2. 2A · WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2010 · USA TODAY
World
Poll shows
S. Koreans
see reaction
as too small By Vahid Salemi, AP
Ahmadinejad: “The hand of the Zionist regime
and Western governments is involved.”
Bombs target
Continued from 1A
tons of food and millions of dollars have been sent
to the struggling North for 10 years, in an attempt
to foster friendship and perhaps a peaceful uni-
fication of the divided Korean peninsula. Days be-
fore the attack the ministry that oversees the policy
two nuclear
called it a failure.
Meanwhile, the North recently revealed a new
uranium enrichment facility as part
scientists
Cover of a nuclear program it had vowed to
disband, jangling nerves in Japan and One killed, one injured; Iranian
story the West. And moves by North Kore-
an dictator Kim Jong Il, 69, to install president blames Israel, the West
his 27-year-old son as head of that
nation has South Koreans — many of whom have The Associated Press
hoped Kim’s departure would improve the chances
of Korean reconciliation and ease the threat from TEHRAN, Iran — Assailants on motorcycles at-
the North — facing the prospect of an unpredict- tached magnetized bombs to the cars of two nucle-
able, nuclear-armed menace for several more dec- ar scientists in Tehran on Monday, killing one and
ades. wounding another who is on a U.N. sanctions list for
At the very least, the attack has turned up the suspect activity. Iran’s president accused Israel and
tension in relations between the Koreas. As thou- the West of being behind the attacks.
sands of South Koreans continue to protest the The wounded scientist, Fereidoun Abbasi, is
North’s actions, South Korean President Lee Myung specified by a United Nations resolution for sanc-
Bak is promising “serious retaliation” if the North tions because of suspected links to nuclear activ-
attacks again.In a speech televised nationwide ities, describing him as a Defense Ministry scientist.
Monday, Lee vowed that “now is the time we have Iranian media said he was a member of Iran’s Islam-
to demonstrate our determination with actions, ic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country’s strong-
rather than many words.” est military force.
The other scientist, who died in the attack and
What can be done? does not appear in any U.N. resolutions, was in-
volved in a major project with Iran’s nuclear agency,
Public opinion polls indicate that the many South said the agency’s chief, Ali Akbar Salehi. He did not
Koreans see the attack — the first on South Korean give specifics.
soil since the Korean War ended in 1953 — as a Iran also confirmed for the first time that a com-
turning point. puter worm affected centrifuges in the country’s
A poll released Monday by the Asan Institute for uranium-enrichment program. Iran had previously
Policy Studies in Seoul found that more than 80% of denied that the Stuxnet worm — which experts, in-
South Koreans believe their military should have hit cluding Salehi, say is calibrated to destroy centri-
back harder after the North Korean attack. The fuges by making them spin out of control — had
South returned fire but did not cause any damage. caused any damage.
If the North attacks again, 40% favor military retalia- Iran suspects the assassination was part of a co-
tion, calibrated to avoid all-out war, while 33% said vert campaign aimed at damaging the country’s
they are willing to risk war to deliver a strong mil- nuclear program, which the United States and its al-
itary response. lies say is intended to build a weapon — a claim Iran
What the North will do next, and how it can be denies. “Undoubtedly, the hand of the Zionist re-
stopped from doing it, are questions that have gime and Western governments is involved in the
many governments nervous. assassination,” President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The communist regime has agitated the United told a news conference. He said the attack would
Nations Security Council by flouting several agree- not hamper the nuclear program.
ments to end its weapons programs. The USA ac- Asked about the Iranian accusations, Israeli gov-
cuses it of enflaming tensions in the Middle East by ernment spokesman Mark Regev said Israel did not
secretly exporting nuclear technology to terrorist- comment on such matters. Washington has denied
supporting states such as Syria, and shipping mis- any link to previous attacks.
siles to Iran that can hit targets hundreds of miles Assailants on motorcycles approached the cars as
away. As many as 1 million people have starved to tour brochure from the Seoul City Tour company. “North Korea’s people may be more loyal to- they were moving through Tehran and attached
death under the regime, the U.N. says. Seoul student Kim Na Rae has a fantasy: South wards Kim Jong Il’s son (Kim Jong Un) as he took magnetized bombs to the vehicles, Tehran Police
Paul Stares, a senior fellow at the Council on For- Korea and North Korea gradually expand cultural some action against South Korea to build up sup- Chief Hossein Sajednia said. The bombs exploded
eign Relations, says there are several options short relations until the happy day when bitter, divided port,” says Kim Yong Hyun, a North Korea expert at seconds later, he told the state news agency IRNA.
of war to try to moderate the North’s behavior. rivals are reunified as one nation. Dongguk University in Seoul. The bombings both took place in the morning,
Stares says the U.S. could boost its level of military “But it’s impossible for now,” admits Kim, 20. Park Young Ho, a researcher at the Korea Institute but there were conflicting reports on what time
support by increasing the tempo and frequency of Instead she wants her government to show more for National Unification in Seoul, said the USA each took place. The bombs went off in separate lo-
military exercises and filling gaps in South Korea’s mettle amid one of the tensest moments on the Ko- “should maintain a very resolute and strong stance cations in north and northeast Tehran that lie about
defensive capabilities. rean peninsula since the end of the Korean War. for the next few years.” a 15-minute-drive apart without traffic.
The most extreme response would be pushing “I don’t want a strong military reaction, but I The challenge remains to make the response The slain scientist, Majid Shahriari, was a mem-
North Korea’s regime toward collapse through po- want a stronger political reaction; so far our gov- match the provocation. Cellphone saleswoman Kim ber of the nuclear engineering faculty at Shahid Be-
litical warfare, Stares says. ernment has not been strong enough,” she says. Sung Hee says the South’s response “is too weak. heshti University in Tehran. His wife, who was in
Conservative think tanks have pushed for a re- “There should be zero contact with North Korea, no I’m afraid of war but once we conquer North Korea the car with him, was wounded.
imposition of tough sanctions that were lifted by food and no support until North Korea admits they through military means, there’ll be no more threats Shahriari cooperated with the Atomic Energy Or-
President Bush in 2008. Another idea is to put were wrong.” anymore.” ganization of Iran, said Salehi, a vice president who
North Korea back on the list of state sponsors of ter- At Dongguk University in Seoul, where Kim is a Pinkston says the world should stop waiting for heads the organization. “He was involved in one of
ror. student, interest in their troublesome neighbor has China to rein in its ally. the big AEOI projects, which is a source of pride for
“North Korea appears to waned, says student Han “China won’t implement any policy that imposes the Iranian nation,” Salehi said. “They (Iran’s ene-
have abandoned previously Chul Woo. real cost,” he says. mies) are mistaken if think they can shake us,” Sale-
self-imposed constraints on “Young people don’t care At the Namdaemun market in Seoul, where hun- hi said, weeping, as he spoke later on state TV.
its behavior,” says Bruce about North Korea any- dreds of stalls offer flowers, clothes and local pro- The AEOI is in charge of Iran’s nuclear activities,
Klingner, a senior research more,” he sighs. “They just duce, some residents are taking the latest crisis in including its uranium enrichment program, which
fellow for Northeast Asia in want to get a job, and don’t stride. the United Nations has demanded be halted.
the Asian Studies Center at pay much attention to “For me, it’s like an annual performance by North The other attack targeted Abbasi, who was
Heritage. “Although this North Korea, even though it Korea, although a bit stronger than before,” says Lee wounded along with his wife. Abbasi is on a sanc-
new brazenness could be is a daily problem for us all.” Young Hoon, who runs an underwear stall. “When- tions list under U.N. Security Council resolution
related to the ongoing Such conciliatory talk ever these things happen, we never take strong ac- 1747, passed in 2007, which described him as a
North Korean leadership may surprise outsiders, but tion because we are such a weak nation, manipulat- Defense Ministry scientist with links to the Institute
succession, it may also re- Americans should consider ed by the USA and Japan,” says Lee, 52. of Applied Physics, working closely with Mohsen
flect the regime’s growing their reaction “if they had a Fakhrizadeh, a scientist believed to be heading se-
desperation brought on by seriously armed and hostile Contributing: Donna Leinwand in Washington cret nuclear projects.
deteriorating economic and state sitting where Canada
political conditions.” By Ahn Young-joon, AP
is,” says Andrei Lankov of
Obama, Hill leaders meet:
South Korea could also Protesting attack: A North Korean defector Seoul’s Kookmin University.
pull back on its food ship- demonstrates Monday in Seoul. “The mood in South Korea
ments, which resumed in is, ‘everything but war,’ and
October and are critical to the maintenance of the North Korea knows that extremely well.
1.1 million-member military that is the North Kore- The United States has faced this quandary many
an regime’s power base. President Lee said he is times with the North.
considering such a move. The USA also could ramp In 2002 the Bush administration learned that the
up the boarding of North Korean ships suspected of North had built a nuclear enrichment program in
taxes, treaty top agenda
carrying illicit materials. violation of the “agreed framework” it made with The Associated Press want to renew tax cuts for everyone; 50% prefer ex-
“The U.S. could decide the regime has to feel real President Clinton in 1994. In 2003 the North with- tending the reductions only for those earning under
pain. You could lay out a whole menu of punitive, drew from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. In WASHINGTON — House and Senate leaders from $250,000 a year; and 14% want to end them for all.
potentially destabilizing actions,” Stares says. “The 2006 the North stunned the world by testing a nu- both parties sat down Tuesday for their first post- On START, Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, one of the Re-
Chinese would be very unhappy about that.” clear weapon. election meeting with President Obama in an publicans invited to Tuesday’s meeting, has reject-
Lee has already replaced his defense minister, or- President Bush responded with six-party talks atmosphere charged with tension over taxes and a ed the administration’s assertion that the treaty
dered reinforcements for the 4,000 troops on Yeon- involving China and a new agreement that gave the new nuclear arms treaty with Russia. must be dealt with during the lame-duck session,
pyeong and four other Yellow Sea islands and up- North a half-million tons of food in return for its Republicans set the tone for the session, declar- saying the Senate has more pressing issues to deal
graded rules of engagement. He welcomed the promise to allow inspections of its nuclear program. ing steadfast opposition to any tax increases when with. But Sen. John McCain appeared to leave open
arrival of the USS George Washington, an aircraft Just before leaving office in 2009, Bush dropped the the current Bush era tax cuts expire at the end of the possibility of working with the White House,
carrier with 6,000 sailors ad 75 fighter jets that Chi- North from the U.S. terror watch list. A few months the year. Obama has said he would oppose a per- saying he still hoped progress could be made this
na decried as an act of aggression. In the Yellow Sea later the North pulled out of the six-party talks and manent extension of the tax cuts for taxpayers year. “I believe that we could move forward with
west of Seoul in waters China says it considers its barred nuclear inspectors. earning more than $200,000 as individuals and the START treaty and satisfy Sen. Kyl’s concerns and
sphere of influence, the carrier led a U.S. flotilla in President Obama signed on to sanctions barring $250,000 as couples. mine about missile defense and others,” McCain
large-scale naval exercises with South Korea that luxury and other goods sought by the regime after At the same time a couple of Republican senators said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
continued for a second day on Monday. the sinking of the Cheonan. Then, on Nov. 12, the signaled possible movement on the START treaty, Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, who earlier this
The artillery attack and the March sinking by the North showed Stanford professor Siegfried Hecker which would reduce nuclear weapons arsenals in month raised concerns about the treaty’s impact on
North of a South Korean navy vessel in which 46 to a building at the Yongbyon nuclear complex that the U.S. and Russia. Obama has made approval of the former Soviet satellite nations, told reporters,
sailors died represent an “extraordinary deterrent had been transformed into what he described as a the treaty this year a top national security goal. “I’d like to get it done, but in my conscience I want
failure,” says Daniel Pinkston, a security analyst “stunning” modern uranium enrichment facility. The midmorning meeting came a day after Oba- to feel it’s the right thing to do.”
based in Seoul for the International Crisis Group, a Experts say the North is playing a dangerous ma, pre-empting the Republicans, announced he Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., was asked about the latest
think tank. game by creating problems it says can be solved was proposing to freeze the salaries of some 2 mil- wrinkle, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s
South Korea must restore a credible threat, he only with more help propping up its regime. North lion federal workers for the next two years. The warning that a new arms race will erupt if Russian
says, “but it’s a fine line. You want to avoid war, but Korea is reinforcing its message with its latest prov- White House talks Tuesday were seen as an oppor- can’t agree with the West about a joint European
if you are completely unwilling to go to war then ocation, Lankov says. tunity for the two parties to size up each other even missile defense program.
there’s no credible threat.” North Korea “has really “We are here, we are dangerous and it’s better as they struggle for common groundon the legisla- “I’m open-minded and this is one of the issues I’ll
crossed the line into new territory,” Pinkston says. and cheaper for you to pay us,” by renewing aid tive agenda before Congress adjourns for the year. raise with the State Department briefing teams
supplies, he says. Speaking ahead of the meeting, House GOP Whip coming up to talk to me,” he said.
Wanting a stronger response Pyongyang succession politics are making the sit- Eric Cantor said his party wants to “make sure no Obama said Monday he hopes Tuesday’s White
uation more dangerous, say experts. Ailing Kim one gets a tax hike while we’re trying to create jobs House session “will mark a first step toward a new
The last major Cold War relic, the demilitarized Jong Il’s attempt to have his son, a former Swit- in the private sector.” and productive working relationship, because we
zone separating the two Koreas, is a symbol — and a zerland boarding school student who he named a The meeting comes as a new Associated Press- now have a shared responsibility to deliver for the
tourist destination. “Feel the reality and pain of the four-star general, succeed him may prompt more CNBC Poll shows most people oppose extending American people on the issues that define not only
only separated nation in the world,” runs a DMZ unpredictable behavior from the North. expiring tax cuts for the richest Americans. Just 34% these times but our future.”
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