midweek: how to blame

With the DPRK foreign minister already in Beijing, the real story behind the aborted cross-border train trial with South Korea breaks. It turns out, unsuprisingly enough, that it was all South Korea's fault. "The blame for the failure to have that trial operation entirely rests with your side," says Kwon Ho Ung, head of the DPRK's delegation to the inter-Korean ministerial talks, over the telephone to the ROK. Kwon says it is South Korea's duty to settle Yellow Sea dispute first, but the way he puts it will surely go down as one of the great statements of Asian history:

"Your side will not deny the fact that it is a vital matter directly linked with the destiny of the nation to take a military step for guaranteeing peace under the present situation that the U.S. moves to isolate and stifle the DPRK have reached the extremes and huge armed forces of both sides are standing in acute confrontation with each other."

The rest of the news pales in comparison, but here's a brief roundup -

China wants to attract students, and oil companies, and even Microsoft. It plans to make Beijing policemen better drivers, and public servants less corrupt, and revive the dying Yangtze. And it is as pissed with the International Standards Organization, as the nation's AIDS patients are with a board elected to oversee the fight against the disease.

Finally: In A-bian Watch, it's schadenfreude! The national media exults at the shame of Chen Shui-bian.