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| Korea |
| Japan to Tell Powell Not to Impose Sanctions |
| 2003-02-21 |
| Secretary of State Colin Powell prepared to begin a swing through northeast Asia this weekend for high-level talks over the nuclear crisis and possible war on Iraq. Analysts in Japan said Tokyo would ask the United States to refrain from imposing economic sanctions on North Korea. Powell's Asia trip aims to ease rising tensions over North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Japanese officials said Iraq and North Korea would dominate Powell's talks with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi Saturday. Powell is to meet with Defense Agency chief Shigeru Ishiba on Sunday. I'd guess that 99 percent of what we're doing right now is behind the scenes... On North Korea, Koizumi and Kawaguchi are likely to tell Powell that Washington should not hurriedly impose economic sanctions against North Korea, a move Pyongyang has said would be tantamount to a declaration of war. "If the United States imposes sanctions, Japan fears it will result in North Korea firing missiles at Japan," said Lee Young-Hwa, an expert on North Korea and professor of economics at Kansai University. "North Korea will not launch missiles at South Korea because they are the same ethnic group. Japan is the most likely to become a target for North Korea's 'experiment' to test the will of the United States." I guess if your mind is sufficiently rotted by years of juche, it makes sense to shoot at a bystander if you can't have your way. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #1 Economic sanctions on a country without an economy is kind of pointless. On the other hand, not giving them oil in exchange for whatever foolishness they promise to stop is not an economic sanction. |
| Posted by: Dreadnought 2003-02-21 09:26:10 |