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Journalism of Courage
Top US arms negotiator John Bolton described North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on Thursday as a tyrannical dictator who lived like royalty while jailing thousands and keeping many hungry in a ‘‘hellish nightmare’’.
In a tough speech guaranteed to provoke a blistering North Korean response, the undersecretary of state also said Kim was mistaken if he thought threats to proliferate nuclear weapons would weaken international resolve to halt Pyongyang’s atomic ambitions through multilateral talks.
His comments come at a delicate time. Japan’s Kyodo news agency said the US, China and North Korea were discussing a proposal to hold three-way talks in early September.
‘‘The last year has seen Kim Jong-il accelerate these programmes, particularly on the nuclear front,’’ he said in a speech to the East Asia Institute, referring to proliferation. ‘‘The days of (North Korean) blackmail are over,’’ he said. ‘‘Kim Jong-il is dead wrong to think that developing nuclear weapons will improve his security.’’
Bolton mentioned Kim’s name some 40 times, and described him as one of the world’s ‘‘tyrannical rogue state leaders’’ who needed to introduce sweeping reforms or face economic ruin. ‘‘For many in North Korea, life is a hellish nightmare,’’ he said.
North Korea is edging toward nuclear talks but has recently repeated its demand that Washington drop its ‘‘hostile policy’’. (Reuters)
