| | US government asks N Korea to send weapons to Iraq
19 Jan 2003
The United States made a groundbreaking offer to North Korea today that some say could pave the way to peace between the two countries. Thomas Hubbard, the American ambassador to North Korea, said that his government was prepared for "greater economic cooperation" between the two countries, subject to "certain conditions".
"Look, we know North Korea has nuclear weapons – and I don't mean that in the Iraq sense; we've actually seen them, we don't just think they might have some somewhere," explained Mr Hubbard. "But, in return for doing us favours, we could be persuaded to overlook this fact. If they were to, say, ship a load of them to Iraq and leave them where they could easily be found, we'd be very grateful."
According to Mr Hubbard, further stages of cooperation could see outlets of McDonald's opening around the country in return for Pyongyang "giving up Communism completely"; free use of Microsoft's Windows Me software on all government computers if all nuclear programmes are dropped; and food and economic aid if Kim Jong-il "stops saying nasty things about the West".
A spokesman for the North Korean government said that while free food "and/or McDonald's would be nice", Windows Me was "about as much use as a deactivated nuclear power plant with a hole in during an energy shortage".
This looks good...
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