Turning Up the Heat

North Korea, arguably the world's most paranoid totalitarian regime, is a frustrating bargaining partner under the best of circumstances. But efforts to convince dictator Kim Jong Il to abandon his nuclear-weapons programs could be made even more intractable by a growing call in the U.S. for Pyongyang to be held accountable for the abysmal plight of its starving, oppressed citizens. A bill recently passed by the lower house of the U.S. Congress authorizes Washington to spend millions of dollars promoting human rights in the North and helping thousands of North Korean refugeeslegislation an insecure Pyongyang says is calculated to encourage a...

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