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Group Sues North Korea for Its Support to Terrorist Attack in 1972

A group called Shurat HaDin has filed a suit against North Korea in a U.S. district court in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The suit charges North Korea of supporting the 1972 terrorist attack on Lod Airport.

During the assault on Lod Airport, 26 people were killed and 80 others were injured by the attackers alleged to have been trained by North Korea. The attack was attributed to the Japanese Red Army and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

This is the first time North Korea is being held to account in a U.S. court for its support of terrorism.

Group sues North Korea for 1972 terror attack
World Tribune
12/02/2009

WASHINGTON — Families of victims have filed suit against North Korea on charges of supporting a major attack by the Japanese Red Army in Israel.

The group, Shurat HaDin, has filed a suit in a U.S. district court in San Juan, Puerto Rico for the families of the victims of the 1972 attack.

During the assault on Lod Airport, 26 people were killed and 80 others were injured by attackers alleged to have been trained by North Korea. The attack was attributed to the Japanese Red Army and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

"This will be the first time North Korea is being held to account in a U.S. court for its support of terrorism over many decades," Shurat HaDin said on Dec. 1.

Most of the victims in the 1972 shooting were Catholic pilgrims from Puerto Rico who had come to visit the Holy Land for the first time. The court complaint alleged that Pyongyang had trained and financed the three attackers, who used automatic weapons, ammunition and grenades. Two of the three attackers were killed and the third was captured and sentenced to prison in Israel.

"North Korea was behind the attack," Shurat HaDin said. "As the trial will show incontrovertibly, in the months leading up to the massacre the leaders of the JRA and PFLP met each other and with North Korean officials, who provided funding, intelligence, training, and other material support for the terrorists."

The trial was scheduled to begin on Dec. 3 in the U.S. federal district court in San Juan. The plaintiffs have argued that North Korea supported JRA's plan to target Israel as part of its campaign to promote communist revolution.

North Korea, removed from the State Department's list of terrorist sponsors in 2008, has been identified as a leading weapons supplier to Iran and Syria. Israel has asserted that Pyongyang helped build the huge underground network for Hizbullah in southern Lebanon. Shurat HaDin has filed two other lawsuits against North Korea.

"It is widely known that one of the world's most oppressive regimes [North Korea] is also a consistent support of terrorism, including providing weaponry, training bases, and funding for Palestinian terrorist organizations," Shurat HaDin said.

Korean Peninsula Today, 24 July 2009

N. Korea calls 'comprehensive package' of U.S. incentives 'nonsense' (Yonhap)

PHUKET – A senior North Korean diplomat on Thursday dismissed a U.S.-proposed "comprehensive package" of political and economic incentives for Pyongyang as "nonsense."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on a visit here to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), said Wednesday that Washington is willing to provide the package, including the normalization of diplomatic relations with Pyongyang, if the communist nation moves towards "complete and irreversible" denuclearization.

The comprehensive package is nonsense," Ri Hung-sik, director-general of the North Korean foreign ministry's international organization bureau. Ri is deputy head of the North's delegation to the ARF.

"It is just a replay of the Bush administration's policy of CVID (complete, verifiable, irreversible dismantlement)," Ri told reporters.

He said the North Korean government does not care about U.N. sanctions imposed on Pyongyang for its nuclear test in May, adding it has been under such sanctions "for half a century."

He also charged that the current standoff between Pyongyang and Washington stems from Washington's "deep-rooted hostile policy" against Pyongyang.

Ri said U.S. officials should think about why the North has chosen to develop nuclear weapons.

"The U.S. is telling us to take off all of our clothes," he said. "The most important thing for us is sovereignty. Sovereignty, security, namely life, should be guaranteed. How can we barter life with money?"

The North Korean diplomat said his country is willing to talks with the U.S. if it abandons its hostile policy.

"We can't talk with a person with a knife in his pocket," he said.

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Remarks at the ASEAN Summit (U.S. Department of State)

SECRETARY CLINTON: Good afternoon. Let me start by saying we’ve had a series of very productive sessions here in Phuket, and I’ve had the opportunity for the first time to engage with the nations of ASEAN and our regional partners on issues of common concern, to sign the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, and to lay the groundwork for even stronger partnerships as we move forward.

I’ve also had the opportunity to meet one on one with a number of my counterparts. Earlier, I met with Foreign Minister Qureshi of Pakistan, and we talked about the encouraging signs in Pakistan’s fight against violent extremists, including the return of significant numbers of refugees to Buner and Swat. There are still great challenges ahead facing Pakistan, including the ongoing threat of violent extremism and continuing economic difficulty. But I assured the foreign minister that the United States stands ready to help the Pakistani Government and people. And I also advised him that I support the steps Pakistan and India have taken to find a more productive way forward.

I want to take this opportunity to discuss the situation in North Korea and our efforts here in the ASEAN Regional Forum to promote security in Northeast Asia. Yesterday, I held consultations with our allies and partners in the Six-Party process, and this morning, there was a very good discussion with the ASEAN nations and regional partners. I was gratified by how many countries from throughout the region spoke up and expressed directly to the North Korean delegation their concerns over the provocative behavior we have seen these past few months.

Unfortunately, the North Korean delegation offered only an insistent refusal to recognize that North Korea has been on the wrong course. In their presentation today, they evinced no willingness to pursue the path of denuclearization. And that was troubling not only to the United States, but to the region and the international community. So the question is, where do we go from here?

I think it’s important to stress that the international community’s response to North Korea’s actions has been unequivocal and nearly unanimous, leading to a new consensus around a common set of principles. The United States and its allies and partners cannot accept a North Korea that tries to maintain nuclear weapons to launch ballistic missiles or to proliferate nuclear materials. And we are committed to the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner. Now this convergence of views reflected, as you will see later today in statements by ASEAN, and as you saw just a few weeks ago with the G-8 statement and others, produced two important Security Council actions – a presidential statement and a unanimous binding resolution.

Now these are more than expressions of condemnation. Resolution 1874, combined with the designations authorized by the UN Sanctions Committee, provides a powerful tool to curb North Korea’s unacceptable activities, and to put pressure on individuals and entities connected to the regime’s nuclear, ballistic missile, and other WMD-related programs. We believe that this resolution can be effective because it is unprecedented in scope, substance, and approach.

First, it differs from past efforts in that it is based on a global consensus, bringing to bear the combined weight of the international community, not just one nation or a small handful of nations. Second, it targets a spectrum of individuals, organizations, and institutions, not just one or two. Third, it fits into the broader framework of our approach to North Korea. It is accompanied by a message, as I reiterated this morning, that we are prepared to work with the North Koreans if they are willing to act on their previous commitments.

In short, our approach isolates North Korea, imposes meaningful pressure to force changes in its behavior, and provides an alterative path that would serve everyone’s interests. Our joint efforts to take Resolution 1874 from paper to practice are now underway. I asked Ambassador Philip Goldberg to lead an interagency team charged with implementing the sanctions, and he’s already traveled to the region to consolidate and coordinate our efforts. Russian and Chinese representatives have visited Washington to work together on these issues.

And in addition to this week’s meetings, I’ve spoken repeatedly with my counterparts in China, Russia, Japan, and South Korea about our common way forward. I intend to send Ambassador Goldberg back to the region in the near future to continue our common efforts to enforce the sanctions. And next Monday and Tuesday, as part of our strategic and economic dialogue with China, I will be holding intensive discussions with State Councilor Dai Bingguo on North Korea and the broader questions of peace and security in Asia.

In implementing 1874, we are asking our partners to help dissuade all nations from facilitating, directly or indirectly, North Korea’s attempts to enhance and proliferate its nuclear and missile technologies. We were gratified by Burma’s statement and those of many other countries announcing an intension to implement the resolution. Burma’s statement is significant because in the past, North Korea has provided Burma with materials now barred by Resolution 1874.

The bottom line is this: If North Korea intends to engage in international commerce, its vessels must conform to the terms of 1874 or find no port. Our goal in enforcing these sanctions and others imposed earlier is not to create suffering or to destabilize North Korea. Our quarrel is not with the North Korean people. In fact, it was the North Korean leadership that rejected humanitarian aid from the United States and forced us to suspend our food aid program.

So let me be clear: As we work to end the regime’s nuclear program, we remain committed to the well-being, dignity, and human rights of the people of North Korea. We will continue to work closely with other governments, international organizations, and NGOs to address human rights violations and abuses perpetuated by the regime. We will maintain our support of NGOs working to improve human rights in North Korea. And we will keep funding Korean language radio broadcasting for the same purposes, and we will soon announce a special envoy for North Korean human rights.

As we enforce sanctions, we are open to talks with North Korea, but we are not interested in half measures. We do not intend to reward the North just for returning to the table. We will not give them anything new for actions they have already agreed to take. And we have no appetite for pursuing protracted negotiations that will only lead us right back to where we have already been.

We and our partners have a more ambitious agenda for any future talks. Such talks must lead to irreversible steps by North Korea to denuclearize. This, in turn, would lead us and our partners to reciprocate in a comprehensive and coordinated manner. Full normalization of relationships, a permanent peace regime, and significant energy and economic assistance are all possible in the context of full and verifiable denuclearization.

In the meantime, we will undertake the necessary defensive measures to protect our interests and our allies. North Korea’s ongoing threatening behavior does not inspire trust, nor does it permit us to sit idly by. Our partners in the region understand that a nuclear North Korea has far-reaching consequences for the security future of Northeast Asia. North Korea’s continued pursuit of its nuclear ambitions is sure to elevate tensions on the Korean Peninsula and could provoke an arms race in the region. This would serve no nation’s interests – not ours, not Japan’s, South Korea’s, China, nor Russia’s and nor, might I add, North Korea’s.

Our success in putting this resolution into action will also have implications beyond North Korea. It will demonstrate to other countries with nuclear ambitions, such as Iran’s, that we can and will impose costly penalties for those who violate international agreements and undermine global security. And it will give us a blueprint for how to manage any similar challenges that might arise in the future.

So our policy is clear. North Korea knows what it has to do: return to denuclearization talks and fulfill its commitments under the 2005 joint statement to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and return at an early date to the nonproliferation treaty and to IAEA safeguards. The path is open, and it is up to North Korea to take it.

Thank you very much.

QUESTION: Thanks. Madame Secretary, the North Korean representatives today spoke just behind us over there and said that the Six-Party Talks were dead; there is no way they’re coming back, and that whatever we have to offer them in terms of incentives is nothing new to them, and they won’t accept it.

The foreign ministry at the same time issued a statement with actual attacks and insults personally aimed at you. I wonder whether you think that perhaps the time has come to replace the Six-Party framework with perhaps a broader framework. You just suggested that there’s a broad consensus today here about what to do with North Korea. And since China has been reluctant to put it – amend the resolution so far, what would you want them to do when you meet with them on Monday and Tuesday in Washington?

Oh, and one more: Aren’t you exhausted?

SECRETARY CLINTON: (Laughter.) Aren’t you?

QUESTION: I am. That’s why I’m asking.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, first, let me say that China has been very vigorous in working with us in support of full implementation of 1874. Just as we have, they created an interagency task force which is working with our own people. There has already been a meeting in Beijing, and I said, there will be a follow-on meeting in Washington.

The Chinese have been very supportive in our efforts to deliver a strong message to North Korea and to other nations that they expect, as we do, that the international community will enforce 1874. They played a very helpful role in the matter of the North Korean ship that was on its way to Burma.

In addition, today, the Six-Party members who were present, with the exception of North Korea, reiterated their commitment to this process and made it very clear that there is no place to go for North Korea. They have no friends left that will protect them from the international community’s efforts to move toward denuclearization. So I think it’s fair to say that not only were Russia, China, Japan, and South Korea very strong in making the points which they did this morning, but those points were echoed by so many of the ASEAN members and other regional partners.

So the message is coming out loudly and clearly to North Korea. And I don’t think we’ve seen at all the way this will eventually develop. I think we’re just still at the beginning of determining how they’re going to respond.

QUESTION: What framework (inaudible)?

SECRETARY CLINTON: The framework is the Six-Party Talks.

MR. KELLY: Next question (inaudible).

QUESTION: Madame Secretary, what evidence do you have of Burma’s cooperation in enforcing the UN Security Council resolution? How did your talks with Burmese officials go last night? And most importantly, how do you reconcile your appreciation and gratitude that they are promising to enforce that with your two days of public, strong comments about concerns of military and even nuclear cooperation between Burma and North Korea?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, we’ve expressed that very clearly and forcefully, but I do think there is a positive direction that we’ve seen with Burma, both in the already existing cooperation they showed with respect to the North Korean ship, in their statements to us and others that they intend to do their part to enforce 1874. Now, obviously, we have to see that unfold, but that’s never happened before, and we’re very encouraged by that. At the same time, we know that there has been cooperation between North Korea and Burma in the past, and we are going to be vigilant to make sure that it doesn’t occur in the future.

I was not part of any talks. Others in our Administration were, and we made it very clear, both privately and publicly, that there are expectations on our part that Aung Sun Suu Kyi be released unconditionally, that there begin a process of release of political prisoners, that the election scheduled for next year be open and fair and transparent and credible. And that view was echoed by many people in the room. It was not just a U.S. view. It was very widely and, I must say, heart – it was really expressed from the heart by so many people.

So we hope that there is going to be recognition on the part of the Burmese leadership that they have more to gain by joining the international community and by effectively taking care of their people and putting Burma on the path to democracy. We don’t expect to see a change overnight, but we’re – it’s better to have those positive statements than the negative ones. So we think that gives us at least something to work with.

QUESTION: (Inaudible.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: Right. And I spoke to foreign ministers in the area, asking their help in speaking to their Burmese counterpart. And they did so, and whether or not it was a proximate cause, shortly after, the ship turned around.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) from (inaudible) in Asia. I just wanted to clarify, when you said U.S. will take any defensive measurements, what exactly that mean? Is it going to be like U.S. ready to start a war with North Korea at any time? And how ASEAN, especially in Myanmar, is going to pick on that?

SECRETARY CLINTON: No. But I wanted to make very clear that the United States does not seek any kind of offensive action against North Korea. We have said that over and over again. The North Koreans said in a meeting today that they’ve been subjected to nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula aimed at them. That hasn’t happened for decades. So I think they are living in a historical time period that doesn’t reflect today’s realities.

We are very open to a positive relation with North Korea on the condition that they denuclearize. But if they refuse to do so, as they have in the last months, and refuse to follow the obligations they themselves signed up to in 2005 and -06, then our allies in South Korea and Japan and other countries in the region begin to worry about what North Korea’s intentions are. And we want to make clear that the United States will continue to work for the defense of allies like Japan and South Korea. And that’s unfortunately our obligation, one that we will be serious in fulfilling. But it’s not directed in any offensive manner against North Korea.

We also wish to avoid an arms race in Northeast Asia. If the North Koreans are going to continue to test nuclear weapons and their missiles, then other countries are going to start saying, well, we don’t know what they’re going to do, we’d better start taking care of ourselves and doing that and to have that capacity.

We think that would be a terrible mistake. So we’re trying to make clear that we will protect and defend our allies, but we still hope that there is an opportunity to work with North Korea toward denuclearization.

MR. KELLY: Okay, thank you.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you.

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North Korean Exports Total 1.13 Billion USD in 2008 (Institute for Far East Studies)

According to a report released by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), mineral products again topped the list of DPRK exports, accounting for 41.3 percent of goods sent out of the country last year. The KOTRA report, “2008 DPRK Trade Trends,” states that the North’s 2008 exports, totaling 1,130,213,000 dollars, increased by 23 percent over the 918.77 million USD-worth of goods exported in 2007.

With the exception of plastic and wooden goods, North Korean exports grew in all areas. Mineral products accounted for 41.3 percent; non-ferrous minerals made up 16.8 percent, textiles accounted for 10.6 percent; chemical plastics made up 7.6 percent; electrical and electronic machinery made up 7 percent; and animal products accounted for 3.6 percent.

Mineral goods were up 33.5 percent over last year, recording sales of 465.44 million USD. This sector has shown continuous growth over the last five years. In 2004, trade in these goods brought in 152.28 million USD; in 2005, 243.66 million USD; in 2006, 244.43 million USD; and in 2007, 349.58 million USD.

Since 2003, North Korea has concentrated on invigorating the light-industrial sector, and has emphasized the export of manufactured goods. However, last year, exports of mineral products and non-ferrous minerals combined to make up a total of 58.1 percent of all exports; the North has been unable to restructure its export sector or satisfactorily boost light-industrial manufacturing.

North Korea’s imports grew as well, to more than twice that of exports. Bringing in goods worth 2,685,478,000 USD, imports grew by 32 percent over the 2.023 billion in imports during 2007. In 2008, mineral products accounted for 25.9 percent of imports; fibers accounted for 11.9 percent; electrical and electronic machinery, 11.5 percent; processed food items, 8.8 percent; chemical and heavy industrial goods, 7.5 percent; and non-ferrous minerals, 6.6 percent. Import of fibers, processed food, and mineral products grew, while the import of animal products, vegetable products and automobiles fell.

Crude petroleum, the North’s largest import item, was imported exclusively from China, and was up 46.9 percent (414.31 million USD) over 2007 (281.97 million USD). However, due to the loss of other sources of fuel, overall imports of crude grew by a mere 1 percent.

Import of grains fell in 2008, recording only 86.24 million USD; a fall of 25.6 percent from the 115.86 million USD in grain imports during 2007. KOTRA explains that due to instability in the grain market, imports from China of rice and barley were halted in April, while corn imports were halted in August.

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U.S. Lawmakers Urges To Re-list Dprk as State Sponsor of Terrorism (Xinhua)

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate on Wednesday called for the Obama administration to assess the possibilities of relisting the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as a state sponsor of terrorism.

The Senate on Wednesday discussed two amendments dealing with the DPRK and the State Department's State Sponsors of Terrorism list on the National Defense Authorization Act.

The first amendment, which was adopted by a vote of 66-31, called on the Obama administration to submit a report within 30 days to assess the DPRK's behavior since it was removed from the State Department's State Sponsors of Terrorism list.

The assessment should include an evaluation of any evidence that the DPRK has "engaged in acts of terrorism or provided support for acts of terrorism or terrorist organizations," according to SENATUS, a website specializing in coverage of the Senate's daily activities.

"If the report finds evidence that North Korea has in fact provided support for terrorism activities, they should immediately be relisted on the State terrorism list," said the report.

Under the six-party talk's framework which characterized with " action for action," on October 11, 2008, following Pyongyang agreed to all U.S. nuclear inspection demands, the Bush administration responded by removing the DPRK from the terrorism blacklist.

But voice asking to put the DPRK back on the list has been surging inside the United States since Pyongyang conducted an underground nuclear test on May 25 and subsequently fired at least seven ballistic missiles.

Pyongyang also boycotted the six-party talks on its nuclear program.

Responding to Pyongyang's behaviors, the Obama administration has decided to extend economic sanctions by prolonging the national emergency on the DPRK and has vowed to enforce sanctions against Pyongyang set in the 1874 UN Security Council Resolution.

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U.S. worried about regional arms race due to N. Korea (Yonhap)

PHUKET – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized Thursday what she called North Korea's anachronistic claim aimed at justifying its nuclear ambitions.

"I think they are living in a sort of time period that doesn't reflect today's realities," the secretary said at a press conference after a session of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) on this Thai resort island.

North Korean delegates claimed Pyongyang has been subjected to threats by U.S. nuclear weapons deployed in South Korea, a false charge since all tactical U.S. nuclear weapons were removed from the peninsula in the early 1990s, Clinton said.

She added the U.S. is "very open to a positive relation with North Korea" on the condition that it is denuclearized.

"But we are not interested in half measures," she said.

The U.S. diplomat also expressed worries about a possible regional arms race because of North Korea.

"North Korea's continued pursuit of its nuclear ambitions is sure to elevate tensions on the Korean Peninsula and could provoke an arms race in the region," she said. "This would serve no nation's interests."

Clinton reaffirmed that Washington is ready to provide defensive measures for its regional allies such as South Korea and Japan.

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US Ready To Execute Contingency Plans After Kim Jong-il's Death (Yonhap)

WASHINGTON – The United States has come up with scenarios to cope with any contingencies in North Korea after leader Kim Jong Il's death, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command said Wednesday.

"We are prepared to execute a wide range of options in concert with allies in South Korea and in discussions through (the Department of) State, which would have the lead, with countries in the region, and internationally if necessary," Adm. Timothy Keating said at a news conference at the Pentagon. "I don't think it is axiomatic that the departure of Kim Jong Il means a national security crisis. We'd hope it wouldn't. But we are going to be prepared if it does mean that."

Keating's remarks come amid allegations that Kim Jong Il has been pushing ahead with nuclear and missile tests to pave the way for a smooth power transition to his third and youngest son Jong-un, 26, after he apparently suffered a stroke last summer.

"What would happen if and when he cedes control or is no longer capable of exercising control? Don't know," the commander said. "But I can tell you that we have plans with the United States Forces-Korea and others in place if the president tells us to execute those plans in the event of some uncertain succession in the North."

The commander made his remarks as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with her counterparts from South Korea, China, Japan and Russia, members of the six-party talks on ending North Korea's ambitions, in Phuket, Thailand, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum.

On the Thai resort island, Clinton expressed the U.S. intent to normalize ties with Pyongyang "if they will agree to irreversible denuclearization."

Otherwise, the top U.S. diplomat warned, the reclusive communist state "will face international isolation and the unrelenting pressure of global sanctions."

Pyongyang has said it will boycott the multilateral nuclear talks unless the U.N. apologizes for the sanctions imposed for its recent nuclear and missile tests.

Keating said he was not sure about the North Korean leader's health and possible successor.

"The facts as I know them are fairly limited. He has clearly suffered some change of health. Is it the result of a stroke? Is that change the result of a stroke? Is there some larger issue at stake? I don't know," he said. "He's a different man today than he was a year ago, physically, in appearance. As to his mental acuity, I don't know. As to the plan for succession, I don't know."

On allegations that North Korea is cooperating militarily with Myanmar, Keating said, "If it is, in fact, Burma that is receiving goods and assistance from North Korea, that's against -- that violates United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718. And we, along with the international community, would be very concerned if that is, in fact, occurring."

Clinton Wednesday expressed "growing concerns" over "military cooperation between North Korea and Burma, which we take very seriously," hinting at the possible transfer of nuclear and missile technology to Myanmar, formerly Burma.

A North Korean cargo ship, possibly on its way to Myanmar, returned home recently after a pursuit by U.S. Navy vessels operating under an interdiction mandate imposed recently by the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874, which was adopted in early June after North Korea's second nuclear test on May 25.

The resolution bans the North from any further nuclear and ballistic missile tests and imposes financial sanctions, an overall arms embargo and cargo interdictions to head off the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by the North.

Under the resolution, the U.N. Security Council slapped fresh sanctions on North Korea last week by listing five North Korean officials and as many North Korean firms subject to a travel ban and asset freeze for their involvement in nuclear and missile development programs.

Korean Peninsula Today, 10 July 2009

US Senators push to punish North Korea (AFP)

WASHINGTON – US Senators on Wednesday introduced a bill to impose new economic sanctions on North Korea, return it to a US terrorism blacklist, and expand US military cooperation with South Korea and Japan.

"The North Korean regime, led by Kim Jong Il, for years has brutally oppressed its own citizens and terrorized other nations," said Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, the legislation's lead author.

"The United States must take bold, unequivocal action to hold this regime accountable and to end its reign of terror in North Korea," said Brownback, a frequent and sharp critic of the regime, especially on human rights issues.

The legislation came as US President Barack Obama's administration sought support for tough enforcement of UN sanctions aimed at shutting down Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.

The lawmakers cited North Korea's nuclear and missile tests and its detention of two US journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, whom a North Korean court sentence on June 8 to 12 years in prison.

The legislation notably directs the US State Department to redesignate North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, reactivating sanctions lifted when Washington took Pyongyang off the blacklist in October.

It also directs the US Treasury Department to prohibit any US bank from doing business with a foreign bank seen as engaging in a financial transaction with the government of North Korea or one of its senior officials.

And it calls on the White House to bolster US military cooperation with South Korea and Japan, including by selling advanced US military hardware to Tokyo, listing Aegis radar systems, various missile defenses, and a variant of the F-22 fighter jet.

The new bill "rightly restores an appropriate policy toward an aggressive North Korean regime, especially given its recent nuclear and missile tests, as well as its refusal to participate in the six-party process," said Republican Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, the Senate's number two Republican.

"It is critical that North Korea be held accountable for their increasingly hostile and erratic behavior," said Republican Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, another backer of the legislation.

The North test-fired seven ballistic missiles on Saturday in an act of defiance amid US efforts to try to tighten financial sanctions on the country.

The tests, apparently timed to coincided with the US Independence Day holiday, were its biggest salvo of ballistic weaponry since the same day in 2006.

Pyongyang carried out a nuclear test on May 25.

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No Evidence Yet of North Korean Uranium Program, South Says (Global Security Newswire)

A South Korean intelligence official said Seoul has not yet discovered any evidence to substantiate North Korea's claim that it is enriching uranium, Kyodo News reported today (see GSN, June 30).

"After North Korean Foreign Ministry's announcement on (the North's) beginning of uranium enrichment on June 13, various suspected places have been under close surveillance, but no evidence has been detected yet," the official told South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.

Pyongyang responded defiantly to international condemnation of its May nuclear test by saying it had begun a program to enrich uranium, apparently for use in a light-water reactor. The North beforehand had publicly denied operating such an effort.

South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee said last month that "it is clear that they are moving forward with" the uranium program, which could provide additional nuclear-weapon material. Pyongyang is believed to have produced enough plutonium for several nuclear weapons, two of which have been tested since 2006

(Kyodo News, July 8).

Meanwhile, the United States is lauding last week's about-face of a North Korean ship believed to have been carrying weapons to Myanmar as proof of the effectiveness of the U.N. Security Council resolution issued after Pyongyang conducted its May 25 nuclear blast, the Christian Science Monitor reported yesterday (see GSN, June 7).

A U.S. naval destroyer was following the Kang Nam 1 before the cargo vessel turned around and apparently returned to port.

"We've already seen a ship of North Korea's turn back because of international effort to implement the sanctions, and I think that is a positive step forward," said U.S. President Barack Obama in an interview with ABC.

The resolution prohibited North Korea from exporting weapons and related material, calling on U.N. states to intercept ships suspected of carrying banned items. Washington and its allies hope the measure would curb Pyongyang's money-making proliferation activities and hobble its nuclear-weapon program.

The U.N. measure also urged international financial institutions to refrain from supporting the North's weapons activities. U.S. Treasury Undersecretary Stuart Levey is in China this week to talk with Chinese financial leaders about cooperating with U.N. efforts to cut off the flow of funds to Pyongyang's arms program (Peter Grier, Christian Science Monitor, July 7).

In another network interview, Obama said the United States is not on the brink of war with North Korea, the Associated Press reported yesterday.

"I don't think that any war is imminent with North Korea," he said in an interview with CBS. He added, "I think they understand that they would be overwhelmed in a serious military conflict with the United States."

Washington has led the U.N. effort to shut down North Korea's arms trade and nuclear program, while the North has said it will treat any forcible interference as a declaration of war (Associated Press/Yahoo!News, July 7).

While diplomacy with Pyongyang has been elusive since it withdrew from the six-party denuclearization talks last spring, Thailand is requesting the presence of a North Korean delegation at a regional security conference scheduled for this month, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum on Thai Island is expected to host high-level delegations from the other six-party nations -- Russia, China, South Korea, Japan and the United States.

"Thailand, host of ASEAN, wants either the North Korean foreign minister or his deputy to come to Thailand to exchange views and discuss the problem of the Korean Peninsula," Panich Vikitset, an official with the Thai Foreign Ministry, told the Bangkok Post (Deutsche Presse-Agentur/EarthTimes.org, July 8).

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Cash-short North Korea to stage mass games (Reuters)

SEOUL – North Korea will stage its Arirang mass games from August, its state media said on Thursday, likely opening an avenue for foreign tourists and currency to flow into the state hit by U.N. sanctions for its May nuclear test.

Arirang, named after a Korean folk song, is the world's biggest choreographed extravaganza with as many as 100,000 participants, much of it homage to leader Kim Jong-il and his dead father, Kim Il-sung, who founded the communist dynasty.

It is part circus act, part rhythmic gymnastics and features dancing girls, goose-stepping soldiers and a massive flip-card animation section.

Hermit North Korea has opened the games over the past several years to foreign tourists who spend thousands of dollars each for mandatory package tours that include pricey hotel stays. It has even allowed in visitors from its main foe, the United States.

The games will be held from August 10 to late September, the North's KCNA news agency said.

"Arirang ... has demonstrated before the world the invincible might of 'Songun' (military-first) Korea in which the army and people are rallied close around leader Kim Jong-il," KCNA said.

The U.N. sanctions imposed after its May 25 nuclear were aimed at halting the North's arms trade, a vital source of hard currency for the country with a broken economy that produces little else it can export.

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Journalist Held in N. Korea Says She Broke the Law (Associated Press)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The sister of an American journalist jailed in North Korea says the woman acknowledged breaking North Korean law during a recent phone call.

Lisa Ling told KCRA-TV in Sacramento she spoke to her sister, Laura Ling, Tuesday around 10:30 p.m.

Lisa Ling said Laura told her she and the other American journalist being held, Euna Lee, violated North Korean law and need the U.S. government's help in obtaining amnesty.

Laura Ling and Lee were working for San Francisco-based Current TV, which former U.S. Vice President Al Gore helped found, when they were detained. They were sentenced last month to 12 years of hard labor for illegal entry and "hostile acts."

Laura Ling said her sister, who suffers from an ulcer, said she regularly sees physicians and is OK.

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G8 Leaders Strongly Condemn North Korea Nuclear Test (AFP – North European Service)

L'AQUILA -- Group of Eight leaders meeting at their summit in Italy issued a strong condemnation of North Korea's May 25 nuclear test, calling it a "flagrant violation" of UN resolutions.

"We condemn in the strongest terms the nuclear test... which constitutes a flagrant violation of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions," the world's most powerful nations said, in a declaration released Thursday [ 9 July].

"Such a test undermines peace and stability in the region and beyond," said the text, which added condemnation of a North Korean missile launch in April.

The world leaders meeting in central Italy urged Pyongyang to return to "full compliance" with its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the International Atomic Energy Agency. [passage omitted]

The leaders also voiced "deep concern" over the danger that terrorists may obtain weapons of mass destruction, saing they are "determined to continue working together to ensure that terrorists never have access to those weapons and related materials."

The G8 statement praised "new fields of cooperation in areas where the risks of terrorism and proliferation are greatest."

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Diet Begins Examining N. Korea Inspection Bill, Passage Unclear (Kyodo)

Tokyo -- A House of Representatives panel began deliberating a bill Thursday aimed at enabling inspections of banned cargo to and from North Korea in response to a recent U.N. resolution punishing the country for its May nuclear test.

But it remains unclear whether the legislation can be enacted by the July 28 end of the current legislative session given the possibility that Prime Minister Taro Aso could dissolve the chamber at any time.

The government, and the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and its partner, the New Komeito party, eye the bill's passage through the panel on Monday and the lower house the following day, at the earliest, according to government and coalition officials.

The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which wields significant sway over the opposition-controlled House of Councillors, has expressed willingness to cooperate in deliberating the government-sponsored bill.

''We have a responsibility for swiftly taking appropriate measures to make this resolution effective given that our country proactively took part in the consultations'' with the United States and others to have the U.N. Security Council adopt it, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told the panel in opening remarks.

The bill, now before the lower house Special Committee on Antipiracy, Measures, Prevention of International Terrorism, and Japan's Cooperation and Support, is designed to enable inspections of banned cargo, including ballistic missile-related material, as called for in U.N. Security Council Resolution 1874, unanimously adopted June 12.

It designates the Japan Coast Guard as the primary agent of such inspections on the high seas and in Japan's territorial waters, while assigning the customs authorities to doing the work at the nation's seaports and airports.

If the Coast Guard cannot handle situations alone because, for example, crew members of a ship under suspicion are heavily armed, the Self-Defense Forces would take necessary action under the maritime police action provision of the SDF law.

Otherwise, the SDF would work on intelligence-gathering and tracking ships suspected of carrying banned cargo, such as arms and material related to nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, in accordance with the Ministry of Defense Establishment law.

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US presses HK to help curb NKorea bank access (Associated Press)

HONG KONG - A top U.S. Treasury official met with Hong Kong regulators Thursday as part of an effort to keep North Korea from using the international financial system to fund its nuclear program and other illicit activities.

Stuart Levey, a U.S. Treasury undersecretary who oversees the department's terrorism and financial intelligence section, met with officials from Hong Kong's de facto central bank, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the bank said in a brief statement to The Associated Press.

The authority refused to release details of the talks.

Stuart Levey traveled to China and Hong Kong this week to gain support for U.S. initiatives to curb North Korea's access to banks and businesses to buy and sell missile and nuclear technology.

He arrived Monday in China and was meeting with government officials and private sector executives Wednesday through Friday.

A Treasury spokesperson did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

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Seoul to enforce new restrictions on goods going into N. Korea (Yonhap)

SEOUL -- Seoul will stiffen control of South Korean goods going into North Korea, mostly banning luxury items such as wine and fur, the Unification Ministry said Thursday.

The restrictions, to take effect as of Friday, are in accordance with U.N. Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1874 adopted after North Korea's second nuclear test on May 25. The resolution prohibits weapons trade with Pyongyang and calls on member states to tighten the sanctions imposed on Pyongyang after its first nuclear test in October 2006. The earlier UNSC resolution bars exports of luxury goods to the North.

The ministry said it will require prior authorization for South Koreans carrying in items from 13 categories including liquor, cosmetics, jewelry, fur products and automobiles.

The government will allow exceptions for South Korean government and business officials who carry in the listed items during travel between the two Koreas on official duty or for personal use during their stay in the North, ministry officials said.

"The government's approval will depend upon whether it believes the goods will be used by South Koreans or given to North Koreans," an official said.

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SKorea to set up cyber command against NKorea (AFP)

South Korea announced it would set up a military command next year to tackle the threat of cyber warfare from North Korea, amid suspicions the North was behind virus attacks earlier this week.

The information security command will be launched on January 1, two years earlier than planned, and become operational in July, said Kim Jae-Min, a defence ministry official in charge of the project.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) warned of a possible third wave of cyber assaults, after identifying the communist North as a suspect in earlier attacks that temporarily crippled South Korean and US websites.

The White House, State Department and Pentagon websites were among those targeted in the initial attack, US experts said separately.

The hacking programme hit 12 South Korean and 14 US organisations early this week.

The NIS said in a statement a second wave of attacks Wednesday was aimed at domestic banks and a security solution provider, and it fears a third round which may target infrastructure such as energy and telecommunications.

The spy agency, which was itself reportedly targeted, said it has urgently distributed "vaccine" programmes to 10 security solution providers.

Its public statement did not suggest the source of the "distributed denial of service" (DDoS) viruses, which invade thousands of personal computers and are programmed to swamp selected websites.

But Park Jie-Won, a member of parliament's intelligence committee, said the NIS told members Wednesday it believed the North or its sympathisers was to blame.

"The NIS claimed the attack was presumed to have been staged by North Korea or followers, without presenting evidence," Park, from the opposition party, told AFP.

The communist state has staged a nuclear test and numerous missile launches in recent weeks, raising regional tensions. A cyber attack, if confirmed, would be a new tactic.

Yonhap news agency quoted a NIS report to the committee as forecasting potential "financial chaos" in the event of a larger cyber attack.

It said the daily value of all online transactions in South Korea -- one of the world's most wired nations -- is six trillion won (4.7 billion dollars).

The NIS said the internal networks of the Seoul government are safe and no information has been leaked.

The government's Korea Information Security Agency said most sites had been restored after the first attacks began in the country late Tuesday -- using 12,000 domestic PCs and 8,000 abroad.

However it said a second round -- using 29,000 hijacked PCs -- was hitting one foreign site and 15 domestic sites, including government agencies and banks and a security solution provider.

Yonhap said victims included the US-South Korea Combined Forces Command, whose server is based in the United States, the National Intelligence Service and South Korea's top security solution provider AhnLab.

AhnLab predicted a third DDoS attack would start at 6:00 pm (0900 GMT) against seven domestic sites.

"This is the worst cyber attack I have seen in my 15-year career," its CEO Hongsun Kim told reporters. "This is an online equivalent of 9/11.

"I don't think an individual hacker can do this. This is an organised attack," he said, adding "very complicated" codes are being planted.

In Washington the Department of Homeland Security confirmed US government and private websites came under attack but declined to identify them.

"It was a pretty massive attack," Johannes Ullrich, chief technology officer for the private US SANS Internet Storm Center, said of the assault which began in the United States last weekend.

He said government sites which were hit included the White House, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, National Security Agency, State Department, US Postal Service, US Treasury Department and Voice of America.

A Pentagon site was also targeted, he said.

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South Korea Hit by More Cyberattacks (Associated Press)

Seven South Korean Web sites are under renewed cyberattack, a government official said Thursday.

Ku Kyo-young from the state-run Korea Communications Commission said the latest assault began around 6:30 p.m. local time (0930 GMT, 5:30 a.m. EDT ) Thursday.

He said one of the affected sites belongs to the government, the other six are private. Some are still working normally despite the attacks.

The National Intelligence Service said in a statement earlier Thursday that it was strengthening cybersecurity measures for government computer networks, citing a possible new wave of attacks which could target national infrastructure operators like energy, telecommunications and media companies.

Seoul-based antivirus software developer AhnLab said it has analyzed a virus program that sent a flood of Internet traffic to paralyze Web sites in both South Korea and the United States.

It said seven South Korean sites were likely to be targeted on Thursday, including those of the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, Kookmin Bank and the mass-circulation Chosun Ilbo newspaper.

South Korean intelligence officials believe North Korea or pro-Pyongyang forces were behind the cyber attacks in the U.S. over the July 4 U.S. Independence Day holiday weekend and in South Korea since Tuesday.

Some South Korean sites remained inaccessible or unstable on Thursday, including the National Cyber Security Center, affiliated with the main spy agency.

The National Intelligence Service informed members of parliament's intelligence committee of its assessment on Wednesday, according to aides to two of the lawmakers. They spoke on condition of anonymity given the classified nature of the information.

The spy agency declined to confirm the information provided by the aides but said in a statement that the sophistication of the attacks suggested they were carried out at a higher level than rogue or individual hackers.

The agency's new statement Thursday didn't mention suspected North Korean involvement and only repeated it was closely cooperating with the U.S. and other countries to discover the origin of the attacks.

U.S. authorities also eyed North Korea as the origin of the trouble, though they warned it would be difficult to identify the attackers quickly.

Three U.S. officials said that while Internet addresses have been traced to North Korea, that does not necessarily mean the attack involved Kim Jong Il's government in Pyongyang. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

On Thursday, the Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported that South Korea has detected signs that North Korea or its sympathizers in China or elsewhere committed the cyberattacks.

The paper, citing an unidentified government official, said the assessment was made after an investigation on infected computers' IP addresses — the Internet equivalent of a street address or phone number.

South Korean media reported in May that North Korea was running a cyberwarfare unit that tries to hack into U.S. and South Korean military networks to gather confidential information and disrupt service.

The communist North has recently engaged in a series of threats and provocative actions widely condemned by the international community including a nuclear test and missile launches, including firing seven ballistic missiles on July 4 in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The cyber outages were caused by so-called denial of service attacks in which floods of computers all try to connect to a single site at the same time, overwhelming the server that handles the traffic, the state-run Korea Information Security Agency said.

In South Korea, 12 sites were initially attacked Tuesday, followed by attacks Wednesday on 10 others, including those of government offices like the presidential Blue House and the Defense Ministry, banks, vaccine firms and Web portals.

The U.S. targets included the White House, Pentagon, Treasury Department and the New York Stock Exchange.

South Korea issued a cybersecurity alert Wednesday, establishing an ad hoc office to monitor and obstruct cyberattacks on state agencies around the clock.

The Ministry of Public Administration and Security said in a statement that personal computers of all civic servants are required to undergo an emergency inspection.

The state-run Korea Communications Commission said Thursday it was considering raising the alert level again to "orange," the second highest of four levels of alertness, if more cyber attacks occur and cause serious problems.

The "orange" level requires the government to mobilize more personnel and equipment to cope with cyber attacks, said agency official Ku Kyo-young. The current level is "yellow."

Ku said about 20,000 computers in South Korea had been infected by Wednesday evening and the number could have increased.

There were no immediate reports of financial damage or leaking of confidential national information, according to the Korea Information Security Agency. The attacks appeared aimed only at paralyzing Web sites.

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U.S. officials eye N. Korea in cyber attack (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON — U.S. authorities say they are eyeing North Korea as the origin of the cyber attack that overwhelmed government websites in the United States and South Korea. But they warned it will be difficult to quickly identify the attackers.

Internet addresses have been traced to North Korea, three officials said, but they added that that does not suggest the attack involved the Pyongyang government. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The Internet attack, which stretched on for days beginning over the July 4 holiday weekend, targeted dozens of government and private sites and underscored how unevenly prepared the U.S. government is to block such assaults.

Targets of the most widespread cyber offensive of recent years also included the National Security Agency, Homeland Security Department and State Department, the Nasdaq stock market and The Washington Post, according to an early analysis of the malicious software used in the attacks.

The cyber assault on the White House site had "absolutely no effect on the White House's day-to-day operations," said spokesman Nick Shapiro.

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Spy Agency Raises Alert Level Against Possible Future Cyber Attacks (Yonhap)

SEOUL -- South Korea's spy agency said Thursday it raised its alert against what could be the third cyber assault on the country's major agencies by hackers possibly linked to North Korea.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said no government documents were retrieved or operations paralyzed by a series of attacks first detected on Tuesday. Two rounds of so-called "distributed denial of service" (DDoS) attacks overwhelmed major Web sites in South Korea and the United States for the past days.

The Web site of South Korea's presidential office and 11 other government bodies were shut down by the cyber attack which, according to initial analysis by the NIS, may be state-sponsored by North Korea.

Ahn Lab Inc., South Korea's largest network security company, said earlier Thursday it expects another round of 24-hour cyber attacks on seven South Korean Web sites from 6 p.m. on the same day. It said a file that includes a list of targets was detected in the virus that triggered the attacks, which has infected at least 29,000 personal computers nationwide.

"The operational networks of the president's office, defense, foreign affairs and other ministries are safe from the DDoS assault as we disconnected them from the Internet in March," The NIS said in a press release.

The agency said it has strengthened its alert for suspicious activities at government-run networks and was running a 24-hour emergency contingency team to deal with any problems from a possible third attack.

The agency said it has distributed vaccine programs to 10 network security companies and was consulting closely with the U.S. and other allies to trace the source of the attacks.

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'N.K. cyber combat unit has 100 hackers' (Korea Herald)

North Korea appears to have masterminded the recent cyber attack that shook dozens of South Korean websites, including that of the presidential office, according to government sources here.

The National Intelligence Service suspects North Korea or its sympathizers may have been behind the Internet attack against major South Korean Web sites of government agencies, banks and Internet portals, which was first detected Tuesday evening, according to the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The spy agency briefed some of the lawmakers on an individual basis or showed written reports that mention North Korea as the suspected source of the attack.

Due to the distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, Internet home pages, including foreign and defense ministries, as well as the presidential office, were shut down or slowed down for hours.

Washington officials also said on Wednesday that the DDoS attacks on some 30 South Korean and U.S. websites came from an Internet IP address in North Korea.

The North Korea link, described by three U.S. officials who asked for anonymity, firmly connected the attacks on U.S. government websites to cyber assaults that hit South Korean websites.

The officials said that while the Internet IP addresses have been traced to North Korea, that does not necessarily mean the attack involved the Kim Jong-il government in Pyongyang.

North Korea, which has been shooting missiles and making threats against the United States and the Lee Myung-bak administration, has been suspected to have accumulated enough technological knowhow and brainpower to initiate cyber warfare.

South Korea's defense ministry said yesterday it will set up a military command next year, instead of 2012 as planned earlier, to better protect the nation's systems from possible cyber attacks.

In early May, South Korean intelligence officials said that North Korea has expanded its cyber combat unit in charge of intelligence gathering through the internet and hacking South Korean or U.S. military computer networks.

The General Staff of the North Korean People's Army has for years been running what it calls the "technology reconnaissance team," which consists of about 100 hackers, mostly graduates of a leading military academy in Pyongyang.

"The unit's job is to penetrate military computer networks to withdraw classified information and spread computer viruses to paralyze South Korean or U.S. systems," a South Korean intelligence official said in May.

After years of tracking which countries visited U.S. military websites the most, the U.S. Pentagon found that users from North Korea logged on most frequently.

The North Korean military also developed a variety of war simulation software including one called "100 combat methods" and computer programs that identify gunshots.

Seoul and Washington signed a memorandum of understanding on April 30 to bolster cooperation in fighting cyber terrorism against their defense networks.