"Japanese officials set off fears of a policy discord with allies by signaling a willingness to open a greater dialogue, including possible summit talks, with North Korea."
That's the newly-elected nationalist government whose slips of the tongue have been offending everyone? Every time peace talk comes up alarms start ringing in the U.S. power structure.
Related:
"The issue has been an irritant in otherwise close relations between the United States and Japan. Secretary of State John Kerry called it a ‘‘huge issue’’ that needs to be resolved."
Yeah, that's important, but....
"North Korean leader sends envoy to China" by Choe Sang-Hun | New York Times, May 23, 2013
SEOUL — North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, sent his first special envoy to China on Wednesday, amid signs that Kim’s government was trying to mend strained ties with Beijing and was seeking breaches in the tightening ring of economic and diplomatic pressure over its nuclear weapons development.
The envoy, Vice Marshal Choe Ryong-hae, director of the general political bureau of the North Korean People’s Army, met in Beijing with Wang Jiarui, head of the international department of the Chinese Communist Party, said Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency. The report gave no details.
His trip is North Korea’s first serious diplomatic move after months of bellicose pronouncements, including threats to launch nuclear strikes at the United States and its allies. It comes as Japanese officials set off fears of a policy discord with allies by signaling a willingness to open a greater dialogue, including possible summit talks, with North Korea....
“The fact that Kim Jong Un sent a special envoy means that he has something quite urgent to discuss with China,” said Cheong Seong-chang, a senior analyst at the Sejong Institute in South Korea.
Choe’s trip provides Beijing with an opportunity to assess North Korea’s intentions ahead of President Xi Jinping’s planned summit talks with President Obama in California in early June and with President Park Geun-hye of South Korea in Beijing late in June....
The new leadership in Beijing had recently shown signs of impatience with North Korea, said Choi Myeong-hae, of the Samsung Economic Research Institute in Seoul.
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What could they be impatient about?
"China asks North Korea to release fishing boat, crew" Associated Press, May 21, 2013
BEIJING — China is urging North Korea to release a Chinese fishing boat seized, its owner said, by gun-toting North Koreans earlier this month and held for ransom, in the latest irritant in relations between the neighboring allies.
Boat owner Yu Xuejun, who wasn’t aboard, first publicized the seizure on his microblog late Saturday, and on Monday posted that his terrified captain had communicated to him a new ransom deadline.
‘‘My captain gave me the phone. His voice was trembling. Could feel he was very afraid. Told me no later than 5 p.m. today,’’ Yu wrote on a verified Tencent Weibo account. The post was accompanied by photos of the captain and 15 sailors.
There was no immediate word on the fate of the crew as the deadline passed.
Yu wrote over the weekend that North Koreans seized his boat May 5 in what he maintained were Chinese waters and that they demanded a $100,000 ransom.
The apparent seizure of the Liaoning-based boat adds to China’s frustration with North Korea over its recent tests of nuclear and rocket technologies in defiance of international efforts to curb the country’s nuclear ambitions.
The Chinese government is under intense pressure to ensure the safety of citizens who venture abroad or out to sea to seek their livelihoods. Another abduction by North Koreans of Chinese fishermen about a year ago — along with allegations they were beaten — sparked furious criticism among Chinese online.
Anything else that might be an irritant?
"US-Japan agree on new missile defense system" Associated Press, September 18, 2012
TOKYO — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Monday that US and Japanese officials have agreed to put a second defense system in Japan aimed at protecting the country from the threat of a missile attack from North Korea.
We talk peace, but....
Not directed at China.
BULL!
The United States already has similar early warning radar systems on ships in the Pacific. This second Japan-based system will allow the US vessels to spread out and cover other parts of the region.
The new installation would also be effective in protecting the United States from a North Korea threat, Panetta said during a press conference in Tokyo with the Japanese defense minister, Satoshi Morimoto. While officials insisted the radar system would not be aimed at China, the decision was sure to raise the ire of Beijing.
Panetta said he would talk to Chinese leaders to assure them that the move is about protecting the United States and the region from North Korea’s missile threat. ‘‘We have made these concerns clear to the Chinese,’’ he said. ‘‘For that reason . . . we believe it is very important to move ahead’’ with the radar system.
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Related:
Sure looks like it when you consider the new opening to Myanmar and the basing of US troops in Australia.
Less of an irritant, if they are one at all:
"North Korea tests short-range weapons for third day" Associated Press, May 21, 2013
SEOUL — North Korea continued firing short-range weapons over its own eastern waters Monday....
Analysts say the recent launches appear to be weapons tests or an attempt to get US and South Korean attention amid tentative signs of diplomacy....
Or it's just a test to make sure defenses are working, just in case.
The two projectiles fired on Monday had similar trajectories as four previous launches over the past two days, according to defense officials in Seoul. Officials were analyzing whether the projectiles were missiles or rockets fired from a large-caliber gun. Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min Seok said South Korea is taking seriously whatever weapons North Korea develops.
In Washington, Pentagon press secretary George Little said Monday the Obama administration does not consider the short-range launches a sign of renewed tensions.
Neither do I. It's the U.S. military drills that do that.
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Related:
N. Korea fires projectile into water
Sunday Globe Special: Korea Comes Up Short
Globe always does.
