Free Republic

Japan and the United States reaffirmed Thursday that, together with South Korea, they will respond in a united manner to North Korea based on the findings of the probe being conducted into the unexplained sinking of a South Korean warship, Japanese officials said. The decision was made in a meeting between Akitaka Saiki, director general of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, and U.S. special envoy to North Korea Stephen Bosworth. They met at a time when suspicion is growing that the March 26 sinking in the Yellow Sea, which killed 46 crew members, might have been the...

BEIJING – The special U.S. envoy to North Korea said Saturday that no plans have been made for more direct talks with the reclusive communist nation, and that all parties in the effort to end the standoff over its nuclear program should exercise "strategic patience" for now. Stephen Bosworth was in Beijing to brief Chinese officials on his three days of meetings with North Korean officials this past week, which he called "very businesslike, very candid, forward-looking." But he said how and when stalled six-nation negotiations on the North's nuclear disarmament would resume is yet to be resolved. "This may...