Posted on 02/20/2007 3:33:28 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
NORTH KOREA'S NUCLEAR THREAT / Gaps seen in Japan, U.S. policies The Yomiuri Shimbun
An agreement adopted at the latest round of six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program stipulates two-phase measures toward Pyongyang's denuclearization in return for energy support.
This second series of articles on the threats posed by North Korea's nuclear program, following the first series carried last month, takes a close look at the background to the agreement reached at the six-party talks.
This is the fourth installment of the series.
After the U.S.-North Korea talks in Berlin from Jan. 16 to 18, Japan and the United States held tough closed-door consultations ahead of the latest round of six-party talks earlier this month in Beijing.
The focus of the consultations was whether to remove North Korea from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
A high-ranking U.S. government official showed a document to the Japanese side and said the United States would like to proceed at the six-party talks on the basis of the agenda written on it.
One of the agenda items was "removing the designation of North Korea as a terrorism-sponsoring state" as a diplomatic trump card the United States might use in the talks. Japanese officials were momentarily taken aback by the notion, and one of them made an offer.
Stating that a country that has abducted people is a terrorist country, the official said the most desirable option was not to touch on the subject of removing the designation. However, the official continued, if the United States were to play that diplomatic card to strike a deal at the talks, the wording should go no further than "consider [removing the designation]" or "start the process [of removing it]."
As for reasons to designate North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, in April 2004 the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush added the issue of Japanese abducted to North Korea. Removing the designation is a concession to North Korea, and at the same time it means undermining of the U.S. stance of valuing its relations with Japan.
In the end the document agreed on in Beijing last Tuesday, the Initial Actions for the Implementation of the Joint Statement [of September 2005], has the following wording: "The U.S. will begin the process of removing the designation of the DPRK as a state sponsor of terrorism."
Japan's claim was barely reflected in the document. With a sigh of regret, a senior Foreign Ministry official said, "We never thought the United States could make such a compromise."
Differences have become apparent between Japan and the United States over policies toward North Korea since the country's nuclear test on Oct. 9.
In early November, U.S. officials, including Robert Joseph, then undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, visited Japan.
The very first thing they said was they would seriously address nuclear nonproliferation.
"We were quite disappointed because the Japanese side was planning to discuss how to apply pressure on North Korea toward the country's abandonment of its nuclear programs," a source at the Prime Minister's Office said.
The bilateral differences come from the gap in the sense of urgency over the threat of North Korean nuclear weapons.
Almost all of Japan is within the 1,300-kilometer range of North Korea's Rodong missile, but it is considered it will take many years for North Korea to complete a long-range ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.
North Korea's launch of a 6,000-kilometer range Taepodong-2 on July 5 last year ended in failure as it exploded immediately after launch. However, six other missiles, Rodongs and Scuds, launched on the same day landed in the targeted sea area about 50 kilometers in radius. "A certain degree of practical capacity was confirmed," according to a Defense Ministry source.
In December, U.S. forces in Japan deployed 24 ground-to-air Patriot Advanced Capability Level 3 (PAC-3) missiles of the latest state-of-the-art missile defense system at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture.
"This is an abnormally high level of defense arrangement for such a small island like Okinawa," military critic Kensuke Ebata said. "The protection area for a PAC-3 is a radius of several dozen kilometers. You can easily understand that the defense of its own troops is what the United States is primarily interested in."
The six-party talks that started in August 2003 originally had a framework in which Japan and the United States were to move in tandem and look for every possible way to cooperate with China, Russia and South Korea in persuading North Korea.
However, since December the Bush administration in actuality has allowed direct U.S.-North Korean bilateral dialogues, which had previously been a "prohibited strategy."
Even so, Bush told Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a telephone conversation Wednesday that Japan would not be left behind concerning the issue of Japanese abducted by North Korea.
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney will visit Japan starting Tuesday. The countries on his itinerary for this trip are only Japan and Australia. He will not be visiting China or South Korea.
"This is an indication that the United States thinks both Japan and Australia are its most important allies [in the region]," a diplomatic source said.
Close cooperation between Japan and the United States is indispensable in comprehensively solving North Korea's nuclear, abduction and missile issues. With Cheney's visit, is it possible for both countries to balance the differences in their North Korea policies? It will be a good test for the reality of the alliance's relationship.
(Feb. 20, 2007)
Ping!
This doesn't make sense at all. Kim is still torked at Japan for not giving in (Ref his banning of all Japanese cars) And the U.S. have troops here in Japan defending this country with a defense treaty. Is Japan still vulnerable?
It was very disappointing that the Bush administration would execute another Agreed Framework with this totalitarian state. Agreeing to bilateral negotiations and removing North Korea from the terrorist state list (where it has been since 1988) was as if Ms. Albright were back. Giving them fuel oil or North Korea's choice of equivalent value after North Korea plays its missile games and it sets off a small nuclear explosion is rewarding bad behavior.
Maybe we can call our new stance the "Sunshine Policy" also. It's likely to be just as successful.
This deal will do a belly flop just like the last one.
Wow who could have seen that coming
Yep. There are people pushing for 'Sunshine Condi' for President. Maybe she should get Nobel Peace Prize instead.:-)
The Second Bush Administration "Sunshine Policy" toward North Korea and Kim Jong il, is doomed to failure. Actually, it sets up a terrible situation for his successor, whomever she turns out to be.
In the words of Margaret Thatcher, I fear President Bush has "gone wobbly".
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.