WaPo: “The explosion set off by North Korea yesterday appears to have been extremely small for a nuclear blast, complicating U.S. intelligence efforts to determine whether the country’s first such test was successful or signaled that Pyongyang’s capabilities are less advanced than expected, several senior U.S. and foreign government officials and analysts said.” More at DefenseTech.
Wise words: Selig Harrison, one of the few Americans who has regular contacts with North Korea’s leaders, calls once again for direct talks. Writing in the Post, he says: “Paradoxical as it may seem, Pyongyang staged the test as a last-ditch effort to jump-start a bilateral dialogue on the normalization of relations that the United States has so far spurned. Over and over, I was told that Pyongyang wants bilateral negotiations to set the stage for implementation of the denuclearization agreement it concluded in Beijing on Sept. 19, 2005, with the United States, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea.”
Division: Japan says get tough, China says no war, South Korea vetoes military action. North Korea says let’s talk. And White House downplays the story.
Chilling: London Times on the “dear leader.”
PYONGYANG CALLING
