October 24, 2002	Thursday	Sha’aban 17,1423

TOKYO, Oct 23: North Korea’s brinkmanship with its admission that it is secretly developing nuclear and other even more powerful weapons is an old strategy and is bound to fail, say Japan’s media.

“North Korea has crafted its own brand of brinkmanship, which creates tension, and then attempts to win something in return for making partial concessions,” said the mass-circulation Yomiuri Shimbun in an editorial on Tuesday.

“North Korea should be fully aware that its usual strategy will not work,” it added.

The Asahi Shimbun noted that hardliners in Washington were gaining ground and the United States would sooner stop aid than give in to Pyongyang, putting the North on the spot.

Enter Japan, which has been propelled to the forefront of dealing with Pyongyang following the US decision to stop negotiating with North Korea.

In Tokyo, though, some papers including the conservative Sankei Shimbun view Pyongyang’s nuclear admission as a dangerous but dated negotiating ploy, and advised that Japan should continue its dialogue with the North.

The Asahi stressed, however, that Tokyo will need to present a united front with the US and South Korea. —The Straits Times/Asia News Network.