North Korea

KIM JONG IL, North Korea’s “Dear Leader”, has a history of inopportune timing. He lived up to it this week, sanctioning a statement by North Korea’s official news agency that the country was looking to build nuclear weapons, partly to reduce its conventional forces, and partly to divert resources to improve living standards in its ravaged economy. The statement seemed timed to upstage the final day of a summit in Tokyo between Mr Kim’s South Korean counterpart, the newly-elected President Roh Moo-hyun, and Junichiro Koizumi, the Japanese prime minister. The two men had much to discuss, from efforts to put their countries’ awkward history behind them, to plans for boosting trade and investment. Top of the agenda, however, was their joint effort, in concert with America, to get North Korea to back away from its nuclear threats. The two leaders issued a statement saying that any move by North Korea to develop nuclear weapons “would not be tolerated”, though the issue should be resolved by peaceful means. What they did not agree was on how much pressure to apply to Mr Kim, with Mr Koizumi continuing to be readier to take a hard line.