Talks End as North Korea Declares Itself Nuclear Power

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Talks between the US and North Korea, mediated by China, came to an end yesterday in Beijing. Headlines said North Korea admitted it does have nuclear weapons and that it-s working on making more, but the details differed from report to report, producing confusion over what was said, or what was intended. Accounts agree on North Korea's admission of having nuclear weapons and concession that it might be making more, but there-s enough ambiguity to lead to different conclusions over what the US should do next. President Bush responded by saying that North Korea is -back to the old blackmail game.- Is it time for more talks, sanctions and isolation, or military action? We get perspective from a former Defense Department official, a specialist on US-Korean relations, a South Korean news commentator, and the implementation coordinator of the 1994 Agreed Framework.
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Daniszewski's article, "File Details Iraqi Unit's Role in Dozens of Assassinations"

State Department's Bureau of East Asian Affairs

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Warren Olney