Bozz Trip Fallout

Reports are beginning to emerge about US Special Representative Stephen Bosworth’s trip to the DPRK.  Yonhap has the cute and dry remarks Ambassador Bosworth made following his return to Seoul.  JoongAng Daily focuses on the DPRK’s realization it needs to negotiate these things in some context.  Korea Times deals with the utilitarian and exploratory aspects of the Bosworth trip.  Korea Herald interviews two DPRK experts, one in the US (the always enlightening Larry Niksch and one in the ROK, and finds the DPRK may propose a “grand bargain” of its own.  And Choe Sang-hun writes a good catch-all report for the IHT/NYT.

So, no immaculate conceptions this time out, not that I was actually banking on them.  And, no disrespect to the hard working folks who do this stuff for a living, these kinds of diplomatic pow-wows have all the appeal of watching houseflies copulate.  The Bosworth trip was most likely a start for something to happen.  Certainly good, at least, for the Second Economic Committee and the DPRK’s strategic weapons program managers.  The time it takes for Party of Five to get its sheepdogs together, and another bilateral DPRK-US meeting is scheduled, gives the North Korean military-defense industry the time to enhance its beloved “deterrent,”   bicker with the Iran over missile development (while sharing intelligence) and continue to develop its ICBM/satellite capabilities.