김정일vs. 오바마 #2

Well, it seems that (the "Dear Leader"/"H.H.") Kim Jong-il - most likely - ordered the foundation of a "think tank", where dozens of "experts" are very busy to figure out the "best ways" how to provoke the incoming U.S. (Obama) administration!

"Proof"(^^) needed? Just read following, reported y'day by the S.K. (semi-official) news agency Yonhap:

N. Korea says it may retain nuclear weapons

after normalized ties with US

In an apparent message to U.S. President-elect Barack Obama who will take office next week, North Korea said Saturday it may not give up its nuclear weapons even if Washington normalizes relations with it.

"Normalization of diplomatic relations and the nuclear issue are entirely different issues," a spokesman for the North's foreign ministry said in a statement, declaring that Pyongyang will keep its nuclear capability until it feels safe from what it called the ever-present U.S. nuclear threat.

"We can live without normalized relations with the United States but can't live without nuclear deterrence. That is the reality of Korea today," he said.

The statement confirmed North Korea's current policy but comes ahead of Obama's Jan. 20 inauguration. In a departure from the policy of current U.S. President George W. Bush, Obama has voiced the usefulness of direct dialogue with Pyongyang to resolve the nuclear issue.

"Even if the DPRK-U.S. normalization of relations is achieved, our status as a nuclear weapons state will never founder as long as the U.S. nuclear threat remains even a bit," said the statement, carried by the country's Korean News Agency monitored in Seoul...

South Korean analysts agree that the North's statement is meant for the incoming U.S. government...

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2009/01/17/8/0301000000AEN20090117001600315F.HTML

Related articles/news:
☞ Smart power play in Pyongyang (Asia Times, 1.17)

☞ N. Korea Threatens Clash With South (NYT, 1.17)

☞ Tensions Rise on Korean Peninsula (IHT, 1.18)

☞ S. Korea takes N. Korea's military threats seriously (Yonhap, 1.18)

☞ N.K. seeks Obama's attention, experts say (K. Herald, 1.18)

☞ 조선"인민"군 총참모부... 경고 (TiN/조선중앙TV, 1.17)

☞ 정부, NLL 등 접경지역에 군사력 대거 보강 (VoP, 1.18)