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(10/22/02 6:58am)
SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea said Monday that it was willing to negotiate over its nuclear weapons program if the United States withdraws its "hostile policy" toward the communist country.\nThe comments by Kim Yong Nam, the North's ceremonial head of state, were unlikely to mollify the United States, which has said North Korea's nuclear program is a nonnegotiable issue and must be dismantled immediately.\nKim made the remarks in a meeting with South Korean delegates in Pyongyang, the North's capital, according to South Korean pool reports.\nThe comments were the North's first official response to a U.S. announcement last week that the communist country had admitted to having a nuclear weapons program in violation of international agreements.\n"We consider the recent situation seriously," pool reports quoted Kim as telling the chief South Korean delegate, Jeong Se-hyun. "If the United States is willing to withdraw its hostile policy toward the North, the North also is ready to resolve security concerns through dialogue."\nNorth Korea has repeatedly accused the United States of plotting to overthrow its government, and has long called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.\nIn Washington, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said President Bush was "concerned" by the North's admission to having the weapons program.\n"The president is concerned about this revelation and the fact that North Korea is pursuing a program in violation of their given word and in violation of an agreed framework that North Korea committed itself to," Fleischer said Monday. "And it is a source of concern, and we continue the talk with our allies in the region about it."\nSouth Korean President Kim Dae-jung, whose policy of engaging North Korea is under severe pressure because of the revelation about the nuclear program, said the South's national security was at stake.\n"The danger of North Korea's nuclear weapons development and other weapons of mass destruction should be eliminated completely," Kim said in Seoul.\nThe meeting with Kim Yong Nam took place before the two sides reconvened another round of talks. After receiving five South Korean delegates as a group, the leader met the chief South Korean delegate privately for 50 minutes, according to reports by South Korean journalists.\n"Both sides were in agreement that the issues raised recently should be resolved expeditiously through dialogue," the reports quoted Rhee Bong-jo, a South Korean spokesman, as saying.
(09/03/02 4:32am)
SEOUL, South Korea -- After spending two nights by candlelight, tens of thousands of South Koreans heaved shovels Monday to clear mud and debris from homes devastated by the worst typhoon to hit the country in 40 years.\nThe government's National Disaster Prevention and Counter-measures Headquarters said at least 88 people were killed and 70 missing in flash floods and landslides caused by Typhoon Rusa over the weekend.\nAuthorities were trying to confirm reports by relatives and villagers that another 29 people were swept away by floodwaters or buried in landslides.\nLocal media gave higher death tolls ranging from 132 to 182.\nBefore landing on South Korea, the typhoon brushed Okinawa, Japan, pulling two U.S. marines under waves on Friday. The missing marines were presumed dead, said Japan Coast Guard official Masayoshi Iranima on Monday.\nU.S. Marines media officer Brad Gordon said Monday that a search-and-recovery operation was under way for the marines, identified earlier as Lance Cpl. Richard Moore, 24, and Lance Cpl. Beatriz Rodriguez, 20. Their hometowns were not given.\nOkinawa, about 1,000 miles southwest of Tokyo, is home to more than half the 47,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan.\nRusa, the Malaysian word for deer, was the most powerful typhoon to hit South Korea since Sarah in 1959, which left more than 840 people dead or missing.\nNorth Korea also reported "huge" damage from the typhoon but did not disclose details. Up to 23 inches of rain fell in parts of Kangwon and Hwanhae provinces over the weekend, said a report by the North's Korean Central News Agency, monitored in Seoul.\nRusa, packing winds of up to 127 mph, dumped up to 36 inches of rain over the weekend in eastern and southern South Korea before moving out of the peninsula Sunday afternoon.\n"This is a hell on earth," said Kim Jung-ok, a 54-year-old housewife in Gangneung in eastern South Korea, shoveling mud from the living room of her flood-damaged home as she wiped away tears.\nGangneung was one of the worst hit by the typhoon. Many parts of the city of 220,000 people were swamped by waist-high floods after 36 inches of rain fell within 30 hours, the highest precipitation since weather officials began compiling records in the 1930s.\nTens of thousands of people in Gangneung and other areas spent Saturday and Sunday nights relying on candlelight due to power outages. Officials began restoring electricity and phone services Monday.\nMore than 17,000 houses and buildings in low-lying areas were submerged, forcing 27,474 residents to take shelter at public buildings and schools, officials said. Floods inundated 12,620 acres of farm land.\nRed Cross and government authorities rushed blankets, instant noodles and other relief goods to flood victims. Soldiers and police were mobilized for the effort.\nThe typhoon caused floods and landslides in vast sections of the country, destroying parts of key railways and roads.\nRail and highway traffic between Seoul and Busan, the nation's second largest city on the south coast, was partly open Monday after workers repaired damaged sections overnight.\nDomestic air service, which had been crippled over the weekend, returned to normal Monday, airport officials said. Ferry service was still suspended.
(09/05/01 4:09am)
SEOUL, South Korea -- Prosecutors indicted 12 newspaper owners and executives Tuesday on charges of evading millions of dollars in taxes and embezzling company funds. \nTax probes began in March against 23 leading newspaper and television organizations. The probes and a criminal investigation touched off debate over the motives of the government, which has lost popularity in recent months. \nCritics denounced the tax investigation as an attempt to muzzle a critical media. The government denied the charges, saying media organizations should be held accountable for financial wrongdoing like any other company. \nThe 23 media organizations were accused of evading taxes totaling $339 million between 1995 and 2000. In June, prosecutors opened a criminal investigation against six newspapers, including the nation's three largest dailies, Chosun Ilbo, Joong Ang Ilbo and Dong-A Ilbo. \nLast month, prosecutors arrested three newspaper owners, including Bang Sang-hoon, president-publisher of Chosun Ilbo; Kim Byung-kwan of Dong-A Ilbo; and Cho Hee-joon, the controlling shareholder of a church-affiliated daily, Kookmin Ilbo. \nThe three were charged with evading up to $4.9 million in corporate and private taxes and embezzling up to $3.5 million in company funds. \nIf found guilty of evading taxes of more than $390,000, they could face prison terms ranging from five years to life. \nPresident Kim Dae-jung, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize last year, has been in conflict with the nation's mainstream newspapers over the government's engagement policy toward North Korea. Critics charge that the government has been too soft on the North's communist government. \nSouth Korea's Cabinet submitted resignations Tuesday in the wake of a parliamentary vote to dismiss the minister in charge of North Korea policy.