"ALL CAPS IN DEFENSE OF LIBERTY IS NO VICE."

Friday, December 24, 2004

JAPAN ABOUT TO TURN UP HEAT ON NORTH KOREA

JAPAN TIMES (by REIJI YOSHIDA) :

"Japan doesn't buy North's 'evidence' -- Pyongyang faces sanctions"

The information and items North Korea provided pertaining to 10 missing Japanese are not credible, the government said Friday, warning Pyongyang faces economic sanctions if it continues its "insincere" attitude over the abductions. "Options could include economic sanctions, although this has not been decided as the first choice," Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura told reporters. Friday's announcement is expected to raise diplomatic tension by another critical notch, as domestic pressure mounts for the government to slap sanctions on North Korea.
I think this story demonstrates that North Korea presents a real danger to the nations in the region (and through them the world) - and that (contrary to what Leftists would want you to think) this has NOTHING to do with American hegemony or Bush (or the neo-cons or the Likudniks), and everything to do with the fact that the Kim Jong Il regime is a savage, untrustworthy totalitarian regime.

It is time for regime change - and (in large measure) that will depend on China assuming its responsibilities as the biggest power in the region with close ties to North Korea.

UPDATE: more on the Japan angle HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE.
More on the China angle HERE.

AND NOW THIS UNDER-REPORTED STORY:

Only last week was it revealed that last month in Austria somebody made an attempt to assassinate Kim Jong Il's son - Kim Jong Nam. According to GOOGLE NEWS, this story was reported by only a handful of news outlet they cover; HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE - most of them South Korean outlets. Nothing in any of the stories has convinced me of who was behind the attempt - pro-Kim Jong Il or anti-Kim Jong Il forces. ONE THING IS FOR SURE: it can only indicate that the situation within North Korea is dire and desperate, and that the regime is teetering... STAY TUNED!

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