Bush Endorses NK Aid
By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
U.S. President George W. Bush signed a bill enabling the government to finance North Korea's efforts to dismantle its nuclear facilities over the next five years in line with his pledges to remove sanctions on the communist state.
The bill also earmarked $15 million in energy aid to the impoverished country.
The U.S. help for the North is part of the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2008, called ``HR 2642,'' which promises an additional budget spending of $162 billion. The bill has been approved by both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The endorsement for financial help to North Korea contradicts the Glenn Amendment, which bans any financial aid to states that have conducted a nuclear test. The Congress gave Bush the right to exempt North Korea from the anti-proliferation measure for the next five years.
The bill, according to the White House, also includes $465 million for the Merida Initiative ― a partnership with Mexico and Central American nations to crack down on violent drug trafficking gangs. The United States will also finance $2.7 billion to help ensure that any state facing a disaster like the recent flooding and tornadoes in the Midwest has access to needed resources.
The signing came after Bush pledged Friday to lift some sanctions on the North and began the process of removing Pyongyang from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
On Thursday, the North submitted an overdue declaration of its nuclear programs and on the next day blew up the cooling tower at its Yongbyon nuclear reactor.
According to South Korean officials, the North has warned that multilateral talks on ending its nuclear weapons programs cannot move forward unless deliveries of energy aid are guaranteed. It complained it has completed more than 80 percent of the work to disable its nuclear facilities, yet has received less than 40 percent of the aid it was promised in return under an aid-for-disarmament agreement last year.
During talks on offering energy aid to the North at the truce village of Panmunjeom last month, the countries engaged in nuke talks with the communist state agreed to speed up delivery of energy aid to the North, while it reaffirmed its commitment to disabling its nuclear facilities.
The six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear programs, which have been suspended since last October, are expected to resume next week with China, the host of the negotiations, holding last-ditch discussions with the other countries to fix the date.