North Korea must therefore reform its agricultural system now to save millions of lives. Our present course is leading us to a Stalinist alternative. The Administration denies direct linkage between our promise of approximately 500,000 tons of food and access to Kumchangri. The North Koreans bargained hard for this food aid and linked it to our access. There is little question in their minds of this linkage.
Credibility goes out the window and that commodity is in short supply right now.
It was the opening wedge into North Korea . If dropped, the argument goes the North Koreans would return to building nuclear weapons. The fact that the Administration fought so hard and openly for KEDO provided the North Koreans with leverage over us. The North Koreans and their friends have ganged up on Congress. I understand our commitment to KEDO was used in the latest negotiations to whittle down some of the North Korean obscene demands for access.