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 : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jlallen who wrote (343173)	1/14/2003 5:28:57 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

N. Korea prepared to exercise 'options' against U.S. URL:http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-01-14-nkorea-options_x.htm SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — China offered Tuesday to host talks between the United States and North Korea in a bid to end their standoff, and the North warned it was running out of patience with Washington, threatening to exercise undefined "options." A vaguely worded statement from Pyongyang did not specify what options it was considering, but suggested the isolated communist nation was prepared to escalate the crisis over its drive to develop nuclear weapons. The White House welcomed China's offer but stopped short of calling the development a breakthrough. Asked whether China's overture was a step toward a solution, spokesman Ari Fleisher said, "That's up to North Korea. We'll find out. We hope so." President Bush said Tuesday that nations in the region should "bind together" and tell the North Koreans "we expect them to disarm — we expect them not to develop nuclear weapons." If the North does so, then Washington would consider new talks about food and energy aid to the impoverished nation. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly left for China after assuring South Korean officials that Washington would stick to diplomacy to seek a peaceful settlement to the crisis. While in Seoul, Kelly held out the prospect of energy assistance to the North if it verifiably gives up its nuclear ambitions. North Korea suffers an acute energy shortage. In a statement Tuesday, however, North Korea accused Washington of being insincere about prospects for dialogue. It insisted it was not moving to reactivate its nuclear facilities in order to wrest concessions out of the West. It also defended its decision last week to withdraw from a global nuclear non-proliferation treaty and said in a second statement Tuesday that there was a limit to its "self control" in the face of what it calls U.S. aggression. If the United States responds to the withdrawal from the treaty "with new sanctions, blockade and pressure offensives, (North Korea) will exercise the second and third corresponding options," a commentary in Rodong Sinmun, North Korea's most prominent state newspaper, said. Possible further next steps for the North would include suspending its moratorium on missile tests — as it has threatened — or go ahead with a test. A more extreme option would be to begin developing weapons-grade plutonium at a reprocessing plant that they say is ready for operation. The commentary, carried by the North's news agency, said the withdrawal from the nonproliferation treaty had been a "legitimate option" and was "guaranteed by its powerful military capacity." In a push for diplomacy, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said it would be willing to negotiate talks in Beijing between the United States and China's communist ally. Beijing's dual position — as a powerful member of the U.N. Security Council and one of North Korea's few allies — would give it a unique perspective on the issue. Secretary of State Colin Powell said that if North Korea agrees to abandon its nuclear ambitions, the United States would want to enter a "a new arrangement" — stronger than a 1994 deal — to better constrain Pyongyang's ability to produce nuclear weapons. Under the 1994 agreement, the North agreed to abandon all weapons activities in return for U.S. and international aid to build two light-water nuclear reactors for energy production. The 1994 agreement "left intact the capacity for production. I think, therefore, that we need a new arrangement and not just go back to the existing framework," Powell told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published in its Tuesday editions. North Korea has protested the suspension of U.S. fuel shipments following its admission last fall of a secret nuclear weapons program. The North says it will resolve U.S. security concerns if Washington signs a nonaggression pact. Many see the steps as a ploy by a desperately poor and isolated nation to trade its nuclear programs for much-needed assistance and diplomatic ties. On Monday, Fleischer accused North Korea of attempting blackmail. But the North's news agency report Tuesday said recent moves were prompted by Washington's aggressive attitude. While denying that Pyongyang posed a threat to the world, the report said the country was ready to fight military moves against it. The denial of brinkmanship came a day after Kelly suggested the possibility of American energy aid. On Tuesday, Kelly met President Kim Dae-jung's two top security advisers. "Both sides reaffirmed that they should respond calmly and discreetly to North Korean actions under the principle of resolving the problem peacefully and diplomatically," the presidential office said. The two sides also agreed to seek cooperation from Russia, China and the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency for an "early and peaceful" resolution to the standoff, the news release said. Pyongyang appeared to dismiss such efforts, though analysts regards its harsh rhetoric as an attempt to push Washington into talks. "The Bush warlike group has finally decided to provoke a war of aggression against North Korea, though it talks about 'dialogue' and 'security assurance,'" the state-run Rodong newspaper said in a commentary carried Tuesday on KCNA. International efforts to defuse the confrontation widened Tuesday when envoys from the United Nations and Australia headed to North Korea. In addition, Russia said Tuesday that Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov will travel to China, North Korea and the United States. Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved