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| Korea |
| A Korean Catastrophe (Sen. Richard Lugar op-ed piece in Wa-Po) |
| 2003-07-17 |
| Much of official Washington is worried, quite rightly, about the crisis over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Pyongyang’s secret program to make bomb-grade uranium, its eviction of nuclear inspectors and its claims to have reprocessed spent reactor fuel for nuclear weapons pose direct threats to U.S. national security. I encourage President Bush to keep working with our friends and allies in the region to persuade North Korea to change course. In addition to efforts on security issues, we need to address a parallel humanitarian problem in North Korea that now appears to be worsening. Up to 300,000 North Korean refugees are stuck in China. Many of them live in hiding in the border areas of northeastern China, fearful of being arrested by Chinese authorities and being sent back to North Korea. Many of the women are exploited by Chinese gangsters and forced into prostitution or abusive marriages. Senator Lugar -- a sober, dry-eyed fellow -- goes on to talk about what we might do. Since it’s an op-ed piece I won’t post it all, but it’s worth the read. |
| Posted by:Steve White |