Bush And Hu Concerned About North Korea Nuclear Program

Click on the title for a link to a Reuters story on a conversation between Hu and Bush concerning North Korea's nuclear developments.

According to the story, the Chinese president shares the same concern as President Bush. And, you'd think that would be the case, seeing how China is much closer to NK than the US. But personally, I don't see it.

Since the program has been restarted, the bulk of the NK hostility has been directed toward the US (and to some degree, Japan), not China. As long as NK is fueling the fire (so to speak) and fanning it toward the US, what reason does Beijing have to put additional pressure on Pyongyang? Answer: None.

And they aren't.

In fact, very few countries seem to have much concern, at all. Both China and Russia really couldn't care any less at this point, because NK isn't openly threatening them. If they were, it would be very different. In fact if I know either country well enough, I would be willing to bet that both countries would be threatening right back. China would no doubt be massing troops at the NK border as a muscle flex, Russia would be threatening to make the Korean peninsula a crater.

So, it would appear that six-party talks are a joke. This is especially true, when you consider that it is Pyongyang that is refusing to come back to the table with the other five. If China, Russia, Japan, South Korea would all join the US and step up pressure on NK to return to the talks, this thing could be on its way to being resolved. But until the world (to include the precious UN) begins to reject political blackmail, rogue states like NK (and Iran) are going to continue to hold the world community hostage.