North Korean Policy Elites - Defense Technical Information Center

appeared regularly in the latter half of 2003, directed both at the North and South Korean
audiences. In the stories targeted at the North, it is frequently reported that South Koreans were
protesting this military buildup. Similar stories targeted at the South (e.g., on the Pyongyang
Broadcasting Station) urge the South Korean people to join their brothers in the North in
resisting the further militarization of the Korean peninsula by the Americans.
On September 24, KCBS reported that five days earlier the United States had conducted
its 20 th subcritical nuclear test, which was “stirring strong protests and denunciations from the
world.” 71 On October 7, Nodong Sinmun published a commentary entitled “A Very Dangerous
Military Measure,” in which it denounced the introduction along the MDL of the Shadow 200
UAV, said to be able to detect automobiles and other vehicles at a range of 3.5 kilometers in the
dark. The article also reported on the recent introduction into the ROK of new helicopters and
Patriot 3 missiles, arguing that this introduction constituted a “preparation for a military attack
on our Republic” and was inconsistent with Washington’s professed desire to peacefully resolve
the “DPRK-U.S. nuclear issue.” 72
The December 10 issue of Nodong Sinmun carried a commentary which said that on
November 13 the U.S. Air Force chief of staff had announced that F/A-22s would be deployed to
Guam. 73 The article reported that 24 B-1B and B-52 bombers and two nuclear attack submarines
had already been sent to Guam, and that three more submarines were scheduled to be deployed
there. According to the commentary, the United States also wanted to dispatch another aircraft
carrier to Hawaii or Guam. The Bush administration’s 2004 fiscal year defense budget was
reported to be $401.2 billion - “the largest of its kind.” Nodong Sinmun concluded that
“Although it champions the six-party talks, the United States is not revoking its previous
brigandish demand of [the DPRK] first giving up the nuclear [program] and is stepping up
military threats to and preemptive attack maneuvers against the DPRK.”
A KCBS broadcast on December 27, 2003, mentioned the U.S. deployment of U-2
reconnaissance aircraft, the stationing of six F-117 stealth bombers in South Korea, and
reminded its audience that the United States and South Korea had jointly staged the Foal Eagle
and RSOI military exercises during the year. 74 In regard to these forces, the broadcast cited a
DPRK foreign ministry spokesman who said that the United States wanted to transform its forces
stationed in South Korea “into a Northeast Asian force which targets not only our Republic but
71 KCBS, September 24, 2003. FBIS KPP20030924000064.
72 “A Very Dangerous Military Measure.” Nodong Sinmun commentary reported by KCBS and KCNA. FBIS
KPP20031007000094.
73 “Main Culprit in the Destruction of Regional Peace and Stability.” Nodong Sinmun commentary of December 10,
2003, carried by KCBS and PBS. FBIS KPP20031210000049.
74 KCBS, December 27, 2003. FBIS KPP20031227000047.
III-27