Word: seoul
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...truth is, Kim Jong Il and the regime he heads can live without subjecting North Koreans to revolutionary ditties from space. Yesterday's launch, from the North's standpoint, was an almost unequivocal success, even if the satellite now sleeps with the fishes. Diplomatic and intelligence sources in Seoul and Tokyo contend that Pyongyang's biggest aim was to increase the range of its Taepodong II rocket. In 1998 it launched a predecessor that traveled about 1,060 miles (1,700 km). On July 4, 2006, another long-range rocket broke apart shortly after launch. Yesterday's rocket flew more...
...Security Council announced that it would hold an emergency session on Sunday in New York, and in Prague, one stop of his European tour, Obama said Washington would consult with its allies. But that's about as far as the diplomacy will go. Diplomatic and intelligence sources in Seoul late last week acknowledged that neither China nor Russia - both permanent members of the Security Council - will agree to further sanctions. "The best [Seoul and Tokyo] can hope for is a statement from the Security Council that condemns the test," says Chol Jinwook, director of North Korean Studies at the Korean...
...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 is Kim in control...
...being typically audacious. The North Korean government probably noted with interest that in its immediate reaction, the White House insisted that the North "abandon the development of weapons of mass destruction." It said nothing about destroying the small arsenal of nuclear weapons the North already possesses. Analysts in Seoul wondered whether that was deliberate - a signal that Washington not only still wanted to talk, but that it might be flexible about how the North can stand down its weapons program. Because at some point, new talks, despite the launch, are almost inevitable. The Obama administration is learning the same lesson...
...ganache with cured duck and apple compote. Rare tuna and scallop come with salt-baked fennel-and-scallop sausage. Presentation is very contemporary. Even the afterthoughts - tiny gingerbread men arriving with the coffee, the wafer-thin caraway crispbread - are fresh and unusual. (See 10 things to do in Seoul...