Posted on 07/04/2005 8:58:56 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Japan says patience running thin on N.Korea talks
04 Jul 2005 08:05:02 GMT
Source: Reuters
TOKYO, July 4 (Reuters) - Patience is running out for North Korea's return to stalled talks on its nuclear arms programme, Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said on Monday, adding that Tokyo was neither optimistic nor pessimistic about the likelihood the negotiations would resume soon.
"In some quarters there is a very optimistic view and they probably have their basis for that, but the Japanese government is neither extremely optimistic nor extremely pessimistic," Machimura told Reuters in an interview.
"Soon, we will reach the limits of our patience," Machimura added. "The passage of time helps North Korea's nuclear development, so time is running out for the option of waiting. We need to deal with this with a sense of urgency."
Earlier on Monday a South Korean official who visited Washington last week to discuss the North Korean nuclear crisis said the stalled talks could resume as early as this month.
Ping!
time is running out for the option of waiting. We need to deal with this with a sense of urgency."
Whoa! Is Japan doing a little saber rattling of its own?
I tend to think they are the US mouthpiece here. I don't really think the Japanese govt means to imply they will take action themselves.
They are talking on behalf of U.S. for sure. However, don't count them out when it comes to real action this time. They may not do full-scale combat, but they would do everything else, in my opinion.
I'm sure they will provide us all the access we need to their bases and logistic support. Their worries here extend beyond NK to China. They know that the NK's are China's puppets and China is their real competitor in Asia.
Things are gettin' real interestin' over there.
Thank you for these updates on the Pacific Rim FRiend, this is something of great interest to me.
Before Japan does anything they need to make nice with the Republic of Korea, and resolve some long outstanding national wounds. It would be very interesting if Japan commits troops to the defense of the ROK, just to find that those troops are treated as invaders as dangerous as the DPRK.
Fact is that in any new Korean conflict, Japan would probably have to supply the lion's share of troops from allied nations, as they're only about 500 miles away, and the US can only commit Three divisions over night to the defense of the ROK. That capacity has probably diminished since our committment to Iraq.
==They may not do full-scale combat
Doesn't their constitution prevent them from entering into combat operations?
>>Before Japan does anything they need to make nice with the Republic of Korea,
Is that possible, in the next fifty years or so? I doubt it. Japanese-Korean hostility runs mighty deep.
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