Former President Kim Young-sam said Monday the United States prepared for an attack on North Korea in 1994 when the communist regime was beginning to produce plutonium at the Yongbyon nuclear complex.
``At the time, the U.S. Navy's 33 destroyers and two aircraft carriers were waiting for an order in the East Sea to bomb the nuclear facilities in Yongbyon,'' Kim said in a radio program. ``I strongly opposed the military action because I thought it could lead to a full-fledged war on the Korean Peninsula. The United States would have gone ahead with the strike without my objection.
``It was a touch-and-go situation,'' recalled Kim, who served as president from 1993 to 1998.
Later, the communist country agreed with the United States to freeze nuclear development programs in return for aid and a security guarantee. Washington and Pyongyang signed the deal after former U.S. President Jimmy Carter visited Pyongyang and met with then North Korean leader Kim Il-sung.
Former President Kim said he and then U.S. President Bill Clinton established a hotline between the White House and Cheong Wa Dae to tackle the situation.
``Clinton proposed the hotline to have a secret conversation with me at any time. Due to wiretapping risks, the White House set it up directly at Cheong Wa Dae,'' Kim said. ``It still exists, but I wonder if it is being used these days.''
Kim said he and Clinton talked over the phone at all hours.
``Despite the time differences between Washington and Seoul, we called each other day and night to solve the North Korean nuclear issue. I did not care about answering the phone in bed and neither did Clinton,'' he said.
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Please stay on topic.
Amerkrean (203.247.44.118)
04-14-2009 14:03
Bighyungnom, take your racist self and your racist posts elsewhere. You're not welocme here.
Amerkrean (203.247.44.118)
04-14-2009 14:01
IMHO, I understand exactly what you're saying, but I have a problem with a nation's sovereignty. Whatever they do inside their borders is their business, but when they step over the borderline, then it becomes the business of others. This is kind of like SK telling the US it can't raise any more beef because of the mad cow thing.
IMHO (222.106.184.11)
04-14-2009 11:43
Amerkrean - they might be souvereign but if they pose a threat to many other countries, than you have to strike. Otherwise, you will be hostage to this silly cat and mouse game, wasting lots of money and even supporting a regime...
Amerkrean (203.247.44.118)
04-14-2009 09:30
Two things. First, even though I'm totally opposed to NK having nuclear weapons, I fail to see how another nation can dictate what they can or can't do within their borders. After all, they are sovereign. Second, Jimmy Carter saved the day? Whew! And Clinton threw money at them, and see what it got us? An effective deterrent. No. They used the money to continue their nuclear program, and now it looks as though they may have accomplished what they set out to do: have a nuclear capability.
JackC (75.25.155.41)
04-14-2009 09:05
Despite the outward friendliness it has shown to NK, China actually wants NK to reform. For SK, this is probably the most best way to move forward, until NK is economically acceptable enough to merge with SK. Unfortunately KJI sees reform as one-way doom for the regime and chooses to use extortion instead. Nonetheless, the wind of change is already blowing in NK. NK people already know about the outside and they are getting restless.
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