[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 60 (Wednesday, April 25, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E647]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     LAUNCH OF NORTH KOREAN MISSILE

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM REED

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 25, 2012

  Mr. REED. Mr. Speaker, the recent launch of a three-stage rocket by 
North Korea was a clear provocation that cannot be ignored. Although 
the launch was a technical failure, it was an aggressive statement that 
shows the new regime in North Korea intends to continue down the 
dangerous path of saber rattling to intimidate other nations, 
particularly South Korea.
  For years now, the United States, South Korea, and other countries 
have been trying to engage the North Korean regime diplomatically to 
end its program to develop nuclear weapons and the delivery devices 
that could threaten Northeast Asia and the Western Pacific.
  Despite offering many positive incentives in the form of humanitarian 
aid, the Stalinist government of North Korea has persisted in its 
belligerence and has stubbornly refused to adhere to peaceful 
international protocols that engender stability and economic 
prosperity.
  By contrast, South Korea is one of the world's most economically 
successful countries. Many of us have seen that dramatic satellite 
image of the Korean peninsula at night, which shows South Korea lit 
brightly while North Korea is in near total darkness. This image serves 
as a metaphor for the freedom and enlightenment that governs South 
Korea and the enslavement and barbarism in North Korea. Indeed, were it 
not for its dalliance with advanced technologies in rockets and nuclear 
bombs, North Korea could truly be said to be living in the Dark Ages.
  My father served in the Korean War. He fought side by side with South 
Korean soldiers who were struggling to save their homeland from the 
onslaught of communism. For 60 years, the two Koreas have lived under a 
fragile armistice that masks a tinderbox threatened by a match held by 
the Kim family dynasty.
  I visited South Korea just last year. I saw economic prosperity and 
political liberty that never could have been imagined when my father 
was there in the 1950's.
  South Korea is one of the largest trading partners of the United 
States. The recently-implemented U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement will 
open up many more opportunities for American businesses to engage our 
Korean partners.
  In the 29th congressional district of New York, which I am privileged 
to represent, farmers, small business owners, and larger firms are 
already benefiting from the Free Trade Agreement's Launch of North 
Korean Missile effects. That doesn't even take into account the 
substantial benefits to consumers who are able to buy high-quality 
products at lower prices.
  Political stability and the security of the Korean Peninsula are 
vital to U.S. interests and to our allies. Beyond South Korea, nations 
such as Japan and the Philippines could be threatened by the existence 
of North Korean nuclear missiles. Further North Korean provocations 
could easily and seriously disrupt the trans-Pacific trade relations 
that have developed over the past six decades.
  It is the obligation of Congress to speak out when U.S. security and 
our economic interests are under threat. Even though North Korea's ill-
considered missile experiment failed last week, that does not mean that 
the next launch will fail.
  Therefore, I urge my colleagues to join me in condemning the 
Pyongyang regime's belligerent behavior as a threat to regional and 
global security.

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