North Korea, the shadowy “hermit kingdom” of Kim Jong Il, made a promising step forward regarding its international relations this weekend, when U.S. officials reported the shut-down of a nuclear reactor in Yongbyon.

The closing of the nuclear reactor marks the first serious concession in the five year nuclear showdown between North Korea and the U.S. The nuclear crisis began back in 2002 after North Korea refused to co-operate with inspectors from the U.N.’s nuclear watchdogs, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The tension between North Korea and the U.S. perhaps reached a climax last fall when Jong Il announced North Korea’s first test of a nuclear bomb to be a success.

In February, North Korea agreed with the U.S., South Korea, Russia, China and Japan to shut-down Yongbyon in exchange for energy aid. On Saturday, a South Korean ship carrying 6,200 tons of heavy oil arrived in North Korea’s Sonbong port.

The U.S. will participate in a six-nation talk aimed at North Korea’s nuclear disarmament this Wednesday in Beijing. At the meeting, assistant secretary of state Christopher Hill, the U.S.’s chief negotiator, along with representatives from five other nations are expected to discuss 950,000 additional tons of oil to North Korea once the nuclear plant is completely dismantled.

So now we all get to breathe a little easier and no longer fear an impending nuclear holocaust at the tiny infant-like hands of Kim Jong Il.

I was happy when I heard the news last night. Then I sat down to read this week’s issue of Time magazine which includes an article that likens Jong Il to America’s new favorite gangster, Tony Soprano.

It turns out that Jong-Il’s regime has it’s hand in a number of illegal activities including drug trafficking and money laundering.

Illegal drugs cultivated by North Korea finds it’s way into foreign drug-markets in Russia and China. In 2003, the Australian navy boarded a North Korean ship and discovered more than $45 million worth of grade-A heroin.

Within the past four years, Japanese authorities have seized 3,300 lbs. of crystal meth trafficked by North Korean gangs. Asian intelligence estimates the drug trade brings in several hundred million dollars a year to the regime.

Another one of North Korea’s illicit activities is the production of tens of millions of dollars forged U.S. currency sophisticated enough to evade detection by U.S. banks. Investigators estimate that North Korea has produced at least $45 million in counterfeit U.S. dollars in circulation throughout the world.

Perhaps most shocking, the U.S. is expected to go on trial later this year in New Jersey on a case against alleged members of a Chinese organized-crime gang accused of moving counterfeit money, illegal narcotics and contraband cigarettes along with at least $1 million in illegal weapons including pistols, machine-guns and rocket-launchers.

Scary stuff. Can we really trust these guys to disarm?

Technorati Tags: North Korea, Kim Jong Il, Yongbyon, the International Atomic Energy Agency