To the Point

Nuclear North Korea: Will Its Neighbors Follow Suit?

North Korea is said to be months away from becoming a maker of atom bombs. Old Asia hands are warning about a nuclear arms race, including Japan, the only nation ever to suffer a nuclear strike. President Bush is being criticized for refusing direct negotiations, as North Korea demands. Administration defenders concede that there could be war, but say it won-t be America-s fault. How close is North Korea to economic collapse? What will it take to get South Korea and China more urgently involved? As the US moves towards war with Iraq, we examine the prospects of war in Northeast Asia, with experts from the Center for International Policy and South Korea-s Yonsei University, a Pentagon official from the Bush, Sr. White House, and the implementation coordinator of the 1994 US-North Korea Agreed Framework. Making News: US Seeks Iraqi Drone Clarification on Blix's UN Report Iraq today challenged two American U2 surveillance planes and forced them to land. Meantime, at the UN, the US has accused Chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix of omitting damaging findings from last week-s public report to the Security Council. The Boston Globe-s John Donnelly attributes accusations to part of a US plan to woo the six undecided Security Council members by showing holes in Blix-s presentation. Reporter-s Notebook: Pakistan and the US after Capture of al Qaeda Leader Pakistan, one of 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council, said today it will abstain from voting on the US-backed resolution approving war with Iraq. So where does Pakistan stand with regard to the war on terror, al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden? From Islamabad, Time magazine-s Tim McGirk reports on the tremendous pressures on Pakistan, the upcoming UN vote and the ongoing search for terrorists in that country.