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
.