DATE=9/15/1999
TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP
TITLE=DEALING ANEW WITH NORTH KOREA
NUMBER=6-11471
BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS
TELEPHONE=619-3335
CONTENT=
TEXT: More than a month ago, the U-S Central
Intelligence Agency warned that the North Koreans were
readying a new, longer-range missile. Called the
Taepo Dong Two, this missile had an estimated-range of
almost six-thousand kilometers, far enough to put
nuclear bombs, or chemical or biological agents on the
beach at Waikiki in Hawaii, or hit most of Alaska.
There was considerable worry in the press about this
missile, and its potentially destabilizing effects.
Now, the Clinton administration, together with the
governments of Japan and South Korea have apparently
headed off this threat.
The U-S press is busy discussing what happened, and
its portents for the future, and we get a sampling now
from ___________ in today's U-S Opinion Roundup.
In California, "The Los Angeles Times" warns the West
to "Be Cautious" in dealing with Pyongyang.
TEXT: The Clinton administration is hailing
North Korea's agreement to suspend long-range
missile tests as a contribution to stability in
Asia. In return, the administration is moving
to lift some of the trade sanctions it imposed
nearly a half-century ago, after North Korea's
invasion of South Korea drew the United States
into a three-year war. But the pledged
moratorium on further testing, reached in Berlin
. after years of effort, is tenuous. It is good
only so long as the talks to improve political
and economic relations continue. Given North
Korea's negotiating style, that means the talks
are likely to last only so long as Pyongyang can
wring concessions from Washington, using as
leverage its threat to resume testing. /// OPT
/// . the new agreement . does nothing to
limit North Korea's investment in building
bigger and better missiles, and it does nothing
to curb its sales of missiles and missile
technology to states that are in the habit of
threatening their neighbors. /// END OPT ///
TEXT: "The Chicago Tribune" grudgingly acknowledges
Pyongyang's mastery of causing trouble, only to
achieve rewards in a kind of "blackmailing" of the
West.
VOICE: North Korea's Stalinist regime has
proven, once again, how it can keep reaping
rewards simply by behaving badly and threatening
its neighbors. . the deal comes at a time in
Asia when the U-S is struggling to stop East
Timor's bloodletting and reduce tension between
China and Taiwan. So [President] Clinton is
justified in trying to influence Pyongyang's
behavior by offering carrots, in the form of
economic incentives North Korea desperately
needs, rather than sticks.
TEXT: "The Orlando Sentinel" is calling on the White
House to "Consider [the] North Korea request and
possibly "ease some economic sanctions, while keeping
military sanctions in place. The big Florida daily
continues:
VOICE: Already North Korea's missiles can reach
deep into East Asia, posing a danger to key
American allies such as South Korea and Japan.
The North's latest research potentially could
have produced missiles capable of hitting the
United States. . In addition, North Korea and
South Korea just experienced a testy period that
erupted into conflict between their naval
forces. So a gesture that calms the region
deserves support. The United States has a
tremendous interest in keeping the Korean
peninsula and surrounding countries safe and
free of military conflict. It serves U-S
interests for North Korea to behave better. As
always, however, the North Koreans expect
something in return.
TEXT: "Newsday", the largest daily on New York's Long
Island, runs a headline reading, the "U-S Throws North
Korea a Diplomatic Crumb," and goes on to compare
dealing with North Korea to trying to handle a
"deranged mental patient." The paper then says:
VOICE: There is more style than substance to
this diplomatic jockeying. But it has
accomplished one significant thing. It has
defused the threat to the stability of East Asia
that the test of a long-range North Korean
missile would pose. /// OPT /// Japan was
already nervous over the test and was pushing
hard for the construction of a missile defense
system. And that, in turn, made China
reflexively threaten to beef up its own missile
program to compensate for the imbalance of a
missile defense system in its region. An arms
race is not what East Asia needs. /// END OPT
/// Tossing North Korea a trade crumb to
defuse its missile threat -- however artificial
and irrational that threat may have been -- is
both good diplomacy and good psychology.
TEXT: On the West Coast, "The San Francisco"
Chronicle agrees.
VOICE: Coaxing North Korea out of its cave is
tricky business. .[But] the new path [of
negotiations rather than stalemate] is
worth trying.
TEXT: And with that transcontinental, editorial
consensus, we conclude this sampling of editorial
comment on the latest agreement between the United
States and North Korea.
NEB/ANG/RAE
15-Sep-1999 12:47 PM LOC (15-Sep-1999 1647 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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