North Korea: 6-Nation Talks: Talks to denuke North Korea - go from hopeful wordsmithing yesterday to NK souring today

Citizens' Alliance for Human Rights for North Koreans - English section There's also a large Korean-language section of the site.

North Korea's wordsmithing of its blackmail, and US balks somewhat, J. D. McGuire, China e-Lobby, August 1, 2005.

Talks on SNK’s nuclear weapons centering around draft statement: The six-party talks on Stalinist North Korea’s nuclear weapons is now a week old, and the goal of this round appears to be agreement on a “draft of basic principles” (BBC). The biggest holdup is “North Korea's demand for swift compensation for a commitment to dismantle its nuclear weapons program and U.S. insistence that inspections and dismantling actually begin before compensation is delivered” (Washington Post). Note that the U.S. is now merely demanding that “dismlantling” begin, not be completed. Making matters worse, Christopher Hill, the head of the U.S. delegation, said it was all coming down to “wordsmithing.” In other words, while the Stalinist regime continues to develop more nuclear weapons, it can engage in wordplay with the U.S., Russia, Japan, South Korea, and Communist China (not that the fifty-plus year Stalinist ally minds all that much) over the timing of aid they can receive before a single nuclear weapon is destroyed. Freelance correspondent Richard Halloran (Washington Times) sees this as going nowhere; yours truly is more afraid a deal will go down (Epoch Times). Will they never learn? Meanwhile, Lieut. Colenol Gordon Cucullu, Front Page Magazine, is rightly incensed that the well-being of the people of northern Korea is not being discussed at the talks.

Stalinists souring on nuclear talks, J. D. McGuire, China e-Lobby, August 2,2005, ¶#1.

Surprise! Surprise! - North Korea wants everything for nothing, and still the US has a hard time saying No! But Chief US Negotiator Christoopher Hill seems to be holding a line, however obscurely, while not (yet) allowing NK to scramble out - maybe China is helping here a wee bit. But I'm reminded of McGuire's steady skepticism about both of these Asian nuclear powers.

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