In Case You Missed It

With all the enormous attention on the Kerry-tastrophe yesterday, many people may have missed a very significant development. North Korea has agreed to return to the six-party negotiations. This is a victory for the Bush administration's policies since Kim tried to detonate a nuke. It is also a slap to those who have counseled caving in and talking to Kim one-on-one - effectively rewarding his bad behavior.

The North's Foreign Ministry made only indirect mention of its underground nuclear detonation last month. Instead, it focused in an official statement on its desire to end U.S. financial restrictions by going back to six-nation arms talks that it has boycotted for a year.

Confirming other nations' reports of the Tuesday agreement, the North's Foreign Ministry said Pyongyang decided to return to negotiations "on the premise that the issue of lifting financial sanctions will be discussed and settled between the (North) and the U.S. within the framework of the six-party talks."

Washington had banned transactions between American financial institutions and Banco Delta Asia SARL — a bank in the Chinese territory of Macau — saying it was being used by North Korea for money-laundering.

The ban is believed to have blocked access to some $24 million for the North's leaders, who indulge their taste for luxury goods like cognac and fine wines while the vast majority of North Koreans live in poverty.

Live in poverty? They are starving too death. This is a very positive development, I suspect.

UPDATE: WaPo coverage. They try to spin it negative for the administration, but it is clearly a cave-in by Pyongyang.