Ah, the nuclear issue is HEATING UP and right now countries around the world are REACTING to each other with increasingly intensity- and hopefully increasing in actual results. Right now the extent of the nuclear negotiations is talking about how they are going to talk about what they are going to talk about and who they are going to talk about it with- just one or two levels of crazy behind the climate change summit talks where at least they have agreed on who will sit down at the table and what the over all goal is for the summit- but then, trying to save the world is the kind of concept you can get a whole lot of people behind- trying to attain nuclear independence for yourself in the midst of most of the world thinking you are unreliable, crazy and isolationist-minded is a much more difficult cause-
No panda bears or fluffy clouds to rally around on that one.

Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader, has received the Chinese premier (actually greeting him at the airport earlier this week, and is hoping that the visit will help him repair relations with the international community. It seems North Korea’s weapons sales are not going so well and that is hurting North Korea’s bottom line- reason enough to try and make economic friends with the rest of the world.

"Through visits like this, North Korea is mostly trying to create the impression that other countries respect and heed it, that it's a world power. Of course, that's not true, but the impression helps its leader bolster his (Kim's) authority," said Zhang Liangui, North Korea expert at the Central Party School in Beijing.

An interesting allegation- that an academic views this as a political impression move by the North Korean government to get more world cred- I can’t really see them as being that naïve. But maybe I just don’t have a good grasp on the Asian politics surrounding North Korea. Maybe having China visit you is a big deal- a statement of sorts, regardless of what is being said.

The visit is on the 60th anniversary of China and North Korea establishing formal ties and beginning relations between the two countries. Kim hosted a dinner that "proceeded in an amicable atmosphere overflowing with friendship from its beginning to its end," KCNA reported.

So there you have it- China has visited North Korea, to say very little of substance I would guess, and North Korea is pumping up the story through their media and will try to use it as an important stepping stone to increased relations with the rest of the world. I hope this won’t do much but get them back in a chair to be scolded for launching practice missiles earlier this year.

Now, North Korea is saying that they feel that the U.S. is the key to what needs to happen in the future of the talks. It would be a mistake for anyone to let North Korea make any kind of assessment of the situation- they need to be spoken at at this point, before they can be spoken to.