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To: Ahda who wrote (25303)	1/3/1999 1:53:00 PM
From: Alex	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116770

North Korea raising fears of new crisis TOKYO, SUNDAY With warnings like its latest threat to wipe American imperialists ''from this planet for good'', North Korea seems to have grown more hard-line and militarised in recent months and some experts fear a major security crisis on the Korean peninsula this year. Tensions are rising, in particular because of North Korea's missile tests and suspicions that it is developing nuclear weapons in underground complexes around the country. The result is a stalemate between North Korea and the West, on top of what appears to be growing mutual distrust and disillusionment on each side. ''The situation will be very, very dangerous in the next few months,'' said Han Park, a political scientist and North Korea specialist at the University of Georgia. The stalemate is threatening to destroy the 1994 Agreed Framework, which has been widely touted as one of President Bill Clinton's major foreign policy successes and has been the centrepiece of Western efforts to achieve a lasting peace on the Korean peninsula. The agreement was the culmination of a tense 1994 confrontation, which American officials now acknowledge took them much closer to war with North Korea than was generally realised and, if it falls apart, the danger of war could again loom on the peninsula. Under the Agreed Framework, North Korea was to give up its nuclear program and in exchange the West was to supply fuel oil and a kind of nuclear reactor that cannot easily be used to produce nuclear weapons. North Korea has a taste for brinkmanship so it is entirely possible that last-minute solutions will be found. Still, if the stalemate continues, some analysts warn the United States could face a confrontation with North Korea similar to the one it already faces with Iraq, except that North Korea is believed to have nuclear and chemical weapons and probably the ability to kill millions of people in the course of losing a war. The immediate challenge is the mystery surrounding several North Korean underground complexes burrowed into hillsides. North Korea is refusing American demands to inspect them although it has held out the possibility of a deal in which it would get money or food aid in exchange for allowing visits. What would happen if the stalemate is not resolved, leading the United States to stop shipping oil and causing the agreement to fall apart? ''Our only option will be to go nuclear and do it publicly,'' said Kim Myong Chol, an influential North Korean writer and editor who lives in Tokyo and serves as an unofficial spokesman for his country. ''North Korea will fabricate nuclear warheads to target Japan and America as major targets and will sell nuclear weapons to any country, to the highest bidder. ''Maybe there will be a new war,'' Mr Kim said after offering wishes for the new year. ''Maybe you and I will all die in Tokyo!'' North Korea has been particularly vehement lately in denouncing the United States, relentlessly biting the hand that is wondering whether to feed it. Another sign of the growing militarisation was the North Korean Government's New Year's message, which called on citizens to ''love rifles, earnestly learn military affairs and turn the whole country into an impregnable fortress''. NEW YORK TIMES theage.com.au

To: Ahda who wrote (25303)	1/3/1999 2:00:00 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116770

Actually, I'm surprised that the Star beat the NY Times to the story.... <vbg> What is more frightening is that pertinent news about our politicians is being more aggressively investigated by the tabloids than the alledgedly professional investigative journalists who think they are the next Woodward & Bernstein. The trial is really about how the news failed to reveal the hidden character of the man they adored and helped to get elected through the Media/Clinton lovefest '92 & '96. Now we will have the story of how our president essentially abandoned a little boy for 13 years after fathering him.... But then again, that's not impeachable either. Regards, Ron