• The United States spends between $20-30 billion a year on maintaining the weaponry and soldiers along the DMZ. Could not this money be better spent here at home? We have 37,000 soldiers in South Korea.

• In 2003, South Korea’s trade with North Korea jumped 40% as South Korean companies are now engaged in over 557 projects with North Korea, including the building of cars, roads, rail roads and the production of clothing and televisions.

• South Korea is engaged in over $340 million dollars in bi-lateral trade with the North, and is the North’s largest foreign investor, and, after China, is the North’s largest trading partner.

• Both North and South Korea have committed to Reunification of their divided country in a manner that respects each sides economic systems. A president supporting Peace would not march tanks and weapons up and down the DMZ, but would devote full time to bringing the sides together to examine the Federation proposals that each has had on the table.

• The South Korean army is very well trained and could defend itself.

• Anti-Americanism has been building in South Korea, including resentment against the U.S. soldiers, and today most South Koreans fear the U.S. reaction to North Korea more than the North Koreans.

• North Korea is not isolated from the rest of the world. We met many people from around the world engaging in training on international stock market, farming, art exchanges, and other matters. Tourists were present from China and even from South Korea.

• The European Community, Britain, Italy, New Zealand, Australia and many other countries have formal diplomatic relations with North Korea.

• People are not being starved to death by the government and appear reasonably fed. During the 1990’s they had to seek aid to feed people because of the floods and a drought, but now there is food growing extensively around the country and people appear well-fed. This was confirmed by the US military we met in Pyongyang who travel around the country looking for remains from the war.

• The United States is playing deadly games with food and health by placing sanctions on the country and forcing Japan and South Korea to cut off their food exports to North Korea. Remember according to UNICEF, the sanctions in Iraq cost the life of 500,000 children.
• Soldiers in North Korea are large by number, but they also perform citizen tasks such as helping with roads and harvest. Police and soldiers on the street did not wear weapons.

• The United States entered into the 1994 Agreed Framework where they promised to “move toward full normalization of political and economic relations,” provide heavy fuel oil, and provide two light water reactors to replace their nuclear program by 2003. The Clinton administration officials did not follow through on the agreements and now admit that they never intended to follow them because they thought the regime would collapse. (See resolution from Lawyers Guild attached).

• The Korean War was one of the most brutal in history with millions of North Koreans injured or killed. 20 million pounds of napalm were delivered in the first 20 months and there is convincing evidence that our troops used chemical and biological weapons. The North was leveled to the ground by U.S. bombing missions. Any peace with North Korea must come with an understanding of the pain and devastation caused to their country from the war.

• North Korea would trade any nuclear program for peaceful and normalized political and economic relations with the United States. How can one demand things from other nations if they have no relationship with them?

• There was no peace treaty entered ending the war and the armistice agreement we signed in 1953 to end the fighting (South Korea would not sign it) said that high level discussions would take place to remove all foreign troops from Korea within three months.

• During this period of preemptive war, regime change threats, the “axis of evil,” removal from the ABM treaty and Kyoto, not to mention the current crisis in Iraq, is it any surprise that the North Korean’s would play the nuclear card to protect themselves?

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