Skip to main content

While Bush's neocons forced North Korea to restart its nuclear program, a second attempt for a nuclear agreement was destroyed by Obama


While Washington's hawks keep pushing for war in the Korean peninsula, the corporate media assist their effort through the ordinary propaganda, depicting North Korean leadership as, more or less, an evil regime. Very few things about the US destructive policies and actions in the region are known to the American public, like, for example, the fact that the US had put barriers to the unification of the two Korean states and had literally flattened North Korea in the Korean war.

While Jimmy Carter tried to put the foundations for a nuclear agreement with North Korea, all the US administrations afterwards seem to be pushing for war, sabotaging every effort for a viable agreement that would remove nukes from the Korean peninsula.

Tim Shorrock, journalist and expert on US-Korea relations, spoke to Abby Martin about the dirty US tactics against North Korea, especially when Bush's neocons - the ones who brought absolute chaos in the Middle East after pushing for US invasion in Iraq - decided to close all doors against any prospect for a deal with North Korea.

As Shorrock states:

In the late 80s, North Korea under Kim Il-sung were looking at having nuclear weapons and part of the reason was because until 1991, the US had hundreds of tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea, these kind of hand-held weapons that US soldiers would carry their nuclear weapons.

And, of course, the US 7th fleet is in Yokosuka-Japan and very close to Korea and there are ships there that have nuclear arms, planes, and Okinawa, the US bases are there, and so they saw building a nuclear capability it was a way of defending themselves.

Jimmy Carter went to North Korea, met with Kim Il-sung and they hammered out what became this agreed framework under which North Korea agreed to end its nuclear program, stopped its production of plutonium at this plant.

When Bush took over in 2001 with all these neocons in his government, like John Bolton and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, were against this agreement, any agreement with North Korea. And in his State of the Union address Bush labeled North Korea as part of the axis of evil with Iran and Iraq. So, this was like the last straw for the North Koreans. They said, 'OK we now see that you believe we're back in enemy status', and so they pulled out of the agreement themselves and started proceeding on their plutonium program. By 2006, they had built their first atomic weapon and tested their first weapon in 2006.

In 2005, there was a declaration by all South and North Korea, US, Japan,China and Russia, that Korea itself would not be nuclear, would not allow nuclear weapons north, or south. All countries agreed to that agreement and had been violated by the US because at the time the US was still imposing sanctions.

When Obama came in 2009, he and his people sort of had this idea that somehow the problem of North Korea would go away because it was going to collapse and they did not want to negotiate directly with North Korea. So, even Bush was willing to have direct talks to them, Obama was not.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Netanyahu Is Getting His War Between The U.S. & Iran!

The Jimmy Dore Show   Little progress is being made in negotiations between the United States and Iran over the latter’s nuclear program, and that may be by design. The U.S. is demanding a complete dismantling of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, which is a non-starter for the Iranians. Meanwhile, the U.S. appears to have reneged on a promise to get a ceasefire and humanitarian aid into Gaza in exchange for the release of the last American hostage, so Hamas — and by extension Iran — feel the U.S. cannot be trusted in negotiations. Jimmy Dore and Americans’ Comedian Kurt Metzger discuss how Israel appears to be orchestrating a U.S. attack on Iran that few Americans have any interest in.    Related: Trump makes key move to beat Biden in their race to start a war with Iran

Trump in SHOCK: Putin & China FLIP His Grave Mistake into STUNNING Victory

Danny Haiphong   Putin & China just gave Trump a rude BRICS awakening, and this bombshell will change everything for generations to come. Geopolitical analyst Ben Norton details the truth about Trump's biggest failure against the rising power of BRICS led by Russia and China, and why the US's role as super power is now in serious question.     Related: Trump's tariffs: A unique opportunity for BRICS and the Global South to fully escape from dollar tyranny

Trump's attempt to divide Russia & China is failing, badly

Geopolitical Economy Report   Donald Trump claimed he would "un-unite" Russia and China, but the US divide-and-conquer strategy is failing. In a meeting in Moscow celebrating the 80th anniversary of their nations' victory in World War Two, Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin reaffirmed that "China-Russia relations have reached the highest level in history" and will "jointly resist any attempts to interfere with and disrupt the traditional friendship and deep mutual trust between China and Russia". Ben Norton explains.     Related:   Why China supports Russia

Inside Iran's Savak torture museum

The Grayzone   Caution: This report contains depictions of simulated violence that may upset some viewers. Max Blumenthal tours one of the most disturbing museums on the planet. Set in Tehran's former Ebrat Prison run by the anti-sabotage unit of Shah Reza Pahlavi's Savak intelligence services, the museum is filled with shockingly graphic exhibits featuring lifelike mannequins recreating the hideous torture tactics deployed to repress dissidents rebelling against Iran's monarchy. Many mannequins on display represent notorious torturers who either fled or were executed after the Islamic revolution in 1979, while others are modeled after famous prisoners locked away in Ebrat like the current Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamanei.  

"Kidnapped in Int'l Waters": Israel Intercepts Gaza-Bound Aid Ship, Detains Greta Thunberg & Others

Democracy Now!   Eleven peace activists and one journalist on board the Gaza Freedom Flotilla ship, the "Madleen," were detained by Israeli soldiers as their ship carrying vital humanitarian aid for starving Palestinians approached Gaza.    The ship was intercepted by Israeli forces in the middle of the night in international waters. Its supplies were seized and communications jammed. The unarmed activists will likely be transported to Israeli detention or "immediately deported," says Ann Wright, a U.S. military veteran who has participated in four Freedom Flotilla journeys and now serves on the steering committee of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. She calls on citizens of countries around the world to push for the activists' release and an end to Israel's war on Gaza. 

14,000 babies could die if aid doesn’t enter Gaza in 48 hours, UN warns

Some 14,000 babies could die in Gaza in 48 hours if aid does not reach them in time, the UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, told the BBC today. Though Israel said it would allow “basic aid” into Gaza, only five trucks entered the enclave yesterday, two carrying shrouds to help bury Palestinians killed in Israel’s bombs. Others were in Gaza, but were being held by occupation forces and had not reached Palestinians. This was the first delivery of aid since 2 March, when Israel completely sealed the enclave. This, Fletcher explained, is a “drop in the ocean” and totally inadequate for a population of over 2.3 million, and for which no aid has been allowed to enter for 80 days.    “Tonnes of food is blocked at the [Gaza] border” by Israel, Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said yesterday. This comes just weeks after the UN agency of Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) warned that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians eat only one mea...

Latest on Los Angeles anti-ICE protests in US

CGTN     Views of downtown Los Angeles where protests against immigration raids entered their third day on Sunday local time.   Protesters clashed with National Guard troops in downtown Los Angeles during the latest wave of demonstrations against statewide immigration enforcement operations that swept across California over the weekend.  

They Will Starve You In A Killing Cage Too

by Nate Bear   Starvation is taking hold in Gaza. Twenty-nine people have starved to death in the last few days.  Death by starvation is horrific, the body feeding on itself, first consuming carbohydrates and fats, and then moving on to the protein parts of tissue. Once these are used up, vital organs and tissues start to fail as they aren’t being nourished by essential nutrients. The heart, lungs, muscles, ovaries, testes and brain physically shrink and shrivel. The kidneys start to fail. Eventually the body begins scavenging muscle, including the heart muscle. When this starts to happen, death is hours away, preceded by hallucinations, severe mental disturbances and convulsions. With less stored fat and higher metabolic needs, children die first. Starving parents hold their dying children, at this point nothing but skin and bone, in their arms. Adults can survive anywhere between twenty and forty days without food. Those already weak, chronically ill or immuno-compromised di...

How Israel manufactured a looting crisis to cover up its Gaza famine

by Muhammad Shehada Part 1 Since the onset of its genocide, Israel has persistently pushed a narrative that the famine devastating Gaza is not of its own making, but the result of “Hamas looting aid”. This claim, repeated across mainstream media and parroted by officials, has been used to deflect responsibility for what many human rights experts have called a deliberate starvation campaign. Even after Israel fully banned the entry of food, water, fuel, and medicine on March 2, Tel Aviv continued to maintain that Hamas looting, not Israeli policy, was to blame for the humanitarian catastrophe.   But that narrative has now been discredited by Israel’s internal reporting. Last week, the Israeli military admitted internally that out of 110 looting incidents they documented, none were carried out by Hamas. Instead, the looting was done by “armed gangs, organised clans” and, to a lesser extent, starved civilians. Those very gangs and clans are backed by Israel; they enjoy full Israeli ar...

BREAKING: Zionazis broke again the international law by capturing Madleen activists in international waters

Israel's blockade is illegal. Israel's seizure of the Madleen is illegal. Israel's occupation is illegal. Israel's genocide is illegal. The whole world is watching you now, Israel. Release these humanitarians to continue their mission. https://t.co/raNAry19Lr — Dr. Jill Stein🌻 (@DrJillStein) June 9, 2025 ISRAEL IS A TERRORIST STATE! — Jackson Hinkle 🇺🇸 (@jacksonhinklle) June 9, 2025 The israelis don’t want cameras filming: they know they’re committing war crimes on board the #FreedomFlotilla — march to Gaza everyone pic.twitter.com/If1RkVfgOe — Sarah Wilkinson (@swilkinsonbc) June 9, 2025 Gaza freedom flotilla ship Madleen, due to enter Palestinian waters at around 2am local time Monday, has been intercepted by Israeli vessels and quadcopter drones in international waters. The ship has been sprayed with an unknown substance; crew are reporting the ship is being… pic.twitter.com/mpMxGckfMQ — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 9, 2025 The Madle...