1 April 2009

FISTS STILL NOT UNCLENCHED, APPARENTLY: North Korea threatens to shoot down U.S. spy planes, and the threat is classic KCNA:

“If the brigandish U.S. imperialists dare to infiltrate spy planes into our airspace to interfere with our peaceful satellite launch preparations, our revolutionary armed forces will mercilessly shoot them down,” the ministry quoted the radio as saying. [AP, Jae Soon Chang]

JAPAN’S REACTION TO NORTH KOREA’S MISSILE THREAT IS “JUSTIFIED:” Not an especially surprising statement, until you see who said it. That’s going to make for some very uncomfortable silence around the dinner table next Chusok.

REPRESENTATIVE ED ROYCE was already a favorite of mine before I knew he had a blog. I can’t say I’m astonished that Royce opposes Chris Hill’s nomination to be Ambassador to Iraq; nor am I astonished that Royce is just the latest member of Congress who thinks Hill misled him:

During this hearing in October 2007, Ambassador Hill told me “clearly, we cannot be reaching a nuclear agreement with North Korea if at the same time they are proliferating. It is not acceptable.” Fast forward one year and that is exactly what happened. On October 11, 2008, North Korea, at Hill’s urging, was dropped from the terrorism list as part of the nuclear negotiations. But just weeks before the terrorism list removal it has now come to light that North Korea was caught in a proliferation attempt to Iran. In August, India responded to a U.S. request to block a North Korean plane from using its airspace to deliver cargo to Iran (WSJ: “North Korean Plane was Grounded at U.S. Request”). The plane was suspected of “carrying nuclear materials, long-range missile components or other potentially lethal cargo.” Apparently no big deal to the State Department. Senators would do well to dig into this episode before the full Senate vote. [Rep. Ed Royce, Foreign Intrigue]

Incidentally, this New Republic blog post claims that the full Senate will confirm Hill later today. A good authority tells me it’s not so. Stay tuned.

AN INTERESTING EXCHANGE from yesterday’s State Department press briefing:

QUESTION: Were you able to get an answer to the question I asked yesterday about [U.N. Security Council Resolution] 1718 and what exactly happens if there is a launch?

MR. DUGUID: Do you know how many lawyers are now working on your question? (Laughter.) You don’t have it.

QUESTION: No, I don’t.

MR. DUGUID: The entire department. The best way to phrase what I have heard so far to this is that 1718 and preceding resolutions have no specific tripwires, if you will, but that both the UN Security Council and the Sanctions Committee can meet and decide on action at any time underneath these resolutions. 1718 commits North Korea to refrain from engaging in ballistic missile activity. North Koreans have committed to this. That is the essence of 1718.

I could save them a lot of time.

THE LATEST GOOD FRIENDS BULLETIN is here.

WORDS YOU’LL SELDOM READ HERE: Huzzah for the European Union, which has just given a big bag of money to defector-run radio stations that broadcast into North Korea.

KOREATOWN FOR KOREANS? Says one resident of her new Bangladeshi immigrant neighbors, “Koreatown is already established. . . . Why can’t they find another place?” This sort of sentiment seems a bit misplaced coming from a Korean in Los Angeles.