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13 Comments

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  adaydream at 07:04 AM JST - 10th October

  This I ndon't like.

  Yeah, I'm going to blame george bush.

  he waited for years to talk to them, and then when he does he doersn't keep his word. That gives North Korea an opening to do what they want.

  What I'm also worried about. How much of this is Kim Jong Il? How much of this is the orders of Kim or is it someone within the county's dictatorship that is directing this to suit their personal adenda, while the chance allows? < :-)

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  some14some at 08:19 AM JST - 10th October

  Why? No reason(s) given by NK?

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  smithinjapan at 09:22 AM JST - 10th October

  So much for all those people singing happy songs when they thought Kim Jong Il might be dead or permanently disabled! As I said, and others also commented on, the situation could get FAR more dangerous if someone less moderate than Kim decided to take the reigns. Now we're seeing that, I believe.

  What's more, the increased bombast by people like Aso, refusal to come to the table and give more (like Bush promised, then renegged on), are forcing NK into a dangerous corner.

  I'm not defending NK; they do this every time they don't get their way, and have more than renegged on deals themselves, but the world has to finally see that backing out of your own promises will provoke FAR MORE dangerous results from the NK side.

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  OssanULTRA at 09:30 AM JST - 10th October

  No party to blame other than NKorea. Not George Bush, Not hte US, not Aso, not Japan, not anyone else or any other country. We should all learn to be more like the Israelis.

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  Youdontknow at 12:47 PM JST - 10th October

  On a recent CNN report (yeah yeah, I know, CNN is garbage) it was stated that some members within Kim's own party are fed-up with how he is running the country and just waiting for him to die so they can change things for the better. However, if he dies and his son takes the reins, this can only mean greater troubles for the immediate areas around North Korea (especially Japan) as his son has made it clear in the past that he will take a tougher line of action than his father. North Korea would be foolish to launch nukes though, as they know they would be wiped out by China, Japan and Russia, never mind the US too. All regimes fall and this one has been crumbling for years. It's only a matter of time.

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  coulrophobic at 01:21 PM JST - 10th October

  "I'm not defending NK"

  Nor are you attacking them, the way you do representatives of Japan's democratically elected government and those of America's democratically elected government.

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  SuperLib at 01:25 PM JST - 10th October

  are forcing NK into a dangerous corner.

  I'm with smith and daydream. North Korea would be a peaceful nuclear free zone if the George Bush and the US would stop backing them into dangerous corners. And Japan wouldn't have had any of their people abducted if they hadn't backed North Korea into a corner and forced them to do so. Same with South Korea. If they hadn't backed North Korea into a corner and forced them to invade the South then there would have been no war.

  I say....no more backing into corners! If the US would actually be nice to them then we could have avoided this whole mess. But no...the US had to go back them into corners and forcing them to be a menace on the world stage. North Korea are the real victims here....with their backs in corners.

  But of course, I'm not defending them. Please don't be confused by my words. North Korea is still responsible for her own actions, I'm just saying that the US/Japan/Korea are the ones to blame for North Korea taking those actions.

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  SushiSake3 at 02:43 PM JST - 10th October

  Looks like George W. Bush's hardline policy of 'not talking to terrorist states' while having Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, erhhrr..talking to terrorist states, um...worked...um..didn't work.

  Bush really brings an entirely new level of meaning to the term 'loser.'

  But I like how he swaggers... :-)

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  TonyUS at 02:44 PM JST - 10th October

  hmmm You know all have been trained to see North Korea as this evil part of the Korean peninsula. True there was the Korean war and the out come was north and south and communist control of the north, but also look how long that has been. One thing I have been thinking lately was, how easily North Korea's actions against others could be cooled by engaging with them. North Korea has no one actually. They have China for sure since China is who made them what they are today. Now that China is active among other nations, some good, some bad, North Korea is part of its side show and part of China's leverage, but at the same time North Korea is still a country very deeply in trouble in all respects.

  I see N. Korea an easy target for the US to make substantial gains, and even Japan to begin working with N. Korea and take away from China their little tool of leverage when any issues of that area comes up, especially the US dealings with China that always involves Taiwan as some bargaining chip, which was very well exploited by China since Bush has been in. Who knows how N. Korea will be used by China with the next president of the US. N.Korea is in sad shape and has been for many years. US could take a totally different approach with N. Korea and do everyone alot of good, especially the N ,Korean people and at the same time .. maybe... change the face and views of both the US population, the N. Korean population and the views of the leaders of n. Korea as well. remember not too long ago Kim welcomed the philharmonic orchestra?? I think that was who went there. If not someone like that. hahaha But as we all have seen that has had exchanges with almost everyone across the world on the internet, the basic mentality of people are basically the same as for wants, wishes and needs. We are all people that yearn for a better life. This is no different than the people in N. Korea, especially people that have suffered for so long. Also interactions with the government of N. Korea can only help the situation instead of straining the situation.

  I am not usually one to stand on such ideals, but this about keeping N. Korea as it is just does not seem right or fair to anyone, especially when N. Korea sees no other choice in the matter. No, one country wants to kneel to another, but I am certian a small country in the position of N. Korea would welcome some sort of interaction on a less hmmm… how to say... less forceful stance by a large nation.. Just look how long this has been going on with the Bush administration’s approach. I think we can say this approach is not the right one. I do see this very different than the China issue. We are interacting with China and for many years now, but at the same time our goodwill towards China ahs not gained us any credibility or friendship as China builds its military directly towards ours and states we are their only future threat. So I do see the N. Korea issue different than my view of interaction with the communist regime of China. Korea has reason to rely on military power since no one gives them any other choice where as China….. we reach and reach out to them and in return still have to deal with the mindset of them wanting to rule the world.. All one has to do is talk to the Chinese people with this obscured Chinese nationalism drilled into their heads. Screw human rights, just give us the ability to be in control.

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  coulrophobic at 03:07 PM JST - 10th October

  "Looks like George W. Bush's hardline policy of 'not talking to terrorist states' while having Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, erhhrr..talking to terrorist states, um...worked...um..didn't work."

  Which makes most Americans ask - what has the democratically-elected govenment of your country done in response to North Korea? (I'm assuming you are from a democracy...)

  I am so weary of hearing how 'stupid' Bush (and by implication at least half of the US electorate) is from all the armchair Secretary Generals I meet online and here in J-land.

  Do you have an answer for us, sushisake?

  Do you have anything on your brains other than President Bush and Senator John McCain?

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  Alphaape at 04:28 PM JST - 10th October

  Why is it "Bush's fault" when a country that we help supply food aid to, and have meet at the 6 party talks has gone back on the deal it has made? Also, this is not the first deal, I seem to recall that under Bill Clinton when an agreement was made with Norh Korea by Albright and Bill Richardson on postive steps the NK's have made, and yet they went back on the very same agreement.

  Speaking of Bush's policies, the last time I checked, USFK are at no more of a heightened alert than normal, nor are the forces here in Japan moving towards South Korea.

  What we have is a rouge regime, that shows, sometimes leaders like the Bush and the US have to be tough. We are not just able to "all get along peacefully" when some idot would rather see his own people starve, free open communication to the rest of the world cut off, and lives in a state of cult personality. This seems to bother many of the people who are in the "BDS (Bush Derrangement Syndrome) camp or who say there is not a need for military intervention anywhere. Believe me, I know Bush has screwed up elsewhere, but this is not the case with NK. We didn't move fast enough to take NK off the list of "evil nations?" I seem to recall that Japan wanted us to take it slower so that they would have a better leg to stand on in regards to the abduction issue.

  I think in this case, it is all NK's fault.

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  SezWho2 at 08:40 PM JST - 10th October

  Meanwhile, The Japan Times today reports that in a deal cut on October 1 between Christopher Hill and the North Korean negotiator Kim Kye Gwan, the US informed Japan of its intent to delist North Korea from the roster of terrorist states.

  Included in that deal was continuation of food aid by the US in exchange for a "broad agreement" on the plutonium program. Not included was the uranium program or proliferation activities.

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  TonyUS at 01:59 PM JST - 11th October

  I say Bush screwed up with calling for 6 party talks. It belittled our stance in dealing with N. Korea and has brought CHINA and RUSSIA into the mix that now both China and RUssia use the 6 party talks to undermind other interests when it comes to dealing with Russia and China.. as we see with IRAN. I think Bush really screwed up!!!!!!!!

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