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THE ARTICLE

North Korea may be on the verge of testing its first nuclear missiles. American spy satellites show photos of tunnels that bear all the hallmarks of an underground test site. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) estimates that North Korea may have six nuclear weapons. IAEA boss Mohamed ElBaradei said: “We knew they had the plutonium that could be converted into five or six North Korea weapons. We know that they had the industrial infrastructure to weaponize this plutonium.…we have read also that they have the delivery system.” This confirms declarations from North Korea itself in February that it has nuclear weapons. American intelligence reports Pyongyang already to have one or two crude nuclear bombs.

Fears that the pariah communist state may soon possess nuclear weapons has intensified diplomatic endeavors to get the North Koreans back to the negotiating table. A two-day summit that ended Saturday in Kyoto, Japan, concluded that Pyongyang should return to six-party talks “without further delay”. The talks, between the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and America, have thus far been unfruitful in persuading Pyongyang to change its stance. North Korea says that for any dialogue to resume, the U.S. must drop its “hostile rhetoric” towards Kim Jong Il. It is quite possible North Korea has no desire to talk. South Korea’s former U.S. ambassador Han Seung-joo believes North Korea is more interested in becoming a nuclear power than using any weapons as a negotiating chip.

WARM UPS

1. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics you are interested in, which do not look interesting and which look really boring:

North Korea / nuclear missiles / plutonium / negotiating tables / diplomats / Kim Jong Il / Kyoto / nuclear powers / six-party talks / South Korea / axis of evil

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently.

2. NORTH KOREA: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with North Korea. Share your words with your partner / group and talk about them.

3. NUCLEAR POWERS: Should countries have nuclear weapons? Which countries should have nuclear weapons? Is it right for countries that have nuclear weapons to try and stop other countries from having them?

Look at the list of declared and suspected nuclear states below. Talk about whether or not these countries need nuclear weapons, and if they do, how many is sufficient:

4. 1-MINUTE NUCLEAR OPINIONS: Look at the opinions below. Choose an opinion for your partner. Read the opinion to your partner. Your partner has to respond to this opinion for at least one minute. You must then respond to your partner for one minute. After one response each, talk in more detail about your respective comments.

1. North Korea should abandon its nuclear test plans today.
2. The United States should invade North Korea to ensure world peace.
3. North Korea has as much right to have nuclear weapons as any other country.
4. China isn’t doing enough to pressure North Korea.
5. The world should trust North Korea. It is a peaceful country.
6. George W. Bush should stop using hostile rhetoric towards Kim Jong Il .
7. All countries should destroy their nuclear weapons.
8. The money spent on nuclear weapons would end world hunger and bring greater peace to the world.

PRE-READING IDEAS

1. WORD SEARCH: Use your dictionary / computer to find word partners (collocates), other meanings, synonyms or more information on the words ‘nuclear’ and ‘weapon’.

2. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

1. North Korea is on the verge of buying its first nuclear missiles.  T / F
2. Spy satellite photos show tunnels typical of underground test sites.  T / F
3. The International Atomic Energy Agency doubts N. Korea has weapons.  T / F
4. North Korea has always refuted claims it is nuclear enabled.  T / F
5. Diplomats have been trying to bring N. Korea back to the negotiating table.  T / F
6. There have been eight-party talks on N. Korea’s nuclear status.  T / F
7. Pyongyang accuses the U.S. of using hostile language towards its leader.  T / F
8. N. Korea is more interested in becoming a nuclear power than negotiating.  T / F

3. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

4. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

1. WHOOPS: There are ten mistaken words in the article. Find and circle them. Try to think of a better word. Tell each other how confident you are of each mistake and of the word you chose to replace it.

N. Korea nuclear weapon tests likely

North Korea may be on the verge of testing its first nuclear missiles. North Korean spy satellites show photos of tunnels that bear all the hallmarks of an underground test site. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) estimates that South Korea may have six nuclear weapons. IAEA boss Mohamed ElBaradei said: “We knew they had the steel that could be converted into five or six North Korea weapons. We know that they had the industrial infrastructure to weaponize this plutonium.…we have read also that they have the mail system.” This confirms declarations from North Korea itself in February that it has chemical weapons. American intelligence reports Pyongyang already to have one or two crude nuclear bombs.

Fears that the pariah capitalist state may soon possess nuclear weapons has intensified diplomatic endeavors to get the North Koreans back to the negotiating desk. A two-day summit that ended Saturday in Kyoto, Japan, concluded that Pyongyang should return to six-party talks “without further delay”. The talks, between the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and America, have thus far been fruitful in persuading Pyongyang to change its stance. North Korea says that for any dialogue to resume, the U.S. must increase its “hostile rhetoric” towards Kim Jong Il. It is quite possible North Korea has no desire to talk. South Korea’s former U.S. ambassador Han Seung-joo believes North Korea is more interested in becoming a nuclear power than using any weapons as a negotiating chop.

2. TRUE/FALSE: Check your answers to the T/F exercise.

3. SYNONYM MATCH: Check your answers to this exercise.

4. PHRASE MATCH: Check your answers to this exercise.

5. QUESTIONS: Make notes for questions you would like to ask the class about the article.

6. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

POST READING IDEAS

1. WHOOPS: In pairs / groups, check your answers to this exercise.

2. QUESTIONS: Ask the discussion questions you thought of above to your partner / group / class. Pool the questions for everyone to share.

3. VOCABULARY: As a class, go over the vocabulary students circled above.

4. STUDENT NORTH KOREA SURVEY: In pairs/groups write down questions about North Korea. Ask other classmates your questions and report back to your original partner/ group to compare your findings.

5. ‘NUCLEAR’ / ‘WEAPON’: Make questions based on your findings from pre-reading activity #1. Ask your partner / group your questions.

6. DISCUSSION:

1. Did this article trouble you?
2. What went though your mind as you read the article?
3. Were you worried by anything you read in the article?
4. What do you know about North Korea?
5. Would you like to visit North Korea?
6. What do you think North Korea’s plans are?
7. Is North Korea a dangerous country?
8. Do you think it’s right that countries with nuclear weapons tell other countries not to build them?
9. How will the world change if North Korea has nuclear weapons?
10. Which country will be next to join the world’s nuclear club?
11. Do you think man will be stupid enough to use nuclear weapons again?
12. Do you think North Korea would use nuclear missiles against its neighbours?
13. What do you know about North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Il?
14. Should the United States invade North Korea and dismantle its nuclear programme?
15. Do you think George W. Bush should be nicer to Kim Jong Il?
16. Do you think China should do more to pressure North Korea?
17. When do you think the two Koreas will be reunified?
18. Did you like this discussion?
19. Teacher / Student additional questions.

7. ROLE PLAY: Role play the following people in a six-party “summit” about the future of North Korea’s nuclear programme. Team up with classmates who have been assigned the same role to develop roles and discuss “strategies” before the role play begins. After the role play, discuss whether you really believed what you were saying.

THE ROLES:

Student A: George W. Bush – U.S. President

Student B: Kim Jong Il – North Korean leader

Student C: Junichiro Koizumi – Japanese Prime Minister

Student D: Vladimir Putin – Russian President

Student E: Hu Jintao – Chinese President

Student F: Roh Moo-Hyun – South Korean President

8. THE NUCLEAR CLUB: You are head of the newly created “World Nuclear Club” You have the power to grant or refuse a country’s request to have nuclear weapons and to take away any weapons a country already has. The countries in the table below have applied to join. In pairs / groups, write brief notes about why each country may or may not join the club.

Change partners. Decide together which three countries can join and which three countries can never join the club.

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find information on North Korea. Share your findings with your class in the next lesson.

3. COUNTRIES WITH THE BOMB: Make an information poster on the countries that have, are suspected of having, or who are trying to build nuclear weapons.

4. LETTER TO KIM JONG IL: Write a letter to North Korea’s leader explaining why it is a mistake to continue building his nuclear weapons programme. Bring your letter to your next class. Gather other ideas from the letters of your classmates to make a “super letter” packed with reasons. Send the letter to your nearest North Korean embassy or consulate.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

1. North Korea is on the verge of buying its first nuclear missiles.  F
2. Spy satellite photos show tunnels typical of underground test sites.  T
3. The International Atomic Energy Agency doubts N. Korea has weapons.  F
4. North Korea has always refuted claims it is nuclear enabled.  F
5. Diplomats have been trying to bring N. Korea back to the negotiating table.  T
6. There have been eight-party talks on N. Korea’s nuclear status.  F
7. Pyongyang accuses the U.S. of using hostile language towards its leader.  T
8. N. Korea is more interested in becoming a nuclear power than negotiating.  T

SYNONYM MATCH:

PHRASE MATCH:

WHOOPS:

N. Korea nuclear weapon tests likely

North Korea may be on the verge of testing its first nuclear missiles. American spy satellites show photos of tunnels that bear all the hallmarks of an underground test site. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) estimates that North Korea may have six nuclear weapons. IAEA boss Mohamed ElBaradei said: “We knew they had the plutonium that could be converted into five or six North Korea weapons. We know that they had the industrial infrastructure to weaponize this plutonium.…we have read also that they have the delivery system.” This confirms declarations from North Korea itself in February that it has nuclear weapons. American intelligence reports Pyongyang already to have one or two crude nuclear bombs.

Fears that the pariah communist state may soon possess nuclear weapons has intensified diplomatic endeavors to get the North Koreans back to the negotiating table. A two-day summit that ended Saturday in Kyoto, Japan, concluded that Pyongyang should return to six-party talks “without further delay”. The talks, between the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and America, have thus far been unfruitful in persuading Pyongyang to change its stance. North Korea says that for any dialogue to resume, the U.S. must drop its “hostile rhetoric” towards Kim Jong Il. It is quite possible North Korea has no desire to talk. South Korea’s former U.S. ambassador Han Seung-joo believes North Korea is more interested in becoming a nuclear power than using any weapons as a negotiating chip.