Elvis Diplomacy

Gomen nasai, I've still no time to blog. I'm in Finland. I was very impressed with Jun-chan's diplomatic skills last week, though: Elvis Diplomacy is obviously simple enough to keep GWB (aka 'the Decider') "happii".
See below for an article on how the Decider and Jun-chan make a huge deal out of the DPRK missiles that refuse to fly anywhere near Japan nor the U.S.

Japan must lobby U.S. to talk directly with Pyongyang
07/07/2006BY MASARU HONDA, ASAHI SHIMBUN


The multiple missile firings Wednesday by North Korea shattered Pyongyang's moratorium on such launches. The moratorium on North Korea's nuclear weapons development has already broken down.
In the worst-case scenario, the six-party talks, which could develop into a framework for regional security, could be the next to go.
For the time being, Japan and the United States plan to tighten the noose around North Korea, mainly through the United Nations Security Council.
However, gaining the total cooperation of China and Russia--two key players on the council as well as the six-party talks--will not be easy.
The policy of setting moratoriums on North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile development programs was an initiative of the administration of U.S. President Bill Clinton.
After the nuclear crisis that emerged on the Korean Peninsula in 1994, the United States and North Korea signed the Agreed Framework in 1994. That agreement was supposed to have prevented North Korea from producing plutonium for nuclear warheads.
Following the launch of the Taepodong-1 ballistic missile in 1998, William Perry, a former U.S. defense secretary, visited North Korea and reached a deal in which Pyongyang agreed to freeze missile launches in exchange for continued assistance.
However, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush suspected that North Korea was secretly planning to produce weapons-grade material through uranium enrichment.
The Agreed Framework was no longer functional, and North Korea began openly manufacturing plutonium. In 2005, Pyongyang announced that it possessed nuclear weapons.
In Perry's view, North Korea has produced enough plutonium since 2003 for six to eight nuclear warheads.
Although the North Korean threat has grown, the Bush administration has rejected bilateral negotiations with Pyongyang.
Instead, the United States started up the six-party talks by bringing in China, which has influence over North Korea. Last fall, a joint statement was released after the six-party talks that called on North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons development plan.
However, Washington got fed up with North Korea's covert activities, including the counterfeiting of U.S. currency, and imposed economic sanctions. That led to greater mistrust between the United States and North Korea.
Feeling cornered, Pyongyang lashed out by launching seven missiles on Wednesday.
North Korea's offensive capability will obviously heighten immensely if its nuclear weapons development program is tied in with its missile program. Japan and the United States are planning to work together on a missile defense system to counter such a threat.
But there are clear indications that Tokyo and Washington had different views of the crisis created by Wednesday's launches.
The U.S. government focused on the launch of the Taepodong-2, which is said to be capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. The test of the Taepodong-2 apparently failed Wednesday, and Stephen Hadley, national security adviser to Bush, said the launch was not a direct threat to the United States.
But the Japanese government could not give its public such reassurances. At least two of the missiles were the Nodong, which has a range that covers almost the entire Japanese archipelago.
If Pyongyang should succeed in producing nuclear warheads for its missiles, the likely first target would not be the United States, but Japan.
One reason the crisis has deepened is inconsistency in the Bush administration's policy toward North Korea. There was a period when Washington was more concerned about a regime change in North Korea than Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and missile development programs.
If, as in the past, Tokyo decides on its response after waiting to see what the Bush administration does, it could actually worsen the situation and go against this country's interests.
With Japan's top priority being a resolution of the crisis over nuclear weapons and missiles, Tokyo should lobby the Bush administration to enter into direct dialogue with North Korea while maintaining the six-party talks, which will be key to future security in East Asia.
Even if the issue is being taken up at the U.N. Security Council, it will be difficult to bring peace to the region unless Japan takes such a fundamental stance.(IHT/Asahi: July 7,2006)