Editorials
Monday, May 31, 1999Clinton envoy Perry’s
visit to North KoreaFOR the moment, the threat from North Korea seems to have eased. But the Communist regime remains as unpredictable as ever.The issue: The Clinton administration is trying to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons and missile development programs.
Former Defense Secretary William Perry visited North Korea last week as a representative of President Clinton and delivered a letter from Clinton addressed to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
However, the letter was not presented in person to the reclusive Kim. It was delivered through Kim Yong-nam, head of the country's Supreme People's Assembly. Perry never succeeded in meeting Kim Jong-il.
The North Korean news agency said Perry had "sincere and frank" talks with Kang Sok-ju, the North's first vice minister of foreign affairs. South Korean officials said Perry urged North Korea to abandon its nuclear, missile and other weapons development programs in exchange for Western economic and diplomatic benefits. Perry said the North Koreans vowed to respect their pledge not to develop nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile the Clinton administration announced that U.S. investigators in North Korea have discovered that an underground site that Washington suspected could be used to revive Korea's nuclear weapons program is a huge, empty tunnel. Discovery of the site had threatened to wreck an agreement aimed at freezing North Korea's nuclear program.
Reports from the inspection team said that, apart from digging a huge hole in the ground, the North Koreans had made no obvious preparations for construction of a nuclear reactor there.
Asked whether nuclear-related equipment might have been moved before the inspection took place, State Department spokesman James Rubin said the project was at a stage of construction when it would not be expected that anything but construction equipment would be present. Rubin said that based on the inspection there was no basis to conclude that North Korea is in violation of the nuclear agreement.
However, the possibility remained that the tunnel could someday be used to conceal a nuclear weapons program in violation of the freeze agreement.
The North Koreans have agreed to permit regular U.S. visits to the remote site. The next inspection is scheduled a year from now. It will be of more than casual interest to learn whether the tunnel is still empty then. But for the moment it appears that a crisis has been averted.
A cautionary note sounded by former Rep. Stephen Solarz, D-N.Y., is worth considering.
Speaking in Tokyo, Solarz, who once headed the House subcommittee on Asian affairs, said he was skeptical that Perry's mission could achieve peace. He observed that the North Korean leaders can't survive either all-out war or all-out peace. "They need a perpetuation of tension," he explained.
If Solarz' analysis is correct, the cat-and-mouse game with North Korea could go on for years.
Memorial Day is time
for reflectionMEMORIAL Day began as an occasion to honor the dead of the Civil War by decorating soldiers' graves, the reason it was first called Decoration Day. It has since been expanded to honor the dead of all of America's wars.
The origin of the holiday is disputed by several communities. However, in 1966 the federal government proclaimed Waterloo, N.Y., as its birthplace. Waterloo first observed Memorial Day on May 5, 1866.
In 1868, Maj. Gen. John A. Logan, commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans, called on his men to strew flowers on the graves of their fallen comrades. Memorial Day became a federal holiday in 1971.
More than 200,000 Americans lost their lives in the Civil War. Since that conflict, 400,000 more Americans have been killed in wars.
This year's observance is a special one in Hawaii. It is the 50th anniversary of the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl and of the mayor's Memorial Day address there. The cemetery was opened to the public on July 19, 1949.
For the first time, the sacrifices of more than 250,000 soldiers of the South Vietnamese army killed during the Vietnam War were remembered in the ceremonies at Punchbowl.
As always, the 41,200 grave markers at Punchbowl have been decorated with leis and American flags by Boy Scouts. Services were held at the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe and the Arizona Memorial.
Memorial Day 1999 finds the nation again in an undeclared war, this time against Yugoslavia. Thus far there have been few American casualties because tactics have been restricted to high-level bombing, beyond the range of anti-aircraft weapons. But the death toll could mount if the war intensifies.
In addition, there have been many thousands of casualties among the ethnic Albanians of Kosovo, the victims of savage assaults by Serbian troops. The bombing has taken a toll both on Serbian military personnel and civilians.
Memorial Day is an occasion to remember the nation's war dead, and to reflect on the costs of war to the people of all nations. The war in Yugoslavia is only the latest evidence that the lessons of war have to be relearned by each generation.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
