Meanwhile, In Another Crisis

North Korea delegates stormed out of bilateral talks with South Korea after making loonier than usual (if that's possible) demands on the South. Even the Chinese appear to be at a loss as to what Pyongyang is up to.

The deadlock threw the spotlight back on wrangling over a U.N. resolution censuring North Korea for its July 5 missile tests, which has pitted Japan against China and Russia.

Kyodo news agency reported that Japan was now prepared to work on an alternative Security Council resolution sponsored by Moscow and Beijing that urges North Korea to suspend its nuclear programs but avoids the mandatory sanctions Tokyo has sought.

"What is important is to adopt a binding resolution," the agency quoted an official as saying on condition of anonymity.

Tension between the two Koreas erupted at bilateral ministerial talks in the South Korean city of Pusan, where the Pyongyang's delegation parried complaints about the missile tests and focused instead on economic cooperation and requests for aid.

"The South side will pay a price before the nation for causing the collapse of the ministerial talks and bringing a collapse of North-South relations that is unforeseeable now," the North Koreans said in a statement before leaving for the airport, a day before the meeting was due to end.

The North Koreans demanded that the South stop joint military drills with the United States due next year, saying it was ready to protect South Korea with its 1.2-million-strong armed forces.

That provoked an unusually biting reply from South Korean Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok that echoed the rhetoric of the years before Seoul's determined policy of rapprochement.

"Who in the South asked you to protect our safety?" Lee told Kwon on Tuesday, according to a South Korean official. "It would help our safety for the North not to fire missiles or develop a nuclear program."

The South said the North could also forget about any more aid until it returns to separate talks on its nuclear weapons.

The South Korean delegate's reply was excellent, by the way. Meanwhile the US envoy is not sure what is going on either right now.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said a "friendship delegation" sent to Pyongyang by Beijing, the closest North Korea has to an ally, had failed to achieve a breakthrough.

"So far they don't seem to be interested in listening, much less doing anything," he told reporters before leaving Beijing for Washington. "I think the Chinese are as baffled as we are."

This is a very, very dangerous time and the world will not get through it peacefully unless the world stands together against this kind of aggression.

Other Links to this Post

1. Blue Crab Boulevard » Blog Archive » South Korea Halts Aid To North — Thursday, 13 July , 2006 @ 2:53 pm