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China-Japan-Koreas
N. Korea Seeks Change in U.S. Nuke Policy
2005-01-10
North Korea said Saturday it was willing to abandon its nuclear weapons programs, but it demanded a change in American policy as a California congressman critical of the communist state's human rights records visited Pyongyang. The statement, which echoed the North's earlier stance, appeared to be timed for a visit by Rep. Tom Lantos, the ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee.

It also came a day after U.S. officials said one of Washington's harshest critics of North Korea, Undersecretary of State John Bolton, will resign his post. "Our consistent stance is to denuclearize the Korean peninsula and resolve the problem through dialogue," said a spokesman of North Korea's Foreign Ministry. "If the United States really wants to resolve the nuclear problem through dialogue, it should show through action that it is giving up a hostile policy aimed at toppling our system, and take the road toward coexistence."
Posted by:Fred

#2  appeared to be timed for a visit by Rep. Tom Lantos, the ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee.

America...*&^% yeah!

Sorry...it just conjured up scenes from the movie.
Posted by: 2b   2005-01-10 1:03:00 PM  

#1  "If the United States really wants to resolve the nuclear problem through dialogue, it should show through action that it is giving up a hostile policy aimed at toppling our system, and take the road toward coexistence."

There are a lot of similarities between what we face in dealing with Islamic reform and resolving the North Korean crisis.

When one examines the laundry list of unacceptable cultural norms common to many Muslim run countries, it's difficult to envision any middle ground. So they give up terrorism, does that mean we have to allow the continuance of female genital mutilation?

The vast scope of change required to reshape the hostile terrain of Islam's monoculture involves so many deal-breakers that there is little hope for peaceful resolution.

So it is with North Korea. The nation is a poster child for human rights violators. The enormous degree of outright criminal conduct carried out by its government leaves little, if any, room for negotiation. Should they divest themselves of nuclear capability, must we then turn our backs on the institutionalized starvation of their people? How can there be significant reconciliation with such a murderous regime?

Islamic autocracies and North Korea share much in common in that only their complete removal from the political horizon represents the least sort of adequate solution. Settling for anything less essentially constitutes having to countenance the continued mass murder of countless innocents. How is there any middle ground to find amongst such egregious tyranny?
Posted by: Zenster   2005-01-10 2:19:20 AM  

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