The latest meeting of the six-party talks in Beijing is currently on hold, but that hasn't stopped Kim Kye Gwan, North Korea's plenipotentiary in the talks, from telling the press that the US is prepared to include a concrete timeline for removing North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.Is Japan ready for …
Tag: Six-party talks
The end of Abe politics (for now)
Prime Minister Fukuda delivered his maiden speech to the Diet this afternoon, reopening legislative business after an unscheduled three-week abeyance.If Mr. Fukuda was trying to differentiate himself from his successor, he succeeded admirably. Mr. Abe's way of politics was not just ideological, but inflexibly ideological. For Mr. Abe, it was always "my way or the …
Troubles abroad
In the midst of considering the problems that either Mr. Fukuda or Mr. Aso will inherit, it is important not to forget the foreign policy problems that Japan faces, not least the six-party talks and the North Korea challenge.As a consequence of Mr. Abe's abductions-centered North Korea policy, Japan is isolated in the six-party talks, …
False alarm (for now)
Not surprisingly, Chris Hill has dismissed claims that the US agreed to remove North Korea from the State Department's state sponsors of terrorism list, at least not before North Korea makes significant progress towards denuclearization.Perhaps the news media should, you know, actually check with the other party in the talks before reporting the claims of …
Abe, Japan alone
MTC provides a good roundup of the political environment following the resignation of Mr. Endo, the third MAFF minister to leave office since Prime Minister Abe's inauguration.He notes that both Mainichi and Nikkei are reporting that Chief Cabinet Secretary Yosano is more or less in charge of the government — although their Beatles reference of …
North Korea to be removed from terror list?
The BBC is reporting that North Korea has announced that in exchange for its accounting for all of its nuclear activities and disabling its nuclear facilities, the US will remove North Korea from the list of terror-supporting nations and lift related sanctions.Given that the story originated with the DPRK foreign ministry — and that no …
Continue reading North Korea to be removed from terror list?
The US plays the game
With this week devoted to meetings running up to the weekend's APEC summit (I'm curious about what leaders will wear for the Australian "national costume" photo), there is lots of talk about the shape of US Asia policy as the Bush administration comes to a close.Kim Beazley, a former leader of Australia's Labor Party, writes …
The time for choosing approaches
North Korea has indicated that in order for the six-party talks to go forward, the US will have to remove North Korea from its list of state supporters of terrorism. That demand, of course, is aimed squarely at US-Japan cooperation on the abductions issue, because Japan is adamant that so long as North Korea fails …
Learning to be self-reliant?
If I could draw, I would have drawn something exactly like this cartoon in today's Yomiuri:The caption on this cartoon reads, "Troubles at home, worries in America," Abe's dual American "worries" being the looming comfort women resolution and Christopher Hill's nuclear bargaining.It didn't need to be this way, did it? As I wrote last week, …
The Pyongyang visit
Peter Howard at Duck of Minerva greets Chris Hill's visit to Pyongyang with fairly effusive praise, arguing that the "reverse course" in North Korea policy undertaken by Hill with Condoleeza Rice's support has begun to yield some positive results. He points to the imminent closing of Yongbyon and the admission of IAEA inspectors as signs …
Tobias S. Harris 