"We will neither treat Japan as a party to the talks nor deal with it even if it impudently appears in the conference room," the agency quoted an unidentified North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying.
North Korea has issued similar warnings to Japan in the past, but Tokyo has continued to attend the negotiations.
Officials at Japan's Foreign Ministry could not be reached for comment Saturday. Top South Korean nuclear envoy Kim Sook told The Associated Press that the talks should include all six nations. He declined to elaborate.
North Korea agreed last year to disable its nuclear reactor in exchange for aid. But Japan has refused to join four other countries — China, Russia, South Korea and the United States — in providing the aid until North Korea addresses the kidnapping of more than a dozen Japanese in the 1970s and '80s.
We can't let North Korea get away with determining who we want to come to the meetings. Perhaps we should ask the North Koreans if they'd like more countries to cancel aid if there are no talks.
We've gotten past the point where North Korea could defeat South Korea. North Korea can hurt South Korea---very badly quite possibly--but the war would end with the destruction of the North Korean regime if not the country of North Korea.
In the end, North Korea can't get away with putting off the talks too long. Every day the North Korean regime dies a little bit more. Which is fine with me. I don't trust the North Koreans one bit so I'm hoping this situation is the plan.
Stand with Japan. Let the North Koreans walk away if they want. Time is not on the Pillsbury Nuke Boy's side. They'll either die or come back weaker than ever.
