an "axis of evil" with Iraq and Iran was factually correct rather than a mere rhetorical flourish. Bolton, who is Secretary of State Colin Powell ( news - web sites)'s senior adviser on arms control and international security, gave a detailed account of what he said was North Korea's active program to develop weapons of mass destruction -- chemical, biological and nuclear arms. "The brave forces of our two countries (the United States and South Korea ( news - web sites)) stand ready to defend against an evil regime that is armed to the teeth, including with weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles," he said. "It is a regime that has just a few miles from Seoul the most massive concentration of tubed artillery and rocketry on earth." Bolton sharply criticized North Korea's leadership under Kim Jong-il but nonetheless underscored Washington's readiness to start talks with North Korea and said there were some hopeful signs of potential change. FACTUAL NOT FLOURISH "In addition to its disturbing weapons of mass destruction activities, North Korea also is the world's foremost peddler of ballistic missile-related equipment, components, materials and technical expertise," he said. Bush first used the phrase "axis of evil" in January to describe Iran, Iraq and North Korea, which he said ran programs to develop weapons of mass destruction. "President Bush's use of the term 'axis of evil' to describe Iran, Iraq and North Korea was more than a rhetorical flourish -- it was factually correct," Bolton said in his speech to members of the Korean-American Association. "First, the characteristics of the three countries' leadership are much the same: the leaders feel only they are important, not the people. Indeed, in North Korea, the people can starve as long as the leadership is well fed," he said. "Second, there is a hard connection between these regimes -- an 'axis' along which flow dangerous weapons and dangerous technology," he said, adding there were few signs North Korea was changing its stance on proliferation. He said there were some hopeful signs of potential diplomatic and economic change but it was not clear whether the North's tentative economic steps stemmed from desperation or inspiration. "Without sweeping restructuring to transform itself and its relations with the world, the North's survival is in doubt," he said. SENSITIVE TIME Bolton's remarks, in the South Korean capital, came at a sensitive time for diplomacy on the peninsula and were signaled by press reports from Washington that there were differences in the Bush administration about the tone of his intended speech. As he spoke, across town at another branch of the same hotel chain North and South Korean officials were starting a second day of economic talks that are part of a pattern of diplomatic activity involving the North. There have been high-level talks with Russia and Japan in the past week alone. Washington is watching and weighing these various dialogues warily as it prepares for its own possible talks. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said in Tokyo on Wednesday a U.S. envoy would probably be sent to hold talks with the North Korean government. "We have received a variety of messages from North Korea in recent months and it seems to me that the general thrust is that they would welcome a visit by Assistant Secretary (James) Kelly," Armitage told a news conference. Bolton declined to say when Kelly would visit the North. Asked why he chose to make his comments at such a sensitive time, Bolton paraphrased former U.S. President Gerald Ford, saying: "I think what we are doing today is having a little straight talk among friends."