north korea

My feelings on the North Korea issue are public knowledge. I haven't changed them much in the 15 months since they revealed they had been lying their asses off since the 1994 Framework was signed. It remains decidely hawkish.

So apparently, we're just redoing the same Framework---21st Century style.

The Bush administration has agreed with South Korea and Japan to a broadly worded set of principles to end North Korea's nuclear program, calling for a "coordinated" set of steps in which five nations would offer the North a security guarantee as it begins a verifiable disassembly of its nuclear facilities, according to administration and Asian officials

Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating. Maybe this will work. But for some reason, I just don't trust this and I still see it as blackmail, which the 1994 Framework turned into, much to our embarrassment.

CalPundit weighs in with the same skepticism, I think, although he's not shrill as I continue to be on the North Korea issue. There's also an amazing post in his comments by one Joe Schmoe that blew me away----it is exactly what I've been thinking all along.

China is the key to solving this without war, I think. Japan and South Korea and Russia all have an interest, but none of those three nations have a working relationship with North Korea despite some Japanese and South Korean firms setting up shop in Pyongyang. China does. They're the chief trading partner of North Korea. Oil and food into North Korea comes through China. Hmmmmm. . .