The Wall Street Journal
U.S. to Send 15 Jets to South Korea
By GREG JAFFE and NEIL KING JR.
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
May 27, 2005; Page A6
WASHINGTON -- The same day the Pentagon said it is sending 15 F-117 stealth fighters to South Korea, a senior Bush administration official told lawmakers the U.S. government is plotting strategy in the event the six-party nuclear talks with Pyongyang fail.
The stealth-fighter deployment and increasingly stern language from senior Bush administration officials seem to be part of a broader push by the U.S. to let the North Koreans know they are deeply frustrated with recent impasses in the six-party talks and concerned that North Korea might test a nuclear weapon.
Earlier this week, the Pentagon abruptly suspended a nine-year-old mission inside North Korea to recover the remains of American troops killed during the Korean War. The North Koreans "have created an uncertain atmosphere. And in an uncertain atmosphere there was a judgment made by the people who are responsible for this team that it is not the best time to be there" Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita told reporters yesterday.
U.S. officials involved with the North Korean situation are frustrated over a lack of progress on multiparty negotiations meant to get Pyongyang to give up its nuclear program. North Korea has refused to join the six-country talks for nearly a year. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill told a Senate panel yesterday he didn't want to put a deadline on North Korean participation in the talks, "but clearly this can't go on forever." Mr. Hill said the administration was prepared to deal with North Korea "in any way, shape or form" to get them to abandon their nuclear program.
Despite the tough talk, the U.S. has few good military options in North Korea. There is no guarantee an airstrike could eliminate North Korea's nuclear program -- aspects of which could be moved or hidden. Pyongyang also has a large battery of artillery cannons that would cause massive casualties in Seoul. Military officials said the fighter deployment was part of an "ongoing measure to maintain a credible defensive posture" on the Korean peninsula.
On the diplomatic front, U.S. officials met in secret last week in New York with North Korean representatives. The Pentagon's top Asia official, Richard Lawless, appearing with Mr. Hill, told lawmakers U.S. officials are "preparing...for the possibility" the North Koreans have made "a strategic decision to abandon the talks. We certainly hope that that's not the situation."
Write to Greg Jaffe at greg.jaffe@wsj.com and Neil King Jr. at neil.king@wsj.com
The Wall Street Journal
Pentagon Suspends Searches
For Remains in North Korea
Associated Press
May 25, 2005 6:09 p.m.
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon on Wednesday abruptly suspended U.S. efforts to recover the remains of American soldiers from North Korea, accusing the Koreans of creating an environment that could jeopardize the safety of U.S. workers.
No specifics were provided, but the move came amid rising tensions with the North Korean government over its nuclear weapons and missile programs. The recovery program was suspended once before, from October 2002 to June 2003, after the North Koreans disclosed to a State Department envoy that they had secretly been running an active nuclear weapons program.
The recovery missions began in 1996 and are the only form of U.S.-North Korean military cooperation.
Veterans groups have lobbied to keep the recovery operations going.
So far the work has returned more than 220 remains of U.S. soldiers who died in the Korean War, with the U.S. government paying millions of dollars in cash to the North Korean government for logistical support. Thousands more soldiers are still missing, and a large number of the remains are believed recoverable.
The suspension came just one day after the Pentagon announced that a number of remains of U.S. soldiers had been recovered during the first of what had been scheduled to be a series of missions this year at two former battlefields in North Korea. That announcement gave no indication there was a problem with safety.
"The United States is prepared to continue Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command humanitarian missions to locate, recover and repatriate the remains of Americans still missing in North Korea after they have created an appropriate environment," said a statement issued by U.S. Pacific Command, which overseas the missions.
A spokesman, Lt. Cmdr. Jason Salata, said the decision to suspend operations was made Tuesday by the Defense Department. He said he could not say exactly what prompted the decision.
"The overall environment that the North Koreans have created is not conducive to the effective operation of the missions, so there's a risk there and it's a force protection risk that we view as not ensuring the safest conditions for our recovery teams," Cmdr. Salata said.
The spokesman noted that the North Koreans do not permit U.S. personnel at the recovery sites to communicate with anyone outside of North Korea. This is a restriction that was agreed upon by both sides when they negotiated the terms of the current series of recovery missions. Cmdr. Salata could not say why the restriction is now deemed unacceptable.
"This presents a force protection issue for us, and we want to ensure the safest conditions for our recovery teams," he said. "North Korea has, over the last several weeks, created an atmosphere and an environment unconducive to the continued presence of American personnel in North Korea." He said he could not elaborate.
More than 8,000 U.S. troops are still missing from the Korean War, which ended in July 1953.
U.S. to Send 15 Jets to South Korea
By GREG JAFFE and NEIL KING JR.
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
May 27, 2005; Page A6
WASHINGTON -- The same day the Pentagon said it is sending 15 F-117 stealth fighters to South Korea, a senior Bush administration official told lawmakers the U.S. government is plotting strategy in the event the six-party nuclear talks with Pyongyang fail.
The stealth-fighter deployment and increasingly stern language from senior Bush administration officials seem to be part of a broader push by the U.S. to let the North Koreans know they are deeply frustrated with recent impasses in the six-party talks and concerned that North Korea might test a nuclear weapon.
Earlier this week, the Pentagon abruptly suspended a nine-year-old mission inside North Korea to recover the remains of American troops killed during the Korean War. The North Koreans "have created an uncertain atmosphere. And in an uncertain atmosphere there was a judgment made by the people who are responsible for this team that it is not the best time to be there" Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita told reporters yesterday.
U.S. officials involved with the North Korean situation are frustrated over a lack of progress on multiparty negotiations meant to get Pyongyang to give up its nuclear program. North Korea has refused to join the six-country talks for nearly a year. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill told a Senate panel yesterday he didn't want to put a deadline on North Korean participation in the talks, "but clearly this can't go on forever." Mr. Hill said the administration was prepared to deal with North Korea "in any way, shape or form" to get them to abandon their nuclear program.
Despite the tough talk, the U.S. has few good military options in North Korea. There is no guarantee an airstrike could eliminate North Korea's nuclear program -- aspects of which could be moved or hidden. Pyongyang also has a large battery of artillery cannons that would cause massive casualties in Seoul. Military officials said the fighter deployment was part of an "ongoing measure to maintain a credible defensive posture" on the Korean peninsula.
On the diplomatic front, U.S. officials met in secret last week in New York with North Korean representatives. The Pentagon's top Asia official, Richard Lawless, appearing with Mr. Hill, told lawmakers U.S. officials are "preparing...for the possibility" the North Koreans have made "a strategic decision to abandon the talks. We certainly hope that that's not the situation."
Write to Greg Jaffe at greg.jaffe@wsj.com and Neil King Jr. at neil.king@wsj.com
The Wall Street Journal
Pentagon Suspends Searches
For Remains in North Korea
Associated Press
May 25, 2005 6:09 p.m.
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon on Wednesday abruptly suspended U.S. efforts to recover the remains of American soldiers from North Korea, accusing the Koreans of creating an environment that could jeopardize the safety of U.S. workers.
No specifics were provided, but the move came amid rising tensions with the North Korean government over its nuclear weapons and missile programs. The recovery program was suspended once before, from October 2002 to June 2003, after the North Koreans disclosed to a State Department envoy that they had secretly been running an active nuclear weapons program.
The recovery missions began in 1996 and are the only form of U.S.-North Korean military cooperation.
Veterans groups have lobbied to keep the recovery operations going.
So far the work has returned more than 220 remains of U.S. soldiers who died in the Korean War, with the U.S. government paying millions of dollars in cash to the North Korean government for logistical support. Thousands more soldiers are still missing, and a large number of the remains are believed recoverable.
The suspension came just one day after the Pentagon announced that a number of remains of U.S. soldiers had been recovered during the first of what had been scheduled to be a series of missions this year at two former battlefields in North Korea. That announcement gave no indication there was a problem with safety.
"The United States is prepared to continue Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command humanitarian missions to locate, recover and repatriate the remains of Americans still missing in North Korea after they have created an appropriate environment," said a statement issued by U.S. Pacific Command, which overseas the missions.
A spokesman, Lt. Cmdr. Jason Salata, said the decision to suspend operations was made Tuesday by the Defense Department. He said he could not say exactly what prompted the decision.
"The overall environment that the North Koreans have created is not conducive to the effective operation of the missions, so there's a risk there and it's a force protection risk that we view as not ensuring the safest conditions for our recovery teams," Cmdr. Salata said.
The spokesman noted that the North Koreans do not permit U.S. personnel at the recovery sites to communicate with anyone outside of North Korea. This is a restriction that was agreed upon by both sides when they negotiated the terms of the current series of recovery missions. Cmdr. Salata could not say why the restriction is now deemed unacceptable.
"This presents a force protection issue for us, and we want to ensure the safest conditions for our recovery teams," he said. "North Korea has, over the last several weeks, created an atmosphere and an environment unconducive to the continued presence of American personnel in North Korea." He said he could not elaborate.
More than 8,000 U.S. troops are still missing from the Korean War, which ended in July 1953.