Cohen: N. Korea Buys Arms, Not Food Says Nation Is Trying To Force Other Countries To Help Starving

U.S. Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen accused North Korea on Friday of trying to force other nations to feed its people while it uses precious resources to expand its army, and he predicted that aid will not be provided without some disarmament gesture from Pyongyang.

Toughening his line even as the world mobilizes to aid the famine-stricken country, Cohen declared it unacceptable for North Korea to “continue to subjugate its people and force them to undergo great deprivation” even as it spends “excessive” amounts to maintain its military amid an economic collapse.

Cohen’s message, offered as he left South Korea for Washington after two days of talks, marked a departure from his recent approach. Earlier in his weeklong trip to Asia, Cohen emphasized that there has been only deep uncertainty and no more than “secondhand” accounts about what is happening within the barbed-wire-strung borders of the Stalinist regime.

But after talks with South Korean officials, Cohen appeared to have sharpened his critique of Pyongyang.

Seoul has argued that the United States should not undercut South Korea by unilaterally offering an aid package that could ease pressure on the North Korean military without pushing Pyongyang toward disarmament.

In recent days, the grain company Cargill announced plans to barter 20,000 tons of wheat for zinc; South Korean groups set plans to raise $19 million for famine relief; and the United Nations’ World Food Program said it plans to double its appeal for food for North Korea to 200,000 tons.

Some U.S. officials say it is unclear how much food would reach its intended recipients. U.S. Army officers said during Cohen’s trip that the North Korean military would have first call on the food, despite the fact that the defense system has spent an estimated $6 billion a year at a time when civilian factories and utilities have been closed or reduced to shorter hours to conserve fuel and money.

Also Friday, the chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff warned that the United States and South Korea must not let their guard down as they try enlist North Korea in peace talks. Gen. John Shalikashvili visited South Korea for three days this week.

Shalikashvili said he did “not want to fuel any kind of war talk here.” But he said U.S. and South Korean forces must remain “very vigilant and very ready for the unexpected.”

Despite its looming famine and recent political compromises, the communist North remains a dangerous threat, Shalikashvili said.

The border between North and South Korea is the world’s most heavily guarded. Some 37,000 U.S. troops are stationed there as well as the most of North Korea’s 1.2 million-strong military.