Word: pyongyang
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Presiding over inter-Korean peace has multiple advantages for the Chinese: South Korea has become a major investor in China's newly capitalist economy, and Beijing is hoping that delivering a more pliant Pyongyang to the negotiating table - as China appears to have done - will cement its ties with Seoul. Besides transferring responsibility for the North Korean basket-case economy to Seoul, it also raises China's prestige as a responsible and powerful regional problem-solver. Beijing wouldn't be at all sad to see the departure of all those U.S. troops from its doorstep, and it would look...
...South Koreans came away from their breakthrough summit in Pyongyang with a lot more than a newfound appreciation for the wit and wisdom of the Dear Leader. A four-point communique adopted early Thursday commits the two sides to promote economic, sports and cultural exchanges (including family reunions across the world's most militarized border), to hold ongoing government-to-government talks and, most important, to work toward eventual reunification. No mention was made of the more vexing questions, such as Seoul's concerns over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs and Pyongyang's desire to see the backs...
...sides of the 1953 cease-fire line, don't expect the border fences to be torn down and chopped into souvenir-size chunks any time soon. "Although the dam wall is showing signs of breaking now and there are huge economic benefits for both sides in working together, both Pyongyang and Seoul have an interest in taking things very slowly," says TIME U.N. correspondent William Dowell. "North Korea wants to limit the impact of outside contact on its closed ideological system, while South Korea is getting over an economic slump and would fear being overburdened by any sudden move...
...that has put North Korea at the top of Washington's "rogue state" charts, and when Dear Leader Kim suggests that his guest get rid of the 30,000 U.S. troops dug in along the cease-fire line. Deep differences, in other words, may remain for some time, as Pyongyang makes its first, hesitant moves toward opening its doors to the world, ever fearful that such an opening could bring the edifice of its personality-cult communism crashing down. But in opening a dialogue that could continue for years, the two Kims warmed the hearts of their divided people with...
...China last week hosted Kim Jong Il on a rare trip abroad that underscored Beijing's critical role in cajoling the reclusive Pyongyang leadership to open up to the South and to the idea of economic reform. China, which remains North Korea's only significant ally, wants to show the South Koreans - from whom Beijing hopes to attract massive investment - that China, rather than the U.S., is the best guarantor of regional security. "China certainly has a lot to gain by taking the role of regional peace broker," says TIME U.N. correspondent William Dowell. "And, of course, the fact that...