Aug. 30 -- Whereas a

Aug. 30 -- Whereas a lot of Toronto newspapers strive to appear intellectual (you know, murky, obfusctating and unbiased,) the Toronto Sun is cheerful, goes for a direct hit and just reports things as they are. Also, their permalinks are more permanent than the National Post.

Take this: North Korean tired of talks. (A headline like that is a sure winner and interactive; it allows millions to respond with "so are we", right?) Excerpts:

BEIJING -- North Korea no longer has "interest or expectations" in further talks on its nuclear program, a spokesman for Pyongyang's delegation to the six-country talks on the subject said today. "There is no need for this kind of talks," said the unidentified spokesman, who made the remarks at the airport to reporters as the delegation was leaving Beijing after the landmark three-day meeting.

"We no longer have interest or expectations either," he said. "We are left with no option as it became clear that the United States wants to disarm our nation."

The United States has demanded that the program be stopped immediately, but the North has refused to comply unless it receives economic aid and a non-aggression treaty from the United States.

Kim said North Korea could allow inspections of nuclear facilities, stop missile exports and tests, and finally dismantle its nuclear program -- but only if the U.S. resumes free oil shipments, provides economic and humanitarian aid, signs a non-aggression treaty and opens diplomatic ties.

In Washington, state department press officer Jo-Anne Prokopowicz said the North Korean statement "is an explicit acknowledgment that the (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) has nuclear weapons but the U.S. will not respond to threats or give in to blackmail."

The head of the UN nuclear agency accused North Korea of posturing.

Maybe I've underestimated the IAEA. Despite the fact that both North Korea and Iran continued their nuclear programs right under the noses of UN inspectors, at least the North Koreans couldn't fool them when it came to bluster and bombastic talk, which just goes to prove that you can't fool all of the people all of the time.

A moment of silence for poor North Korea, okay? They came to the talks with the expectation that the US would once again agree to a treaty in which NK only had to make promises and the US quite unreasonably refuses to be fooled again. Worse still, Russia and China won't back their play.

CNN has some cautiously optimistic quotes from the Chinese and Japanese delegates:

"At the same time, the parties have all become aware of the fact that there is a need to consider and address the concerns of [North Korea] in a wide range of areas, including the security concerns," Wang said.

A Japanese foreign ministry official praised the North Korean delegation as engaged and sincere.

"We did not sense any unproductive approach on the part of the North Korean delegation over the 2 1/2 days," he said.

The official added that nothing the North Koreans revealed during the talks set off any alarm bells.

"If you are asking whether what we heard scared us enough to go back to Tokyo and hide behind a bed," he said, "no, there was no such statement."

Maybe he also thinks North Korea is bluffing?

UPDATE: The Sketptician thinks that the lack of progress with the talks was due to squabbles over a game.

Posted by: Debbye at 09:57 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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