Word: testing
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...following the nuclear test in the autumn of 2006, the upper hand in the Bush Administration appears to be held by the pragmatists who believe that there is still a grand bargain to be struck with Pyongyang. They believe, despite the fact that the two sides have staked out such sharply different positions on the terms under which North Korea would dismantle its weapons, that the North seeks a deal. "The economic benefits for them are just too much to pass up; a deal is there to be had," says one Western diplomat. Kim Jong-il is the only...
...Today, North Korea and Japan have perhaps the most antagonistic relationship in the six-party forum. After Pyongyang's nuclear test in October, Tokyo slapped every sanction it could on the country, down to banning the trade in used bicycles. North Korea continually calls for Japan's exclusion from the talks, claiming that Tokyo is "wasting time by bringing to the table irrelevant issues" - a reference to the abductions, which Tokyo considers unsettled. Tokyo says there may still be kidnapping victims living in North Korea, while Pyongyang insists all the surviving abductees have been returned. Tokyo will try to push...
...Russia was particularly upset when, despite its efforts to cultivate the Stalinist regime of Kim Jong-il, North Korea test-fired missiles toward waters inside Russia's economic zone. And Moscow is certainly more concerned about North Korea than it is with Iran's nuclear program - there's no payoff for Russia in Pyongyang's nuclear doings, and it has already caused plenty of trouble...
...weeks following the test, it became clear that Beijing was as surprised as anyone else by the North's action - and also very angry at its ostensible client state. An official Foreign Ministry statement condemned the test, calling it a "brazen violation," one of the strongest terms in the ministry's diplomatic phrasebook, usually reserved for opponents or enemies. Even more pointed was Beijing's subsequent agreement to reverse its long-standing opposition to U.N. sanctions on the North, albeit acquiescing to a version that the Chinese ensured was considerably watered down compared to the original U.S. draft...
...begin again and Pyongyang at least nominally willing to discuss how its nuclear program can be limited, Beijing now has to "think very hard about how they can be more effective," Lieberthal says. But in reality, Beijing's options are very limited. Pyongyang made it clear with the nuclear test - undertaken despite the express and public request by China's President Hu Jintao to refrain - that there are limits to Beijing's influence in Pyongyang...