Keep Your Eye on North Korea

[HagiaSophia]

“The danger of a nuclear war is growing on the Korean peninsula as the days go by, owing to the US moves to stifle the DPRK [North Korea],” said the message, carried as an editorial in North Korea’s three major newspapers - Rodong Shinmun, Josoninmingun and Chongnyonjonwi, respectively representing the Communist party, the army and the youth league.

“All Koreans should stage a powerful struggle for peace against war in order to drive the US troops out of South Korea, remove the very source of a nuclear war and defend the peace and security on the Korean peninsula,” it said.

US troops have been stationed in South Korea since the end of the Korean war in 1953, but their numbers will be gradually reduced from about 33,000 now to 25,000 by 2008 as part of a wider US reshuffle.

Saying that 2004 saw a “dynamic struggle against the US imperialists’ evermore undisguised brigandish aggression and high-handed practices on the international arena,” the editorial told the US it must “make a switchover in its hostile policy” towards North Korea.

Pyongyang has cited the US’s “hostile policies” as the primary reason for refusing to continue the talks, and a “switchover” would likely involve economic compensation and security guarantees.

But the Bush administration has insisted it will not negotiate further until the North halts its nuclear activities.

news.ft.com/cms/s/c33546f8-5cdb-11d9-bb9c-00000e2511c8.html

 

[JMJ_Pinoy]

Posted on Mon, Jan. 03, 2005

North Korea reportedly sold arms to group linked to al-Qaida

BY YOSHINARI KUROSE
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The Yomiuri Shimbun
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**JAKARTA, Indonesia - **(KRT) - North Korea sold more than 10,000 rifles and other weapons in 1999 and 2000 to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the largest pro-Al-Qaida extremist group in the Philippines, according to Southeast Asian security sources.

Between 1999 and 2002, North Korea also attempted to sell submersible vessels to the MILF, which is fighting for independence for Mindanao in the southern Philippines, the sources said.

North Korea’s submersible infiltration craft are believed to be capable of carrying suicide bombers and other insurgents to coastal areas near targets. Security authorities in Southeast Asia have heightened their level of alert and are sharing information about North Korean arms smuggling operations, the sources said.

Security authorities uncovered the MILF’s weapon purchases after confiscating documents in November last year from the Mindanao-based Muslim rebel faction and other evidence. The sources said the deals were done mostly in Malaysia.

In mid-1999, a North Korean arms dealer, identifying himself as Rym Kyu Do, and Ghazali Jaafar, vice chairman for political affairs of the front, signed a contract for North Korean shipments - worth about $2.2 million - of 10,000 M16 automatic rifles, 200 assault rifles, grenades and related components, the sources said.

The relevant security authorities confirmed that the MILF issued two checks for a total of $1 million to North Korea via a Malaysian intermediary on Sept. 25, 1999, as a deposit for the arms transaction.

The rifles, grenades and components were delivered by sea in a number of installments to a MILF-controlled district in Mindanao by the end of 2000 through a third country, believed to be Malaysia, the sources said.

In a separate transaction, the Philippine rebel faction told North Korea in June 1999 of its desire to procure more than one submersible vessel from North Korea. Subsequently, both sides entered into negotiations, reaching an agreement around 2002. The MILF is thought to have paid a guarantee of several hundreds of thousands dollars to North Korea. But the submarine deal was suspended because security authorities got wind of the transaction, the sources said.

According to Philippine authorities, the MILF financed its operations with the proceeds of two sources - the smuggling of marijuana and stimulant drugs grown or produced by its members and financial assistance from al-Qaida.

In June 2004, police in the Philippines arrested an al-Qaida member who was responsible for supplying resources to the MILF. Up until December 2003, the Mindanao-based rebel group had received about $50,000 a month from al-Qaida.

Considering the close ties between al-Qaida and the MILF, it cannot be ruled that that the money paid to North Korea for the arms could have been from al-Qaida, informed sources said.

In Mindanao, Philippine troops have staged anti-MILF campaigns since 2000. But government soldiers have been accused of illegally channeling weapons to the rebel faction. As a result, the front - operating nine strongholds on the island as of December - has been very active.

Meanwhile, the Southeast Asian terrorist organization Jamaah Islamiyah, which is believed to be responsible for the Bali bombing in October 2002 and the explosion in front of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta in September 2004, is known to be training recruits in MILF training camps in Mindanao.

kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/10555966.htm?1c

I am outraged at what North Korea has done. :banghead: I have many relatives and friends living in the Philippines, and worry for their safety. Please keep the Philippines in your prayers. God Bless.