NORTH KOREAN DENUCLEARIZATION COULD LEAD TO LASTING PEACE
US SAID TO BE SEEKING COMPREHENSIVE PEACE ACCORD WITH NORTH KOREA, IN LIGHT OF PROMISE TO DENUCLEARIZE PENINSULA
9 July 2007

Reuters and the Wall Street Journal are reporting that US negotiations to achieve the de-nuclearization of North Korea may also lead to talks to officially end the 1950-1953 Korean war, which has been officially in a state of truce (at times fragile) since 1953. State Dept. negotiator Christopher Hill has said the 6-party regional talks could become comprehensive peace talks, with the aim of declaring an official end to the war by year's end.

Citing the Wall Street Journal's story, Reuters reports: "Some Bush administration officials hope so-called six-party talks over North Korea's nuclear program can evolve into a permanent forum for defusing security threats in Northeast Asia at a time when both Japan and China are bulking up militarily, the report said."

It is expected the Pyongyang regime will switch off the nuclear reactor at Yongbyon in coming days, in exchange for a much-needed aid shipment. The White House has said that a comprehensive peace accord would be contingent on permanent, total and verifiable shut-down of all nuclear weapons reseaerch programs in North Korea. [s]

• Reuters: "U.S. Working toward accord to end Korean War: WSJ"

NORTH KOREA PROMISES IT WILL DISMANTLE ITS NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM
KIM YONG NAM, NATION'S 2ND TOP OFFICIAL, SAYS NORTH WILL MOVE FOR A NUCLEAR-FREE KOREAN PENINSULA
1 March 2007

Amid skepticism as 6-nation talks to resume, in negotiations with the South, North Korea's authoritarian regime has renewed its promise to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. The AP reports "Kim Yong Nam said 'the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula is the dying wish' of the country's founding president, Kim Il Sung... [Full Story]

• Truthdig: "North Korea renews disarmament pledge"
• Yahoo!: "Seeking aid, N. Korea vows to stop nukes"

UN SMALL ARMS CONFERENCE SEEKS GLOBAL REGULATIONS
ACTION TO REGULATE SMALL ARMS TRADE SEEKS TO END PROLIFERATION, CURB RANDOM VIOLENCE, ACTS OF OPPRESSION
1 July 2006

The United Nations conference on light weapons proliferation is facing a burgeoning black market trade which spreads new and used small arms around the globe, fueling civil wars and organized crime. Recent months have seen a number of reports urging governments to tackle the problem; in May, the rights group Amnesty International reported the illicit trade was "out of control", fueled by an "opaque chain" of private interests. [Full Story]

UGANDA TO DESTROY 57,000 WEAPONS
NATION WILL DISMANTLE WEAPONS SEIZED FROM ILLEGAL SOURCES, MILITARY WEAPONS BEYOND USE
24 May 2006

The nation of Uganda is taking important steps toward reducing the risk of regional arms poliferation, by destroying a stockpile of old and out-of-use weapons and weapons seized from illegal sources. The move is part of Uganda's pledge to the 2004 Nairobi Protocol, which required signatory nations of Africa's Great Lakes region to reduce the threat of proliferation of light arms across borders, to the peril of civilian populations and political stability. [Full Story]

AMNESTY REPORTS INTERNATIONAL ARMS TRADE 'OUT OF CONTROL'
HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP SAYS 'OPAQUE CHAIN' OF PRIVATE INTERESTS INCREASING SHIPMENTS OF DANGEROUS ARMS, WITH LITTLE SUPERVISION
10 May 2006

Amnesty International has published a new report examining the international arms trade, and its findings indicate there is little control on the expanding web of private interests seeking to profit from a proliferation of dangerous weapons. The report also illustrates the ways in which this scattering of dangerous weapons has lead to severe human rights abuses. [Full Story]

'TREE OF LIFE' MAKES USED WEAPONS INTO SIGN OF HOPE
11 July 2005

In the wake of Mozambique's long civil war, lasting from 1976 to 1992, a group of artists set up the Transforming Arms into Tools project in the nation's capital, Maputo. Sculptors use decomissioned weapons, and parts of weapons to make art, expressing the possibility of finding new ways to secure and advance civil society. [Full Story]