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China-Japan-Koreas
Leftist Report Calls for Talks on Korean Maritime Boundary
2010-12-27
An international group dedicated to preventing conflict warns of the risk of a wider conflict on the Korean peninsula. The report comes a month after an exchange of artillery fire that left four South Koreans dead.

The International Crisis Group
A Soros-funded, hard-left, progressive group of rabble-rousers ...
is raising an alarm about the dispute over the maritime boundary between North and South Korea as Pyongyang appears to be preparing for a leadership transition. ICG says the volatile combination requires urgent measures to reduce the possibility of all-out war.

In a new report the group urges Pyongyang and Seoul to accept international arbitration on the dispute. North Korea does not recognize the Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea off the west coast. It was drawn by a U.S. commander in 1953 at the end of the Korean War.

Daniel Pinkston is the Northeast Asia deputy project director for the International Crisis Group. He acknowledges that right now, South Korea will be reluctant to negotiate a change in the boundary.

"It would be difficult politically in the South because it would almost certainly require what would appear to be concessions. And when you are talking about boundaries it appears to be a zero sum game," said Pinkston. "In the context of North Korea's recent behavior it would be very, very unpopular."
Fancy that -- negotiating with people who have killed your own and have shelled your own country is unpopular. Whoda thunkit.
The ICG's Pinkston says Washington and Beijing need to exercise their influence on Seoul and Pyongyang, but warns it may not help. "Even though influence might be strong, it is not absolute. And, at the end of the day, Pyongyang and Seoul will do what it is in their national interests, as they define it," he said. "So we can't expect, China, for example, to simply flip a switch, and as people say, rein in Pyongyang. There are limits to their influence as there are limits to U.S. influence in Seoul."
There may be limits to what influence the Chinese have on the Norks, but it's a lot more than the ICG thinks it is.
A former U.S. diplomat who visited Pyongyang this month calls the Korean peninsula a tinderbox. Bill Richardson, the outgoing governor of the U.S. state of New Mexico told VOA's Korean Service that diplomacy is the only way out of danger."The situation is so, so, tense that there's got to be some kind of diplomat movement, a special envoy from the United Nations. China needs to get more engaged," said Richardson. "Eventually the six-party talks have to re-convene and let North Korea demonstrate that they're serious about their behavior and about negotiating."
The problem with Richardson is that as a soon to be former governor, he's going to be more available for meddling in Korean affairs ...
Richardson says he has briefed U.S. officials about his visit and the concessions Pyongyang offered concerning its nuclear programs.

Richardson says the North Koreans told him they are ready to allow international inspections of their nuclear facilities and are willing to sell a stockpile of nuclear fuel rods that could be used to make plutonium bombs.
Sell? Is that what they call a 'bribe' these days?
The White House says there is no point in returning to multi-national discussions until Pyongyang stops acting belligerently and makes good on promises to give up its nuclear weapons programs.
Posted by:Steve White

#4  ION BHARAT RAKSHAK [Russian DM] SERDYUKOV DISMISSES THREAT FROM CHINA'S GROWING NUCLEAR ARSENAL.

RussDefMin Sergy says RUSSIA + USA, SOLE OR IN JOINT, ARE TOO ADVANCED + POWERFUL AT PRESENT FOR RISING CHINA TO PREVAIL AGZ.

* WMF > NATIONAL DEFNESE UNIVERSITY OF CHINA PROFESSOR + PLAN REAR ADM. ZHAO ZHAOZHONG: HISTROCIAL ANALYSIS OF HOW THE US DEPLOYS ITS AIRCRAFT CARRIERS IN TIMES OF CRISIS INDICATES THAT THE PHYSICAL PRESENCE OF THREE USN CVBGS NEAR THE KOREAN PENINSULA SIGNALS THE START OF US MILITARY ACTION/WAR AGZ NORTH KOREA + POSSIBLY CHINA.

* SAME > CCTV: FLIGHTS OF PLAAF H-6G STRATEGIC BOMBERS CONDUCT LOW-ALTITUDE STRIKE TRAINING MISSIONS OVER THE DAOYUS. CHINA MAKES IT CLEAR TO JAPAN THAT THE DAOYUS IS SOVEREIGN CHINESE TERRITORY + THAT CHINA + PLA WILL ENTER IT ANYTIME AT THEIR DISCRETION.

* SAME > CHINA'S DAM IN XINJIANG TRIGGERS CONCERN IN KAZAKHISTAN.

* DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > DISPATCH FROM KAZAKHISTAN:"WHO AM I"? RUSSIAN IDENTITY IN POST-SOVIET [Muslim] KAZAKHISTAN.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2010-12-28 00:11  

#3  Richardson needs to stay out of it, just like Carter.
Posted by: Frank G   2010-12-27 11:58  

#2  PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > US INFLAMES KORAE TENSIONS BY SENDING MORE AIRCRAFT CARRIERS [3 ea. CVNBGS].

and

* SAME > DPRK SAYS [its]RESTRAINT OVER SOUTH KOREAN PROVOCATIONS IS "LIMITED".

* TOPIX > NORTH KOREA MAY HOLD THIRD NUCLEAR TEST TO BOOST [troubled = not universally accepted] KIM HEIR, i.e. Kim Jong-Un.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2010-12-27 02:27  

#1  Compare wid CHINA DAILY FORUM > [Henry KISSINGER: KOREAN NOTHERN LIMIT LINE IS ILLEGAL [contrary to mid-1970's International Laws].
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2010-12-27 01:04  

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