Word: pyongyang
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...believes North Korea could have as many as eight nukes. And although testing one would mark Pyongyang's unequivocal entry into the world's exclusive club of proven nuclear powers, North Korea watchers say the potential fallout with its ally China could stay Pyongyang's hand. But President Bush isn't taking any chances. He urged China's President Hu Jintao last week to rein in his irksome neighbor. And in case Kim Jong Il doesn't get the message, the U.S. is rotating Stealth bombers and fighter jets through Guam, where they are within striking distance of North Korea...
...negotiating partners to ponder riskier alternatives. After meeting with Chinese officials, Hill told the press, "The future of the talks is very much uncertain," and there are signs that Beijing is losing heart, too. Diplomats in Beijing say China's President Hu Jintao has postponed a visit to Pyongyang planned for this month because Kim has refused to return to the talks. "Hu won't go unless the trip is guaranteed to be a success," says a Chinese advisor to the Foreign Ministry...
...February declared that it was a nuclear power, may be preparing to prove it by testing a nuclear device. Seoul says it has no evidence for this, and there are suspicions that the U.S. could be stoking such fears merely to justify a tougher policy toward North Korea. If Pyongyang were to test a nuclear weapon, it might in fact play perfectly into Washington's hands, convincing the international community to get serious about imposing painful sanctions. "If North Korea takes such reckless actions as conducting a nuclear test, it will further deepen its isolation and take itself...
...despite this shared goal, Japan and China can't see eye to eye on how to deal with the North. China, together with South Korea, favors compromise, conciliation and economic aid, hoping that such largesse will persuade Pyongyang to give up its nukes. Japan sides with the U.S. in calling for a more hawkish engagement with the North, one that contemplates referring the issue to the U.N. Security Council?a step that could result in economic sanctions being imposed on Pyongyang...
...Deteriorating relations between China and Japan only make it harder to bridge the gaps. Yet together the two countries may hold the keys to the solution. As North Korea's biggest benefactor, Beijing can nudge Pyongyang into accepting that it must negotiate if the issue is to be resolved peacefully?thereby preserving North Korea's existence and subsistence. At the same time, Japan, as Washington's close ally, is uniquely placed to press the U.S. to show some flexibility in American demands for "complete, verifiable and irreversible" denuclearization by the North...