In The News

North Koreans Still Demand Direct Talks With the U.S.

James Brooke January 26, 2003
Many countries in the region of North Korea have sent diplomats to its capital, Pyongyang, in recent weeks, hoping to quell the dangerous storm currently brewing over that country’s nuclear weapons program. North Korea itself is simultaneously condemning these diplomatic efforts and calling for negotiations and a nonaggression pact with the United States only. Meanwhile, the possibility of armed...

SVR Denies Helping CIA Keep an Eye on North Korea

January 22, 2003
Russia’s foreign intelligence service denies installing nuclear detection equipment inside Russia's Pyongyang embassy.

Investment Outlook Gloomy

January 13, 2003
Foreign investment stimulated a virtual goldrush in many Southeast Asian nations during the 1990s. But the crisis that struck the region in 1997 and 1998 led to large net outflows of money from many countries, including Indonesia. This editorial in Indonesia's Jakarta Post says that the largest Muslim nation in the world is still struggling to employ and feed its people 4 years after the...

Koizumi Visits Energy-Rich Russian Region, Seeking Oil

James Brooke January 13, 2003
Search for a secure source of energy has been a major concern for industry-rich, resource-poor Japan. It is a concern that has been further heightened by growing insecurity in the world and rising tension in the Middle East -- its principal energy source. A new geopolitical concern about competition from a rising China has now been added to Japan’s foreign policy calculations. In a diplomatic...

N. Korea Pulls Out of Non-Proliferation Treaty

Peter S. Goodman January 10, 2003
Responding to North Korea's announcement that it is withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, South Korean President Kim Dae Jung said today "The nuclear issue is tied to our life and death… We must have the patience to resolve the issue peacefully." The Washington Post, in this in-depth analysis of the situation, reports that "Shortly after making its...

What Does North Korea Want?

January 10, 2003
In a background report on North Korea, the staff of the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations provides an excellent overview of the recent tensions between the US and North Korea. The question-and-answer format addresses the following: What does North Korea want? What is North Korea’s latest move? Is the decision final? Will the United States meet North Korea’s demands? Why has the...

Tensions Rise as N Korea Abandons Nuclear Treaty

John Burton January 10, 2003
Saying recent actions by the US has left it little choice, North Korea announced that it is withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The country had been a seeking written statement that American military would never move to attack North Korea, but thus far US President Bush has only offered verbal assurances. "North Korea is pursuing its classic tactics of ratcheting up the...