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Diplomacy and Rhetoric. Meanwhile, more proof of how easily Pyongyang’s rhetorical demands fall by the wayside:

The report also said, “The U.S. side clarified its official stand to recognize the DPRK as a sovereign state, not to invade it and hold bilateral talks within the framework of the six-party talks. The DPRK side interpreted the U.S. side’s expression of its stand as a retraction of its remarks designating the former as an “˜outpost of tyranny’ and decided to return to the six-party talks.” DPRK stands for Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the North’s formal name.

Update: This doesn’t seem to be provocation enough to keep North Korea from making optimistic noises about the talks. How odd. I thought “provocations” like this were anathema to effective diplomacy .