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JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

N Korea angling for Obama's attention

World Jan. 31, 2009 - 03:25PM JST ( 8 )

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8 Comments

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smithinjapanJan. 31, 2009 - 08:23PM JST

If the US takes even a slightly more moderate approach to NK and lays off the GWB rhetoric that helped plunge the relationship to the worst levels in at least a decade, it'll improve things. I'm not saying the US should suck up to Kim and give him what he wants -- not at all -- but drop some of the bombast and talk even a little more optimistically and things will change for the better. The only guarantee that comes of keeping such a hardline is the guarantee nothing good will come of it. Compare pre-GWB relationships, and pre-Aso/Fukuda/Abe, and finally and most importantly, pre-Lee....
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rajakumarJan. 31, 2009 - 08:44PM JST

North korea wants President Obama to talk about north korea.
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tclhJan. 31, 2009 - 09:49PM JST

NK is shouting again ,ignore it! If you give aid , it will build up its military in order to threaten you more in the future. If you do not give any aid ,all it can do is shouting. In fact if US gives a signal to allow Japan the possibility to re-arm , that will put a huge pressure on China to control NK behaviour.
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smithinjapanFeb. 01, 2009 - 12:29AM JST

tclh: " If you do not give any aid ,all it can do is shouting"

Ummm... nope. It can start war. Put a wild animal in a corner and it's not going to bow down and suddenly realize the error of its ways.

"In fact if US gives a signal to allow Japan the possibility to re-arm , that will put a huge pressure on China to control NK behaviour."

Or it could cause China to send ships into Japan's waters and start war along-side NK. That's pretty far-fetched, but more realistic than China suddenly becoming worried about Japan rearming itself and therefore reigning in NK. They would mop the floor with Japan before they rebuked NK for Japan acquiring arms, my friend. Let's not forget that the nuclear test a few years back was in response to such talk as you propose, and Japan's moronic approach to NKorea as well (as in, deal with the abduction issue first and foremost and we'll stop reneging on aid).

Thanks for playing, though, tclh.
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SuperLibFeb. 01, 2009 - 12:32AM JST

Well smith your words would make sense if North Korea started to ease the tensions after Bush left but it appears the opposite is happening. They're more belligerent now than at any time during Bush's presidency.

The fact is that the world has tried a range of policies with North Korea from "sunshine" to "axis of evil" and none of it has worked to any real extent. Both Clinton and Bush were unsuccessful in getting North Korea in line with the international community. I hope Obama will do better but at this point I can't say I really know what direction he should go in.
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UnagiDonFeb. 01, 2009 - 04:11AM JST

smith;

Or it could cause China to send ships into Japan's waters and start war along-side NK. That's pretty far-fetched,

Finally, a good point...

There is always a chance of a war between China and Japan, but NOT over NK. The Chinese gov't and people are hardly as enamored of NK as you seem to think they are. The only reason the PRC supports NK is to avoid having a humanitarian disaster on its border - thinking that it would attack Japan over NK shows an amazing lack of knowledge about the area and the relationship between those countries.

Let's not forget that the nuclear test a few years back was in response to such talk as you propose,

The nuclear test had nothing to do with Japan, at least not primarily. It was another bargaining chip for NK in the Six-Party talks. You really need to get over this infatuation you seem to have with blaming Japan for everything that goes on regarding NK.
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tclhFeb. 01, 2009 - 04:43AM JST

"It can start war"...? No, NK is no suicide bomber,they want to live well and they see that using their nukes to threaten everybody is a good way to make money. You give them aid they will think that method is so successful ,lets do it more. China would not prefer a very strong NK, just strong enough to be its faithful dog. China will view that the possibility of nuclear -armed Japan is a failure on its own leadership.
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OssanAmericaFeb. 01, 2009 - 07:23AM JST

Nkorea can not start any war because if they do it will automatically draw China into it. Therefore NKorea can not start any war without China tacit permission. Back in 1950 Kim Il Song couldn't start a war without Stalin's permission. Not much has changed since then. The relationship between the US and NKorea did not suddenly "go bad" during the Bush Administration, although no one would doubt that the NKoreans probably stained their underwear when they heard the "axis" speech. It was bad prior to Bush coming into office. The policy of appeasing the mad man with the gun has failed utterly, and now the world is in an economic crisis incliuding NKorea's major benefactor which makes free handouts to the nutbag far more difficult than it was before. The 5 parties talking to NKOrea simply won't be able to afford to keep playing NKorea's game. At some point unless NKorea starts playing ball they will be faced with a very angry and annoyed China on their border and no country will be able to do anything about it.