N. Korea Pledges To Give Up Nukes

No. 2 Leader Tells Officials From South To Expect "Efforts To Realize" Disarmament

(CBS/AP)  Earlier Thursday, North Korean negotiators appealed for aid from the South, but Seoul appeared resistant to promising any major assistance until Pyongyang keeps its pledge to start dismantling its nuclear program.

"The North side has brought up the issue of humanitarian aid," a South Korean official told reporters in Pyongyang, where talks between the two Koreas stretched into a third day.

But the official, indicating the South's reluctance to provide the North with badly needed supplies, said that a draft agreement between the two sides "does not specifically mention rice and fertilizer aid." The official did not give his name due to the sensitivity of the ongoing talks.

South Korea had regularly sent aid to the impoverished North until last July, when Pyongyang test-fired a series of missiles, prompting a halt in shipments. Relations between the two countries further soured after the North tested a nuclear weapon in October.

North Korea also has proposed that the two countries resume economic cooperation talks in March, but Seoul was apparently opposed to holding the talks so soon, according to pool reports.

The two Koreas have made historic strides toward reconciliation after their leaders met for the first time in 2000, and this week's talks are the 20th such Cabinet-level meeting since then.

On Thursday, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun stressed the nuclear deal "should be successfully implemented so that a peace regime can be firmly established on the Korean peninsula."

The Feb. 13 deal calls for a separate forum on discussing a peace agreement to replace the cease-fire that has held the Korean War at a standstill since 1953.

Meanwhile, the countries involved in the nuclear talks — the Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the U.S. — have begun preparations to implement the disarmament pact.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that U.S. and North Korean officials will meet in New York next Monday and Tuesday to discuss normalizing relations, one of the steps to be taken under the nuclear deal.

Also Thursday, the State Department's No. 2 diplomat, John Negroponte, arrived in Japan for a tour expected to focus on the North Korea nuclear issue that will also take him to South Korea and China.

South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon also left for Washington Thursday for talks on North Korea with his counterpart, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He also will travel to Moscow.

[j-whitman]

Looks as though as for NK goes,, Bush chose to use Clinton's foreign policy instead of his own on this one,,,,, What's that tell you of Bush's policies ?????

[crater7]

formrusmcsgt: NOT USING CAPS: I USE CAPS, BECAUSE I HAVE A VISUAL IMPAIRMENT. SORRY IT BOTHERS YOU, I'LL TRY TO KEEP THE NOISE DOWN, AND NOT YELL AT YOU ANY MORE. NAAAAAAAA, EXPECT MORE OF THE SAME. TURN YOUR VOLUME DOWN.

[pakaal]

"Bush is being successful with his approach in NK."

And what happens six or eight years from now, when we're negotiating again? We've been down this road before, when Clinton was in office. Hate to rain on anyone's parade, but anyone who touts this as a success should take a look at recent history. There's no way to say NK is any more sincere now than they were then. I wouldn't characterize this as successful - unless you're willing to say it's as successful as Clinton was when he negotiated with NK....

[agnim]

"N. Korea Pledges To Give Up Nukes"

Promises

Promises

Promises LOL

[formrusmcsgt]

That, and I'm trying to get into one of those middle school classes where I can be molested two or three times.
Posted by Musty2U at 11:11 AM : Mar 01, 2007

Maybe that's what that 29 year-old was after trying to pass himself of as a 12 year old a month or two ago...lol.

[musty2u]

That, and I'm trying to get into one of those middle school classes where I can be molested two or three times.

[formrusmcsgt]

Whew, that's an acceptance speech I would have a hard time writing.
Posted by Musty2U at 11:02 AM : Mar 01, 2007

You mean because of your talons, bro? lol.

[musty2u]

Whew, that's an acceptance speech I would have a hard time writing.

[formrusmcsgt]

but...the original post is because Bush is being successful with his approach in NK...and we will have a thawing with Iran within 180 days...
Posted by golfkt at 10:55 AM : Mar 01, 2007

Believe what you will. I only present the facts.

In regards to Bush's "success" with N. Korea, I will observe that he is at least making progress after abandoning his banty-rooster sabre-rattling approach that got us nowhere.

All that did was give N. Korea time to build 12 nukes instead of 2 and drive the cost of the deal up four-fold. Some "success".

He claimed that he had to hold the N. Koreans "accountable". Looking at the increased price of the deal, I would say that the N. Koreans held Bush more accountable than he did them.

[karlimhof]

sorry musty2u

MITYWHITY

I would wholeheartedly recommend you as a member of the American Academy of Science!

You first job should be to go to Mars yourself and check out why that SUV is causing so much trouble!

[golfkt]

form:
Christ, you know we have plans for everything....to indicate that we enetered Iraq to build bases is not accurate...again, an offshoot but not the primary reason for enetering Iraq....espcecially becuase we have relatively large bases close by...


but...the original post is because Bush is being successful with his approach in NK...and we will have a thawing with Iran within 180 days...

[formrusmcsgt]

Pentagon Expects Long-Term Access to Four Key Bases in Iraq
By THOM SHANKER and ERIC SCHMITT
New York Times

Saturday 19 April 2003

WASHINGTON: The United States is planning a long-term military relationship with the emerging government of Iraq, one that would grant the Pentagon access to military bases and project American influence into the heart of the unsettled region, senior Bush administration officials say.

American military officials, in interviews this week, spoke of maintaining perhaps four bases in Iraq that could be used in the future: one at the international airport just outside Baghdad; another at Tallil, near Nasiriya in the south; the third at an isolated airstrip called H-1 in the western desert, along the old oil pipeline that runs to Jordan; and the last at the Bashur air field in the Kurdish north.

-----------------

Two weeks after the invasion the plans for the bases are presented but there was no planning beforehand, right golkt? PUHLEASE!

[karlimhof]

Musty2U

I would wholeheartedly recommend you as a member of the American Academy of Science!

You first job should be to go to Mars yourself and check out why that SUV is causing so much trouble!

[formrusmcsgt]

so an R congress pulls the plug...if that was the express purpose of the war...you would have seen much more activity on tat front...

much more!!!..it was an off shoot...but not the reason...escpecially in light the the bases we have close by....
Posted by golfkt at 10:44 AM : Mar 01, 2007

They pulled the plug on the funding as it became more than obvious that a degree of stability would never be achieved in Iraq to allow for thier existence.

"As the New York Times revealed in a front-page piece by Thom Shanker and Eric Schmitt on April 19, 2003, just after Baghdad fell, the Pentagon arrived in the Iraqi capital with plans already on the drawing board to build four massive military bases"

[mitywhity]

I guess you're living on a mountian top somewhere. Global warming is a proven reality.
Ask the Eskimos!............Posted by karlimhof

Yeah, yeah, it used to acid rain, then it was deadly solar rays, ozone layer, radon gas, etc.

It's a wonder we are still alive with all the global catastrophe we have had since 1980. Global warming is just SOCIAL ENGINEERING. It is designed to redistribute wealth, insert suction tubes into industry and connect them to Washington. You can buy the hoopla if you want to and go delivery ice to your eskimos. Why is there global warming on Mars when there is only ONE SUV THERE?

[golfkt]

so an R congress pulls the plug...if that was the express purpose of the war...you would have seen much more activity on tat front...

much more!!!..it was an off shoot...but not the reason...escpecially in light the the bases we have close by....

[golfkt]

so an R congress pulls the plug...if that was the express purpose of the war...you would have seen much more activity on tat front...

much more!!!..it was an off shoot...but not the reason...escpecially in light the the bases we have close by....

[musty2u]

The bases would have been in the way of my glassed parking lot.

War news must be held for March Madness.

[formrusmcsgt]

FormerUSMC:
is your point that we got into Iraq for the express purpose of permanent bases...I disagree whole heartedly...
Posted by golfkt at 10:37 AM : Mar 01, 2007

You can disagree all day long if you wish, but then you'll have to explain why Congress pulled the plug on these unplanned bases just last October if they were never the goal......

[golfkt]

FormerUSMC:
is your point that we got into Iraq for the express purpose of permanent bases...I disagree whole heartedly...is that an outcome yet....but the war for that reason...NO ...the liberals subscribe heinous things to Bush for this war....Not True....were we wrong.....maybe...maybe not....did we execute the peace ( after the war) correctly....no way...but...10-15 yrs will be needed to assess the right or wrong of this war...

suffice it to say: NK talking is ue to several reasons...the primary being---we cut off their source of cash...

Iran--- both sides will ultimately agree...again...the big concern is them getting the weapon then handing off to Hezbollah..or some other group...