North Korea soldier kills South Korean tourist

JS: We know very little beside the North Korean account which is that a 53 year-old woman had crossed into a restricted area and she was given a warning and then she was shot twice and killed. (We don’t know any motivations but we do know this area is clearly fenced off. But why would a soldier risk killing a woman especially given the backdrop between relations between North and South?) It leaves a lot of questions, that’s for sure. (What could the North Korean soldiers and government be afraid of?) In general terms these joint economic difficulties are fraught with difficulties for the North�these ventures exposes North Korean citizens to exposure to the South, it relinquishes their monopoly on information. (It is against this backdrop that South Korea’s President made a policy shift, saying that full dialogue between North and South must resume. Is this surprising?) I don’t think the South Korean government sees this as a shift, even though many may see it as such. (Today is the second day of six party talks about North Korea’s nuclear disarmament, what’s the latest?) The talks will focus on verification. North Korea submitted its declaration outlying its plutonium producing activities over the last 20 years and what the parties will be wanting to secure is an agreement to get inspectors on the ground in North Korea to investigate in return for a speeding up of aid and economic incentives.