2003.09.02

U.S.-North Korea war seems 'strong possibility'.    (Nippon Goro Goro note: Carter is arriving in Japan this week, hosted by the controversial Sasakawa Foundation.) USA Today: Jimmy Carter editorial: We face the strong possibility of another Korean war, with potentially devastating consequences, so the endangered multilateral talks in Beijing are of paramount importance. It is vital that some accommodation be reached between Pyongyang and Washington. North Korea is an isolated country, poverty stricken, paranoid, apparently self-sacrificial and amazingly persistent in international confrontations, as is now being demonstrated. It is a cultural and almost sacred commitment for its leaders not to back down, even in the face of international condemnation and the most severe political and economic pressure. ... There are other issues, but the basic North Korean demand is a firm non-aggression commitment from the United States, which U.S. officials continue to reject. The U.S. insists first on a complete end to the North Koreans' nuclear program, which they have refused to accept. If neither side will yield or compromise, then an eventual military confrontation seems likely. The United States can prevail, but with terrible human casualties in both North and South Korea. There must be verifiable assurances that prevent North Korea from becoming a threatening nuclear power, with a firm commitment that the U.S. will not attack a peaceful North Korea. This is a time for sustained and flexible diplomacy between our two governments, to give peace and economic progress a chance within a nuclear-free Korean peninsula [The Agonist] 2003.09.02

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DPRK: Still Willing to Talk (Reuters via NY Times)   It's back to the typical North Korean rhetorical game of spew fire one day and play nice the next. 2003.09.02

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Chirac's Japanese Love Child? (The Independent)   A new book is said to reveal that French President Chirac has had a "love child" with a Japanese woman. And we thought Chirac was always visiting Japan because he had a thing for sumotori.   2003.09.02

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Paraplegic Climber Starts Up Mount Fuji [AP World News] 2003.09.02

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China Denies Manipulating Currency (AP). China is not manipulating its currency and will not give in to "international browbeating" to change its foreign-exchange policy, the government's main English newspaper said Tuesday as the U.S. treasury secretary arrived for a visit. [Yahoo! News - World] Timed to coincide with the visit of U.S. Treasury Secretary Snow to China who was here in Tokyo yesterday. 2003.09.02

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DPRK-Bolton (NY Times)   Good background piece delving into the background of the U.S. State Department's Big Stick who does not speak softly, especially when it comes to North Korea. Our view is that the coddling strategy towards the DPRK has not worked. The get-tough policy might not work either, but isn't it time to give it a shot? What everyone (hawks and doves) seems to gloss over in the discussion of North Korea is the fact that this is a most brutal regime which is directly responsible for the deaths of millions of its own people. We are sure when it is all over that details of the concentration camps and the Stalinist type liquidation campaigns will emerge and everyone will be most shocked and mutter expressions of horror and question how the world could have turned a blind eye. Anyone remember Kampuchea? Well the Kim Jong Il regime is Pol Pot with nuclear weapons. 2003.09.02

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Japan-DPRK-US Defense (Kyodo)   The anti-missile system Japan wants to build to protect against DPRK special deliveries won't be ready until 2007. And there is no guarantee how effective it will be by the time the Japanese contractors and JSDF minders get done tinkering with it. Now there is a plan afoot to give some temporary, fig-leaf type protection. 2003.09.02

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TEPCO's Nuke Plants Update (Bloomberg)   Fortunately for TEPCO and Tokyo it was an unseasonably cool July. However, we remain convinced that the blackout warnings were just a scare tactic by TEPCO to bully the bureucrats and the media into understanding just how beholden Japan is to the company and its nuclear plants. 2003.09.02

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Japanese Political Landscape to Shift (Shukan Post)   Here is an article along the lines in which the weeklies excel -- taking several key facts that few want to acknowledge, mixing in some speculation and background quotes and creating a wild scenario. In this case, it is what the Japanese political landscape could indeed look like before the end of the year. For the gaijin, of course, the really scary part is that Tokyo Gov. Ishihara becomes the new Shin Kanemaru of Japanese politics. However, we do not believe that Shintaro Ishihara will be content to stay in the shadows and put gold bars into his safe at home. No, Gov. Ishihara intends to be prime minister. He is unlikely to achieve that dream immediately after Koizumi leaves (our money is on Shinzo Abe), but perhaps after that. 2003.09.02

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Intel to base convergence efforts in Asia-Pacific. South Korean R&D centre to join similar facilities in China, Taiwan. Japan? Forget about it. [The Register] 2003.09.02

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Is Pyongyang bluffing or backing itself into a corner?. North Korea says it's not interested in further talks after last week's six-party meeting. [Christian Science Monitor | Top Stories] 2003.09.02

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Charles Bronson Sayonara (NY Times)   A fact not mentioned in the obits we have seen -- Charles Bronson was apparently the first Western star to make a Japanese TV commercial, thus paving the way for the likes of Woody Allen, Jodie Foster and Sylvester Stallone -- plus many other actors -- who thought it beneath their dignity to make a commercial at home but had no qualms about whoring before their Japanese fans. 2003.09.02

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Currency Talk (VOA)   U-S Treasury Secretary Snow, whose gaffes have sent currency dealers scrambling, kept to his script during his Tokyo visit. Now let's see how the lad from Toledo does in Beijing. 2003.09.02

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DPRK-Japan Ties (Kyodo)   Obviously there were encouraging words behind the scenes between Japan and North Korea at last week's six-way talks in Beijing 2003.09.02

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