Open Sources: U.S. and S. Korea keeping up the pressure, for now; China’s diplomacy not looking so brilliant after all

President Obama has extended sanctions against North Korea, but still hasn’t re-added it to the list of state sponsors of terrorism, despite its extensive and recent use of its state media, its spies, and its military to commit acts that meet the statutory definition of international terrorism.

Treasury moves to cut Kaesong out of American markets:

The Executive Order and by extension the new regulations contain the troublingly vague prohibition on “the importation into the United States, directly or indirectly, of any goods, services, or technology from North Korea” (emphasis supplied). Obviously the “directly or indirectly” language is going to cause the most heartburn to U.S. companies. That suggests that products from South Korea or China that contain components or parts from North Korea would be subject to the import ban. These new Nork sanctions contain no rules of origin or anything else to clarify the scope of the language covering “indirect” imports.

An employee of the Congressional Research Service, speaking a few days ago before a forum hosted by the Korea Economic Institute, said that the “indirect’ language was designed to target such parts and components. [Export Law Blog]

Great moments in South Korean journalism: So, we’re supposed to pity a cute little animated penguin, but forget that in the real world, this production is financing and perpetuating a regime that kills real-live cute little kids in places like Camp 22?

Good question, Professor Steinberg — why don’t we have comprehensive economic sanctions against North Korea? It seems to me that the sanctions we’ve imposed thus far, while falling far short of their true potential, have placed the regime under great economic strain and probably contributed to the disastrous currency “reform” I call The Great Confiscation.

China’s brilliant statecraft continues to win friends and influence people. Its most recent and remarkable diplomatic achievement was to bully Vietnam into the arms of the United States; this week, it has re-invigorated our decayed alliance with the Philippines:

The United States said it was ready to provide hardware to modernize the military of the Philippines, which vowed to “stand up to any aggressive action” amid rising tension at sea with China.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, on a visit to Washington, said the Philippines hoped to lease equipment to upgrade its aged fleet and called for the allies to revamp their relationship in light of the friction with China.

“We are determined and committed to supporting the defense of the Philippines,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a joint news conference when asked about the hardware wish-list from the Philippines.

Clinton said the two nations were working “to determine what are the additional assets that the Philippines needs and how we can best provide those.” She said del Rosario would meet Defense Secretary Robert Gates and other Pentagon officials. [AFP]

Add Vietnam and the Philippines to a potentially potent alliance with the United States, Japan, South Korea, and of course, Taiwan. In due course, Thailand and Singapore may also eventually express interest, though it’s India that would be the real strategic prize. Despite the present alignment of interests, Vietnam should be denied full membership until its human rights record improves.

Related, perhaps: Now Japan is building a stealth fighter.