North Korea remains on the U.S. list of terrorism sponsoring countries, though Washington was expected to remove the communist nation on August 11. The U.S. administration officially notified Congress of its intent to take North Korea off the terrorism list on June 26, simultaneously with Pyongyang’s submission of its nuclear declaration. The delisting can take place 45 days after Congress is notified, but the U.S. delayed taking action since North Korea has yet to agree on a verification plan for its nuclear weapons. Here’s Professor Ryu Gil-jae from the University of North Korean Studies to explain more details.

North Korea destroyed the cooling tower of its main reactor in Yongbyon in late June and the explosion was aired worldwide. The core of the North’s nuclear dismantlement is the disablement of its nuclear facilities and full declaration of its nuclear programs, including any the nation was developing in the past. The U.S. and North Korea have been discussing how to verify the stockpiles and programs the North has declared, although the issue was not expressly stipulated in the October 3rd agreement reached at the six-party nuclear talks. Washington delayed removing North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, due to deadlocked negotiations over establishing a verification mechanism.

The six-party nuclear talks reconvened on July 10 after a nine-month suspension. During the three-day meetings, chief negotiators from the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia discussed ways to verify Pyongyang’s nuclear declaration. They agreed on the detailed verification procedure, which includes impromptu on-site visits of North Korean nuclear facilities for inspection, interviews with technical personnel and a review of documents. The U.S. handed out a draft protocol on the verification at the time. Under the plan, North Korea is to accept intrusive inspections of all of its nuclear facilities. It should also submit records about the amount of plutonium it produced and exports and imports of nuclear materials and equipment needed to check nuclear cooperation with other countries. In addition, the North is required to disclose the number and types of nuclear materials and details about weapons-grade plutonium. But North Korea has not given any definite response to the draft document. Diplomatic experts speculate there are serious discrepancies between the U.S. and North Korea over the verification proposal.

North Korea has stressed the ‘action-for-action’ principle at previous negotiations for years. Pyongyang claims it has already taken the necessary actions for delisting; namely, nuclear disablement and declaration. The North says it has completed what it is supposed to do and it is therefore entitled to the compensational measure of being taken off the blacklist. For North Korea, the nuclear verification issue is not included in the ‘action-for-action’ plan, although it isn’t a new topic. So, the North is upset with the U.S. move to link nuclear verification with the terrorism list issue.

North Korea agrees on the verification of its nuclear declaration, but it opposes setting the production of a verification regime as a precondition for its removal from the terrorism list. Sung Kim, the U.S. special envoy on North Korean affairs, met with North Korean Foreign Ministry’s America chief Li Gun in Beijing on July 31 to discuss the verification procedure, but the meeting ended without any visible result. So why does the U.S. maintain North Korea must present a verification plan for its nuclear programs before being taken off the list of terrorism sponsors? Here again is Professor Ryu.
The U.S. found a breakthrough in the resolution of the North Korean nuclear crisis by eliciting the Feb.13th six-party agreement last year. There are only a few months left before the end of President Bush’s term in office, and the second phase of North Korea’s denuclearization is in the final stage. Against this backdrop, the Bush administration hopes to reap a more tangible diplomatic result before striking North Korea from the terrorism list to avoid possible criticism after his term ends. Also, North Korea and Japan are still entangled in a dispute over the North’s kidnapping of Japanese citizens decades ago. If North Korea had been removed from the terrorism list on August 11, the diplomatic tug-of-war between Pyongyang and Tokyo would be in an awkward situation. Japan has highlighted the fact that North Korea, one of the terrorism-sponsoring nations, abducted Japanese nationals. But it would be rather embarrassing for Japan to keep negotiating the kidnapping issue with a country that is no longer included in the terrorism list. Japan reportedly made a strong request that Washington put off removing the North from the blacklist.

So Washington’s move to link nuclear verification with the delisting is considered a political calculation. The U.S. must be more careful about the creation of a verification mechanism in order to be free from the criticism that the actual result of North Korea’s nuclear declaration comes far short of the Bush administration’s initial expectations. In addition, Washington gives consideration to Japan, which is highly sensitive to the kidnapping issue. All things considered, North Korea is likely to remain on the terrorism list for the time being. Some are worried that the delisting may not take place at all, due to the conflict between North Korea and the U.S. over the verification issue. But Professor Ryu says that’s not necessarily the case.

It will take time for the U.S. and the North to thrash out their differing views. Nuclear verification is hardly old news, and I think North Korea is now ready to tackle this problem. But the North doesn’t agree on some of the detailed verification procedures, including the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Both the U.S. and the North need to step back a little to find a common goal. North Korea is in desperate need of being taken off the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism because the sanction has posed a significant burden on the North. So I don’t think it will be difficult to resolve the problem.

North Korea shut down its nuclear reactor in Yongbyon and blew up its cooling tower, wrapping up its nuclear disablement and declaration procedures. It’s true the North has done its own part in line with the six-party nuclear agreements outlining the first and second denuclearization steps. Still, it is also a crucial task to verify the authenticity of the North’s nuclear declaration. It’s no exaggeration to say that Pyongyang holds the key to solving this matter. It’s hoped North Korea will show a more flexible attitude and cooperate for the establishment of a verification regime, which is now the biggest stumbling block in the second denuclearization stage. 　 [Interview] Hangyeore School Helps Teenage N. Korean Defectors Take Root in South
Teacher and students are singing together, smiling brightly in a lecture room at the Korea Christian University in Hwagok-dong, western Seoul. They are participating in an educational program offered by Hangyeore School, the only alternative school for North Korean defector students in the South. The Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, one of the local groups dedicated to assisting newcomers from the North, opens the school during summer and winter vacations every year. About 40 participants are experiencing a community life during this year’s summer session of the boarding school, which began on July 29 and runs through mid-August. Here’s Lee Young-seok, the head of the training team, to explain.

Hangyeore School opened in 2001. There wasn’t even a single school or educational program for teenagers from North Korea at the time. The young students had difficulty in adjusting to the new social and school environment, and many of them just dropped out of school. As a result, many defector students couldn’t receive proper education. We invited those students to a three-week training program during vacations and offered them various programs to boost their confidence and learning abilities.

Extracurricular activities are the most popular program of this school. The students learn major subjects, such as Korean, English and mathematics during the weekdays and engage in other programs, like watching musical performances and participating in camp training during the weekends. But most of all, they are very fond of extracurricular activities designed to develop their skills. It’s been two years since 15-year-old Chae-yun arrived in South Korea, but she couldn’t assimilate to her new life easily until recently. She was often at a loss, because she couldn’t understand South Koreans who frequently use foreign expressions. She wasn’t doing well in school, due to years of educational vacuum resulting from a refugee life in other countries. But Hangyeore School has been helping her overcome the difficulties, and now she says she is thankful for her life here.

When I ask my teachers questions about English or math, they explain very easily. This is my fourth time to participate in this seasonal training program. I find all the programs interesting and helpful. Once you experience them, you’ll keep attending the classes. Teachers are kind and wonderful. They volunteer to teach us for a month, but they don’t seem to be bothered at all by giving us their time. All the teachers look so nice. It seems they really like to spend time with us. I’m grateful to them.

All the teachers of Hangyeore School are volunteers. They are college students, ordinary citizens and teachers of local junior high schools. They eat and sleep together with the students, and teach general subjects and serve as guidance counselors as well. They spend three weeks working with the North Korean teenage defectors for free, but they find their work rewarding.

…I’m Kim Hyun-ha, a junior at Hanyang University. I major in sociology. I volunteered to teach here. After class, teachers hold meetings every night to talk about what happened during the day and how to treat the students. To be honest with you, I feel very tired at night. But when the students said to me, “Thank you, teacher,” I was deeply touched. They knew we sacrificed three weeks to come here. I’d like to thank them for understanding us.

…I remember a boy student. He didn’t mingle with his classmates at first, and he didn’t talk much, either. He seemed just indifferent to everything. The student participated in two or three sessions of this program, and to my surprise, he began to take care of younger students who had a hard time adjusting to the programs. Watching him maturing day by day, I realized even passive students can help people around them. I hope more and more people can help each other through this program.

A total of 333 young North Korean defectors have attended the classes of Hangyeore School so far. Given the 1,600 North Korean defector teenagers living in the South, the number is extremely small. Hopefully, there will be many more schools for North Korean students so that they can take root in South Korean society more easily.