Word: pyongyang
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...Rice's North Korea Sanctions Mission Is No Slam-Dunk Analysis: Sure, China has agreed to block any trade with its neighbor's weapons programs. But its priorities are to engage Pyongyang and restart nuclear diplomacy - not necessarily the same as those...
...American general in South Korea warned that Kim Jong Il would likely conduct further nuclear and missile tests before the end of the year. Christopher Hill, the chief U.S. envoy to North Korea, told reporters in Beijing that talks could resume "in November or possibly December," and that Pyongyang had reaffirmed its commitment to a preliminary agreement that had been reached last September, shortly before the talks fizzled when the U.S. cracked down on illegal North Korean bank accounts in the Chinese city of Macau...
...While Hill said that North Korea had made no pledge to refrain from further nuclear tests, Japan's conservative Foreign Minister Taro Aso reportedly said that Tokyo opposes resuming the talks unless Pyongyang agrees to renounce its weapons program. North Korea, still stinging from the sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council earlier this month, in the wake of its Oct, 9 test of a small nuclear device, is unlikely before talks even begin to surrender a bomb it spent decades and millions building...
...When North Korea does return to the bargaining table, it's possible that the relatively solid coalition cobbled together by the U.S. in the aftermath of this month's test could easily break down, as China and South Korea reduce the pressure they put on Pyongyang even as the U.S. and Japan maintain a hard line...
...resumption of the talks, however, does represent a diplomatic win for China, which had been forced to take the central role in reining in its wayward ally Pyongyang. It was China's decision to support the U.N. sanctions that gave them teeth, and Chinese envoys made repeated trips to Pyongyang over the last several weeks. The message was clear: North Korea had embarrassed Beijing by testing a nuclear device despite repeated warnings by the Chinese against doing so. By at least agreeing to return to the six-party talks, Kim is preventing a loss in international face for his status...