Word: diplomat
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...Obama can hope for now is to get North Korea to return to the six-party talks (hosted by Beijing and including South Korea, Japan and Russia.) Washington has tried to signal Pyongyang in advance of the launch that it was still interested in talking, "because," says one Western diplomat, "the big picture remains the same, missile or no missile: getting them to abandon their nuclear weapons program...
...firing of the Taepodong II likely had two purposes: at a moment when the Obama administration has indicated it is willing to engage with hostile regimes - Iran and Syria specifically - Pyongyang "just threw a big rock at the White House, and said, 'We're here, too,'" says one Western diplomat in Seoul. Internally, the launch comes at a critical moment. Kim Jong Il had a stroke late last summer, and there is intense speculation as to the state of Kim's health and his level of control over his regime. "The launch says to North Koreans that not only...
...know how it's behaving now: badly. Or, as a diplomat in Seoul puts it, throwing an "intercontinental ballistic hissy fit." On April 5, the North made good on its plan to launch a Taepodong II rocket, an armament with a range of about 2,500 miles to 2,800 miles (4,000 km to 4,500 km), which would bring Hawaii within its reach. On March 31, Pyongyang announced that it will charge two young American journalists with "hostile acts," claiming that they strayed into North Korean territory from northeastern China. And despite a worsening economy, the regime said...
...sons was put forward as a front man to maintain the dynasty. That implies that in all likelihood, the post-Kim Jong Il era will look a lot like the present. The country's unifying ideology, called juche, is usually translated as "self-reliance." But as a Western diplomat in Seoul says, "it's more like 'up yours.' " No sign of that changing...
...West thing is a bit of a cliché; every Western leader who has ever given a speech in Istanbul has made that point. If Obama wants to be different, he may need another location. "Turkey is a safe choice, but not an inspired one," says the Arab diplomat. "It's like shooting terrorists from a Predator drone - you get the job done, but you don't really engage with people on the ground...