Wednesday, May 24 3:24 PM SGT
South Korea stopped US strike on North Korea: former president
SEOUL, May 24 (AFP) -
South Korea stopped US President Bill Clinton from launching an
air strike against North Korea's nuclear facilities in June 1994,
according to the South Korean president at the time, Kim
Young-Sam.
In an interview with the independent Hankyoreh Daily, Kim said a
last-minute phone conversation with Clinton saved the Korean
peninsula from an imminent war, at the height of an international
crisis over North Korea's nuclear programme.
"At that time, the situation was really dangerous," Kim told the
paper. "The Clinton government was preparing a war."
According to Kim, the United States deployed an aircraft carrier
off the eastern coast at a distance close enough for its war
planes to hit the North's nuclear facilities in Yongbyon.
US warships were also ready for a naval bombardment of the
nuclear facilities, some 90 kilometers (56 miles) north of
Pyongyang, he added.
"One day, I heard (then US Ambassador James) Laney was about to
hold a press conference the following day and announce the
withdrawal of relatives of US embassy staff," he said to the
daily.
"This is a step the United States usually takes on the eve of a
war. So, I called in Laney."
Kim warned the US ambassador another war on the Korean peninsula
would turn all of Korea into a bloodbath, killing between 10 and
20 million people and destroying South Korea's prosperous
economy.
"I told him that I would not move even a single soldier of our
650,000 troops (in case a war broke out because of the bombing of
Yongbyon)," he said to the paper.
According to Kim he argued with Clinton for 32 minutes on the
phone. "I told him there would be no inter-Korean war while I was
the president."
"Clinton tried to persuade me to change my mind, but I criticised
the United States for planning to stage a war with the North on
our land," he said.
Clinton then relented and proposed to set up a secret telephone
line linking the White House and the presidential Blue House here
for close consultation on the North's nuclear issue, the paper
said.
Three days later, a team from the White House arrived, and at
around the same time former US president Jimmy Carter arrived in
Seoul on his way to Pyongyang in a bid to defuse the tense
situation, Kim said.
Kim asked Carter to warn then North Korean President Kim Il-Sung
of the seriousness of the situation and to convey his wish to
avoid a war, Kim Young-Sam said.
During Carter's visit, Kim Il-Sung proposed the North freeze its
nuclear programme on condition that it receive lightwater
reactors which could be monitored more easily by the outside
world.
This proposal eventually led to a landmark agreement in October
1994 in Geneva, under which North Korea agreed to freeze its
nuclear programme in exchange for two light-water reactors and
fuel from the West.
Carter returned to Seoul from Pyongyang with a proposal from Kim
Il-Sung to hold an inter-Korean summit, but the summit was
cancelled by the sudden death of Kim Il-Sung from a heart attack
on July 8, 1994.
Kim Il-Sung was succeeded by his eldest son, Kim Jong-Il. The two
Koreas will pick up where they left off in 1994, when Kim Jong-Il
meets with South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung at Pyongyang in
June of this year.
=================================================================
Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
*Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day.
=================================================================
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths,
misdirections
and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and
minor
effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said,
CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
<A HREF="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
