[KS] Reporter's question on North Korea and Unification Church

[John Gorenfeld]

Dear Korean Studies mailing list,

I'm writing a story for the American Prospect exploring relations between 
North Korea and independent groups based in the United States.

Is there anyone out there who might be able to assess claims by Reverend 
Moon's remarkable Unification Church that the group operates as a 
back-channel for dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea? (See excerpt 
below). 

Is anyone on the list familiar with this relationship, which goes back to 
about 1991?

This is from the church publication "Truth Is My Sword":
http://www.tparents.org/Library/Unification/Books/Tims2/Tims2-a02.htm

"The result of the historical encounter between President Kim Il Sung
and Rev. Moon was expressed in a 10-point communique, one of which was
an agreement to have prime ministerial talks between North and South
Korea. This opened the door to a new era of relations between the DPRK
and South Korea. This occurred a few days after Rev. Moon's departure
from Pyongyang. Another area negotiated included North Korea's desire
for light-water nuclear reactors to replace their old ones that
created the so-called controversy of the DPRK nuclear weapons program.

"In the following months and years, the Summit Council, under the
direction of Dr. Pak, has effectively used back-door diplomacy to
promote dialogue between the United States and the DPRK in order to
resolve this potential nuclear buildup in northeast Asia. The Summit
Council was responsible to nourish the process of diplomatic
rapprochement between Washington and Pyongyang. This led to the final
signing of the "Framework Agreement" on October 21, 1994, between the
United States and the DPRK that froze the weapons-grade
plutonium-producing reactors in exchange for light-water reactors."

John


-- 
John Gorenfeld
www.gorenfeld.net <http://www.gorenfeld.net>
(415) 307-3898
Fax: (815) 366-8165
268 Bush St., #3416
San Francisco, CA 94104


-- 
John Gorenfeld
www.gorenfeld.net <http://www.gorenfeld.net>
(415) 307-3898
Fax: (815) 366-8165
268 Bush St., #3416
San Francisco, CA 94104
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