Negotiate with North Korea

Sent to Rep. Price and Sens. Dole and Edwards, Dec 19, 2002

Immediate direct diplomatic negotiations are necessary to seek an end to North Korea's nuclear weapons programs and to avoid a military confrontation.

We of the Committee for an Active Non-Violent Response to Terrorism (CANVRT) have been watching the developments between North Korea and the United States with deep concern. Initially shocked by the news regarding North Korea?s uranium enrichment program, we were heartened by the Administration?s promise to resolve tensions with North Korea diplomatically.

However, the Administration?s current approach of cutting off fuel oil to North Korea and seizing a missile shipment, is not constructive. Such actions, while refusing to negotiate directly with North Korea, exacerbate rather than decrease tension on the Korean Peninsula, and draw North Korea into a dangerous game of escalation.

We hope you will contact the President and urge him to begin diplomatic negotiations immediately to ensure that North Korea does not reactivate the nuclear power plant at Yongbyon. Negotiations must also include effective means of monitoring the dismantling of any uranium enrichment program and opening the way to resuming humanitarian food deliveries. In addition, negotiations must finally resolve North Korean fears of a pre-emptive U.S. strike and begin a discussion toward improved relations between the U.S. and North Korea.

Sincerely,

Tom Munk for the Committee for an Active, Non-Violent Response to Terrorism of the Chapel Hill Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker)