North Korea Says It Has Nuclear Weapons and Rejects Talks

[Darkside]

TOKYO, Feb. 10 - In a surprising admission, North Korea's hard-line Communist government declared publicly today for the first time that it has nuclear weapons.

It also said that it will boycott United States-sponsored regional talks designed to end its nuclear program, according to a North Korean Foreign Ministry statement transmitted today by the nation's wire service.

Pyongyang said it has "manufactured nukes for self-defense to cope with the Bush administration's undisguised policy to isolate and stifle" North Korea, and that it will "bolster its nuclear weapons arsenal."

The statement, considered a definitive policy pronouncement, said that North Korea, led by the reclusive dictator Kim Jong Il, is pulling out of the talks after concluding that the second Bush administration would pursue the "brazen-faced, double-dealing tactics" of dialogue and "regime change."

Four hours before the official Korean Central News Agency transmitted the pullout statement, a top Bush administration official told reporters here that North Korea's return to the nuclear talks was expected by all other participants -the United States, Japan, South Korea, Russia and China.

"The onus is really on North Korea," said John R. Bolton, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, noting that the last time the parties met was in June.

Referring to North Korea's bomb making capability, he added: "The absence of progress in six-party talks means they are making further progress toward their increased capability."

It is unclear if North Korea is definitively slamming the door to talks or merely trying to raise its price for returning to the bargaining table.

"We are compelled to suspend our participation in the talks for an indefinite period," the statement said, adding that North Korea would return only when "there are ample conditions and atmosphere to expect positive results from the talks."

President Bush's chief spokesman, Scott McClellan, said the latest words and actions from North Korea "only deepen their isolation from the international community."

Asked whether the White House viewed today's announcement as a change in policy by North Korea, Mr. McClellan said: "It's rhetoric we've heard before. That's the way I would describe it."

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One as President Bush was traveling to North Carolina, Mr. McClellan said the United States joined North Korea's neighbors in sending "a clear and unified message" of displeasure. "And the way for North Korea to end its isolation and realize better relations with the international community is to come back to the six-party talks and discuss how we can move forward," he said.

From Europe, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told RTL television of Luxembourg, "The North Koreans should reassess this and try to end their own isolation." A similar appeal came from Japan, America's closest ally in the region.

In Nice, France, where he is attending a NATO meeting, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said in a news conference that he did not have "certain knowledge" that North Korea possessed nuclear weapons, although he was aware of its statement today.

Saying he did not want his comments to be taken as confirmation, Mr. Rumsfeld added that if the statement was true, "one has to worry about weapons of that power in the hands of leadership of that nature."

In London, Secretary General Kofi Annan of the United Nations said he expected the North Koreans could be brought back to the nuclear talks. "I hope it's not an indefinite position," he said.

In Beijing, the Foreign Ministry's chief spokesman, Kong Quan, said China hoped the talks with North Korea would continue, according to a statement issued by the New China News Agency,

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan told reporters about North Korea's decision to boycott the talks: "It's better to resume them early. It would be in North Korea's interest to make use of the six-party forum."

[Darkside]

Chalk up another win for the Bush administration.

[mr_gyptian]

really?

too bad it was Bill Clinton's failed policy of sending Mr. Dictator Kiss Ass Jimmuh Carter as his special emmissary to the Peninsula with No Lights.

the whole don't build nukes and we won't attack you line of b.s. was exactly that under Slick Willy. Now, me thinks the next mountain in NK to blow won't be an excavation project.

[skierX]

And if you think Peace
Is a common goal
Well, that goes to show
Just how little you know

Love, peace and harmony?
Love, peace and harmony?
Oh, very nice
Very nice
Very nice
Very nice
...but maybe in the next world

stephen morrisey

[Obstruction]

Hmnh so that's where Saddam hid the WMD. No wonder W couldn't find them.

[jayfrizzo]

And if you think Peace
Is a common goal
Well, that goes to show
Just how little you know

Love, peace and harmony?
Love, peace and harmony?
Oh, very nice
Very nice
Very nice
Very nice
...but maybe in the next world

stephen morrisey

Quit biting my schtick.

[13]

Meh. I'm not worried.

Dick-waving from DPRK's head re-re is just that ... an attempt to impress the women of his harem since literal dick-wavin' makes them point & laugh.

I'd be worried if joe terrorist was trying to buy/steal them from DPRK, since their delivery system has proven to be far more capable than DPRK rocket technology.

[mr_gyptian]

9 OTHER chest-thumping announcements North Korea is set to make this week*

1. From this day forward, “Dear Leader” Kim Jong-Il will only answer to “Dear Leader Uncle Really Big Boom Boom"

2. The United States: seven-layer dip; The Republic of North Korean: a trillion-layer dip!

3. Soon to be released documents will prove that it was North Korea—not, as was previously believed, the US—who helped beat back the Nazis at Normandy

4. The first working printing press was invented by Dear Leader Kim Jong-Il’s great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great Grandfather sometime during the Cenozoic era—but when subduction destroyed the Tethys ocean, this important technological advance was lost to history in a collision of tectonic plates

5. "Jesus Christ”? Real name: Hyun Shin Yong

6. At university, Dear Leader once did 6 beer bong, 14 shots of Mezcal, and an entire 8 ball, then went out and bowled a perfect game. Blindfolded

7. In 1975, a North Korean 4-year old named Jin-ho defeated both Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in a best of seven chess match. Jin-ho then returned to her family’s farm, where she helped plant rice and weave baskets

8. In a super secret January ceremony, Dear Leader Kim Jong-Il took as one of his wives the Constitutional lawyer and conservative pundit Ann Coulter, who pleases Dear Leader often with her crazy American-style humpy humpy

9. South Korea? 96% gay*

[Duker]

Thats great news ! thanks darkside!

[FNG]

He knows the U.S. won't invade Korea, so he has no incentive to voluntarily give up his WMD's. A U.S. invasion would be much more difficult with many times more casualties. I don't think the American public would stand for it.

Honestly though, if we've got nuclear weapons and we've used them in the past, where do we get off telling other countries not to have them?

[13]

Honestly though, if we've got nuclear weapons and we've used them in the past, where do we get off telling other countries not to have them?

Maybe 'cuz we made the mistake* in the first place?

* Depends who you ask.

[DJSapp]

Hmmm, so who wants to put money down on who we invade next? Iran or North Korea?

[Duker]

Hmmm, so who wants to put money down on who we invade next? Iran or North Korea?

$20 on Iran.

[13]

I wonder if Caesar's has a line on Iran:NK?

[skierX]

Quit biting my schtick.

its a moz world

[mrw]

the little bastard has been playing this game for years. He's looking for a payoff from us. He stamps his feet and has temper tantrums until we give in. A bitch slap is what he needs and W is the one to do it. Japan is who should be dealing with this. It's their ass on the line.

[FNG]

Definitely Iran. You don't engage in a land war in Asia. <--- Princess Bride line

[DJSapp]

Definitely Iran. You don't engage in a land war in Asia.

Ummmmm.... isn't Iran part of the Asian continent?

Thanks for playing

[Ripzalot]

So ronery.........

[Will]

the little bastard has been playing this game for years. He's looking for a payoff from us. He stamps his feet and has temper tantrums until we give in. A bitch slap is what he needs and W is the one to do it.

Good luck with that one.

psst.... little secret... c'mere.....

Our main concern is not an ICBM from NK. Our main concern is Seoul. I'm sure you've heard of it, big city, millions of people, near the NK border, can be destroyed with conventional weapons in a very short period of time.

Y'see, lil' Kimme is crazy. Or at least he acts like he is, and he wants us to think that he is. He wants to seem so crazy that we're afraid to attack him, because if we do then as he's going down he'll kill millions in South Korea. That's why a bitch slap is a bad idea. That's why all that saber rattling, ignoring, and axis of eviling was stupid; all it did was convince lil' Kimme that he couldn't deal with us - so he charged ahead with the nuke option.

You may not like it, and you may wish for an option with a bit more "fuck yeah" to it; but the truth is diplomacy is pretty much the only option available to us. You can sneer about Carter and Clinton all you want, but the fact is that Bush has sat on his hands in regards to this issue for 4 years because he knew that a military solution could result in millions of deaths.

Previously we had a madman with conventional weapons and a brainwashed country. Now we have a madman with nukes (maybe) and a brainwashed country. This is not an improvement.

[irul&ublo]

Definitely Iran. You don't engage in a land war in Asia.

Yeah...we've never done that before.


Edit...waiting for someone to quote Walter Sobchack....

[PNWbrit]

Now we have a madman with nukes and a brainwashed country. This is not an improvement.

That's the U.S. you're talking about right?

[tuffy109]

Definitely Iran. You don't engage in a land war in Asia.

iraq
afghanistan

somewhere, your social studies teacher is crying.

[nealric]

I think there is a logical problem with trying to talk governments like N. Korea into disarming.

Basically:
U.S. - We want you to give up nuclear weapons.
N. Korea - But you have nuclear weapons.

The reason the U.S. does not want N. Korea to have nuclear weapons is because it is not a responsible government- sort of like saying the juvenile delinquent is not responible enough to have a b.b. gun.

However, if the N. Korean government were wanting to engage the world and make concessions to disarm, that would mean that the N. Korean government IS being responsible and wouldnt be all that dangerous with nuclear arms.

[mr_gyptian]

Definitely Iran. You don't engage in a land war in Asia.

we just won two.

but seriously, why should we care? The country will implode soon enough. It would have already if Seoul wasn't acquiescing to extortion.

the accuracy of his nukes is completely untested. he has a better chance of hitting south america than the US.

additionally, I really think this is a weak attempt at showing his power. which is dwindling significantly. I think there have been two attempts on his life in the past year. he isn't long for this world. Hopefully, for his people's sake I'm right.