Tuesday, October 07, 2003
NORTH KOREA TO JAPAN: You're no longer welcome to nuclear talks (link and discussion at the Marmot).
This would seem to be a natural intensification of the anti-Japan rhetoric that has been blasting forth from Pyongyang lately (see here and here for examples). It would appear that, having utterly failed to normalize relations with Japan (and cash in on the $20 billion that would be demanded as compensation for Japanese colonial rule) North Korea is reverting to form: the anti-Japanese struggle is at the heart of the Great Leader's legitimacy. The DPRK has consistently used South Korea's elite's close ties to Japan as a club to beat the "collaborators" with.
North Korea said Tuesday it would not allow Japan to take part in any future multilateral talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, but Japan said it would not accept the notion Pyongyang could decide who attends.
A statement from the North Korean Foreign Ministry, published by the official KCNA news agency, said Japan had linked other bilateral problems to the talks, such as the past abduction by North Korea of Japanese nationals.
This would seem to be a natural intensification of the anti-Japan rhetoric that has been blasting forth from Pyongyang lately (see here and here for examples). It would appear that, having utterly failed to normalize relations with Japan (and cash in on the $20 billion that would be demanded as compensation for Japanese colonial rule) North Korea is reverting to form: the anti-Japanese struggle is at the heart of the Great Leader's legitimacy. The DPRK has consistently used South Korea's elite's close ties to Japan as a club to beat the "collaborators" with.
