ID :
43165
Thu, 01/29/2009 - 18:27
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/43165
The shortlink copeid
Malnutrition Reducing N. Korea's Military Pool: Report
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- Chronic food shortages will considerably reduce North Korea's pool of military recruits in the coming years, with nearly a quarter of young adults unfit for service due to malnutrition-related mental disabilities, a U.S. intelligence report said Jan. 22.
The famine of the 1990s has caused severe cognitive deficiencies among young
North Koreans, said the report by the National Intelligence Council that used
studies from several U.S. intelligence agencies.
The rate of disqualification will peak in the 2009-2013 period, during which an
estimated 17-29 percent of potential North Korean recruits born during the 1990s
famine will reach military age, it said.
"Poor health is weakening military readiness because capable new recruits are in
short supply. Loyalty may also erode over time," the report said.
North Korea boasts a 1.1-million-strong military under leader Kim Jong-il's
"songun" or "military-first" policy, which prioritizes the military's combat
ability and its welfare over any other issue.
But its size and morale seem to be thinning. Two-thirds of young adults are now
considered malnourished or anemic, the report said, and nationwide malnutrition
has compelled Pyongyang to lower minimum height and weight requirements for
military service.
Chronic malnutrition occurring before age two can lower IQ by approximately 5-15
points, it said.
The report noted the socialist country's once efficient health care system broke
down amid the famine, but it is "extremely difficult to track" prevalent
outbreaks such as tuberculosis, scarlet fever and measles in the country because
of its secretiveness.
Malnutrition-related cognitive disabilities among North Korean youth will bog
down future economic growth in the North regardless of whether it unifies with
South Korea or opens to outside assistance, it said.
"If reunification occurs, South Korea will face the costs not only of
incorporating an economic void, but also those of a huge healthcare burden," it
warned, suggesting that the international community help enhance North Korea's
medical condition as a means of "diplomacy through the back door."
------------------------
President Lee Says Reconciliation with N. Korea Top Priority
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Jan. 23 called on the
military to fully prepare to counter any provocation from North Korea, meanwhile
saying the nation's top priority is securing peace and reconciliation between the
divided Koreas.
The call came less than a week after the North's Korean People's Army (KPA) said
it will take an "all-out confrontation posture" against the South.
"It would be best if we are able to maintain peace between the South and the
North and that the two reconcile with each other," Lee said in a phone call to
the commander of an front-line Army division.
"There should be no problems as long as our military maintains a perfect defense
posture," the president said during his phone call, made ahead of the Lunar New
Year, one of the country's biggest traditional holidays that falls on Jan. 26.
In a separate phone call to the commander of a Navy unit deployed in the Yellow
Sea, Lee again stressed the need to deter any aggression from the socialist
nation, especially over the holiday weekend.
------------------------
Obama Urged to Focus on Human Rights in Dealing with N. Korea
WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- The former U.S. special envoy for human rights in North
Korea has urged the new Obama administration to emphasize human rights in dealing
with the reclusive regime.
"In a manner similar to Helsinki, the U.S., South Korea, Japan and our other
partners now have the opportunity to expand our approach to one of constructive
engagement, an effort that is intended to open up the North Korean regime," Jay
Lefkowitz, U.S. special envoy for human rights in North Korea, said in his final
report submitted to the U.S. government recently. He resigned soon after Obama's
inauguration on Jan. 20.
Lefkowitz, appointed by then President George W. Bush in 2005 under the North
Korean Human Rights Act, was referring to the Helsinki Act signed in 1975 by the
U.S. and 34 other Western countries. It called for a focus on human rights in
dealing with the Soviet Union and other Eastern bloc states.
The Helsinki process led to the creation of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and resulted in the collapse of the Soviet bloc
nations in the early 1990s.
The Pyongyang initiative, Lefkowitz said, "may consist of a new framework for
dialogue and effective steps to interact more deeply with North Korea. This
should involve a candid and ongoing human rights dialogue with Pyongyang as a
condition for the future normalization of relations."
Lefkowitz proposed that the U.S. and its allies cooperate closely to link any aid
to North Korea with human rights improvements. Such aid would include development
assistance, World Bank loans, trade access and food.
"When countries provide unilateral aid to North Korea, it is easier for Pyongyang
to resist monitoring," he said. "If aid donors could be syndicated and would
agree to offer large amounts of humanitarian assistance to North Korea contingent
on full access and monitoring, Pyongyang might feel impelled to accept."
"Were this to happen, the misery of the North Korean people could be partially
alleviated in a way that does not strengthen the regime," he added.
------------------------
U.N. Committee to Examine Human Rights of Children in N. Korea
GENEVA (Yonhap) -- A United Nations committee is set to question North Korean
officials on Jan. 23 about the socialist country's policy on protecting the human
rights of children in the country, the first such session since 2004.
The one-day session on North Korea conducted by the U.N. Committee on the Rights
of the Child in Geneva is the third of its kind, following similar sessions in
1998 and 2004 that examined malnutrition, infant mortality and budget cuts
related to children's welfare.
The committee's review is expected to become a guideline for a possible
resolution on North Korea's human rights if it is put to a vote at the U.N.
General Assembly later this year.
North Korea, a member of the U.N. Convention of the Rights of the Child,
submitted a report in January 2008 saying the country pushed forward economic
construction that helped enhance children's welfare.
But the report also noted the 2001-2007 period under review was a time of trial
for the North because of security threats, in an apparent reference to its
largely frayed relations with the United States and Japan.
"The period under review was a period in which the DPRK went through a harsh
trial due to the unfavorable developments that gravely threatened the security of
the country," the report said, using the acronym for the North's official name,
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Still, "the government has invariably maintained the principle that children
represent the future of the country and are the king of the country," it said.
A panel of 18 international experts will examine the report and will pose
questions to a North Korean government delegation during the open session, the
U.N. committee said in statements.
The U.N. committee on the rights of children holds such sessions annually, with
this year's meeting focusing on conditions in North Korea and five other
countries, including the Congo and Malawi.
With non-governmental organizations in North Korea virtually nonexistent, the
U.N. committee defers to international organizations to verify the North's
claims.
North Korean defectors' organizations in South Korea recently flew to Geneva to
provide their account of the human rights situation in North Korea.
------------------------
N.K. Leader's Eldest Son Says He's Not Interested in Succession
BEIJING (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's first son, Kim Jong-nam,
said on Jan. 24 that his father is the sole person who can decide on the
succession of power in the socialist country, and he himself has no interest in
becoming the country's leader.
"I myself have no interest," Kim Jong-nam, 38, said in a Beijing hotel. "That is
for my father to decide."
Sources well-informed on North Korea recently said that Kim Jong-il, apparently
driven by his poor health due to a suspected stroke last year, has designated his
third son, Jong-un, as his successor and delivered a directive on the nomination
to the Workers' Party leadership.
Jong-nam had long been considered the favorite to succeed his father until he was
caught trying to enter Japan on a fake passport in 2001, reportedly telling
Japanese officials he wanted to visit Disneyland in Tokyo.
The eldest son arrived in Beijing from Pyongyang by air along with a high-level
Chinese party official, Wang Jiarui, who met with the North Korean leader in
Pyongyang on Jan. 23, delivering a letter from Chinese President Hu Jintao.
Responding to reporters' questions on how Kim will decide on his successor, Kim
Jong-nam said upon arrival at an airport in Beijing, "No one can say
positively... only my father will decide." He was clad in a thick jumper,
sunglasses and a cap, and answered questions in both English and Korean.
Jong-nam said that he had no information related to the report that Jong-un was
tapped as his father's successor, telling reporters that "it is not right to make
assumptions when nothing has been decided. When asked again, he told reporters to
"ask that directly to my brother."
When asked by reporters whether he holds great influence in North Korea, he said,
"That is not so." He also said that he cannot "answer such sensitive questions"
when asked if he has won the support of his uncle, Jang Song-taek, who is Kim
Jong-il's brother-in-law.
Jong-nam is reported to have won the support of Jang, director of the
administrative department of the Workers' Party, in the competition to become the
successor.
He is also speculated to have established connections with high-profile Chinese
officials from his frequent trips to Beijing, which may contribute to the forming
of stronger ties between the socialist allies.
"Don't just ask me (on the succession plan), ask Mr. Wang Jiarui too," the son
said at the airport in an apparent effort to dodge further questions.
When asked about the state of his father's health, the son, who said he was in
Beijing for personal matters, declined to comment on "such a sensitive issue."
"Please understand that I cannot disclose anything even if I have any
information," the eldest son said, underlining that it is his principle to
exercise discretion on his father's health.
He said that he plans to stay in Beijing for a couple of days for "personal
leisure" and return to North Korea in a few weeks after spending some time in an
undisclosed third country. The son also said that he had no plans to meet with
Chinese officials during the stay.
------------------------
Six-way Talks Essential to Ending N. Korean Nukes: Clinton
WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Jan. 27
that the six-party talks are "essential" to ending North Korea's nuclear weapons
ambitions.
"With respect to North Korea, the six-party talks are essential," Clinton said in
her first news briefing since taking office Jan. 22, adding the multilateral
talks have been "a useful forum for participants to deal with the challenge of
North Korea's nuclear program and the other issues that are part of the North
Korean agenda."
The top U.S. diplomat did not dismiss the idea of dealing with the North
bilaterally as well as through the six-party talks, saying, "We are going to
pursue steps that we think are effective. And I think I will leave it at that."
Clinton was repeating the remarks she made at her confirmation hearing before the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week, saying she will engage North Korea
directly as well as through the six-party talks to address the socialist nation's
alleged uranium-based nuclear program and suspected nuclear proliferation, as
well as its declared plutonium-producing reactor.
She also said that she will employ "smart power" that "requires reaching out to
both friends and adversaries to bolster old alliances and to forge new ones."
Clinton was echoing U.S. President Barack Obama's inaugural address pledge made
last week, in which he said he will "work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat
with old friends and former foes."
Obama said during his election campaign that he will meet with North Korean
leader Kim Jong-il to address threats from North Korea. Pyongyang detonated its
first nuclear device in 2006 and has test fired long-range missiles.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said in a daily news briefing that what
Clinton said was clear. "She said it's essential -- the six-party framework. And
I think the word 'essential' basically tells you a lot."
Wood said that the Obama administration is reviewing its policy "with regard to
North Korea and its nuclear weapons programs," but did not give a time frame for
the review process.
(END)
The famine of the 1990s has caused severe cognitive deficiencies among young
North Koreans, said the report by the National Intelligence Council that used
studies from several U.S. intelligence agencies.
The rate of disqualification will peak in the 2009-2013 period, during which an
estimated 17-29 percent of potential North Korean recruits born during the 1990s
famine will reach military age, it said.
"Poor health is weakening military readiness because capable new recruits are in
short supply. Loyalty may also erode over time," the report said.
North Korea boasts a 1.1-million-strong military under leader Kim Jong-il's
"songun" or "military-first" policy, which prioritizes the military's combat
ability and its welfare over any other issue.
But its size and morale seem to be thinning. Two-thirds of young adults are now
considered malnourished or anemic, the report said, and nationwide malnutrition
has compelled Pyongyang to lower minimum height and weight requirements for
military service.
Chronic malnutrition occurring before age two can lower IQ by approximately 5-15
points, it said.
The report noted the socialist country's once efficient health care system broke
down amid the famine, but it is "extremely difficult to track" prevalent
outbreaks such as tuberculosis, scarlet fever and measles in the country because
of its secretiveness.
Malnutrition-related cognitive disabilities among North Korean youth will bog
down future economic growth in the North regardless of whether it unifies with
South Korea or opens to outside assistance, it said.
"If reunification occurs, South Korea will face the costs not only of
incorporating an economic void, but also those of a huge healthcare burden," it
warned, suggesting that the international community help enhance North Korea's
medical condition as a means of "diplomacy through the back door."
------------------------
President Lee Says Reconciliation with N. Korea Top Priority
SEOUL (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Jan. 23 called on the
military to fully prepare to counter any provocation from North Korea, meanwhile
saying the nation's top priority is securing peace and reconciliation between the
divided Koreas.
The call came less than a week after the North's Korean People's Army (KPA) said
it will take an "all-out confrontation posture" against the South.
"It would be best if we are able to maintain peace between the South and the
North and that the two reconcile with each other," Lee said in a phone call to
the commander of an front-line Army division.
"There should be no problems as long as our military maintains a perfect defense
posture," the president said during his phone call, made ahead of the Lunar New
Year, one of the country's biggest traditional holidays that falls on Jan. 26.
In a separate phone call to the commander of a Navy unit deployed in the Yellow
Sea, Lee again stressed the need to deter any aggression from the socialist
nation, especially over the holiday weekend.
------------------------
Obama Urged to Focus on Human Rights in Dealing with N. Korea
WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- The former U.S. special envoy for human rights in North
Korea has urged the new Obama administration to emphasize human rights in dealing
with the reclusive regime.
"In a manner similar to Helsinki, the U.S., South Korea, Japan and our other
partners now have the opportunity to expand our approach to one of constructive
engagement, an effort that is intended to open up the North Korean regime," Jay
Lefkowitz, U.S. special envoy for human rights in North Korea, said in his final
report submitted to the U.S. government recently. He resigned soon after Obama's
inauguration on Jan. 20.
Lefkowitz, appointed by then President George W. Bush in 2005 under the North
Korean Human Rights Act, was referring to the Helsinki Act signed in 1975 by the
U.S. and 34 other Western countries. It called for a focus on human rights in
dealing with the Soviet Union and other Eastern bloc states.
The Helsinki process led to the creation of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and resulted in the collapse of the Soviet bloc
nations in the early 1990s.
The Pyongyang initiative, Lefkowitz said, "may consist of a new framework for
dialogue and effective steps to interact more deeply with North Korea. This
should involve a candid and ongoing human rights dialogue with Pyongyang as a
condition for the future normalization of relations."
Lefkowitz proposed that the U.S. and its allies cooperate closely to link any aid
to North Korea with human rights improvements. Such aid would include development
assistance, World Bank loans, trade access and food.
"When countries provide unilateral aid to North Korea, it is easier for Pyongyang
to resist monitoring," he said. "If aid donors could be syndicated and would
agree to offer large amounts of humanitarian assistance to North Korea contingent
on full access and monitoring, Pyongyang might feel impelled to accept."
"Were this to happen, the misery of the North Korean people could be partially
alleviated in a way that does not strengthen the regime," he added.
------------------------
U.N. Committee to Examine Human Rights of Children in N. Korea
GENEVA (Yonhap) -- A United Nations committee is set to question North Korean
officials on Jan. 23 about the socialist country's policy on protecting the human
rights of children in the country, the first such session since 2004.
The one-day session on North Korea conducted by the U.N. Committee on the Rights
of the Child in Geneva is the third of its kind, following similar sessions in
1998 and 2004 that examined malnutrition, infant mortality and budget cuts
related to children's welfare.
The committee's review is expected to become a guideline for a possible
resolution on North Korea's human rights if it is put to a vote at the U.N.
General Assembly later this year.
North Korea, a member of the U.N. Convention of the Rights of the Child,
submitted a report in January 2008 saying the country pushed forward economic
construction that helped enhance children's welfare.
But the report also noted the 2001-2007 period under review was a time of trial
for the North because of security threats, in an apparent reference to its
largely frayed relations with the United States and Japan.
"The period under review was a period in which the DPRK went through a harsh
trial due to the unfavorable developments that gravely threatened the security of
the country," the report said, using the acronym for the North's official name,
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Still, "the government has invariably maintained the principle that children
represent the future of the country and are the king of the country," it said.
A panel of 18 international experts will examine the report and will pose
questions to a North Korean government delegation during the open session, the
U.N. committee said in statements.
The U.N. committee on the rights of children holds such sessions annually, with
this year's meeting focusing on conditions in North Korea and five other
countries, including the Congo and Malawi.
With non-governmental organizations in North Korea virtually nonexistent, the
U.N. committee defers to international organizations to verify the North's
claims.
North Korean defectors' organizations in South Korea recently flew to Geneva to
provide their account of the human rights situation in North Korea.
------------------------
N.K. Leader's Eldest Son Says He's Not Interested in Succession
BEIJING (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's first son, Kim Jong-nam,
said on Jan. 24 that his father is the sole person who can decide on the
succession of power in the socialist country, and he himself has no interest in
becoming the country's leader.
"I myself have no interest," Kim Jong-nam, 38, said in a Beijing hotel. "That is
for my father to decide."
Sources well-informed on North Korea recently said that Kim Jong-il, apparently
driven by his poor health due to a suspected stroke last year, has designated his
third son, Jong-un, as his successor and delivered a directive on the nomination
to the Workers' Party leadership.
Jong-nam had long been considered the favorite to succeed his father until he was
caught trying to enter Japan on a fake passport in 2001, reportedly telling
Japanese officials he wanted to visit Disneyland in Tokyo.
The eldest son arrived in Beijing from Pyongyang by air along with a high-level
Chinese party official, Wang Jiarui, who met with the North Korean leader in
Pyongyang on Jan. 23, delivering a letter from Chinese President Hu Jintao.
Responding to reporters' questions on how Kim will decide on his successor, Kim
Jong-nam said upon arrival at an airport in Beijing, "No one can say
positively... only my father will decide." He was clad in a thick jumper,
sunglasses and a cap, and answered questions in both English and Korean.
Jong-nam said that he had no information related to the report that Jong-un was
tapped as his father's successor, telling reporters that "it is not right to make
assumptions when nothing has been decided. When asked again, he told reporters to
"ask that directly to my brother."
When asked by reporters whether he holds great influence in North Korea, he said,
"That is not so." He also said that he cannot "answer such sensitive questions"
when asked if he has won the support of his uncle, Jang Song-taek, who is Kim
Jong-il's brother-in-law.
Jong-nam is reported to have won the support of Jang, director of the
administrative department of the Workers' Party, in the competition to become the
successor.
He is also speculated to have established connections with high-profile Chinese
officials from his frequent trips to Beijing, which may contribute to the forming
of stronger ties between the socialist allies.
"Don't just ask me (on the succession plan), ask Mr. Wang Jiarui too," the son
said at the airport in an apparent effort to dodge further questions.
When asked about the state of his father's health, the son, who said he was in
Beijing for personal matters, declined to comment on "such a sensitive issue."
"Please understand that I cannot disclose anything even if I have any
information," the eldest son said, underlining that it is his principle to
exercise discretion on his father's health.
He said that he plans to stay in Beijing for a couple of days for "personal
leisure" and return to North Korea in a few weeks after spending some time in an
undisclosed third country. The son also said that he had no plans to meet with
Chinese officials during the stay.
------------------------
Six-way Talks Essential to Ending N. Korean Nukes: Clinton
WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Jan. 27
that the six-party talks are "essential" to ending North Korea's nuclear weapons
ambitions.
"With respect to North Korea, the six-party talks are essential," Clinton said in
her first news briefing since taking office Jan. 22, adding the multilateral
talks have been "a useful forum for participants to deal with the challenge of
North Korea's nuclear program and the other issues that are part of the North
Korean agenda."
The top U.S. diplomat did not dismiss the idea of dealing with the North
bilaterally as well as through the six-party talks, saying, "We are going to
pursue steps that we think are effective. And I think I will leave it at that."
Clinton was repeating the remarks she made at her confirmation hearing before the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week, saying she will engage North Korea
directly as well as through the six-party talks to address the socialist nation's
alleged uranium-based nuclear program and suspected nuclear proliferation, as
well as its declared plutonium-producing reactor.
She also said that she will employ "smart power" that "requires reaching out to
both friends and adversaries to bolster old alliances and to forge new ones."
Clinton was echoing U.S. President Barack Obama's inaugural address pledge made
last week, in which he said he will "work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat
with old friends and former foes."
Obama said during his election campaign that he will meet with North Korean
leader Kim Jong-il to address threats from North Korea. Pyongyang detonated its
first nuclear device in 2006 and has test fired long-range missiles.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said in a daily news briefing that what
Clinton said was clear. "She said it's essential -- the six-party framework. And
I think the word 'essential' basically tells you a lot."
Wood said that the Obama administration is reviewing its policy "with regard to
North Korea and its nuclear weapons programs," but did not give a time frame for
the review process.
(END)
