War Officially Adverted, For Now
I guess I no longer need to stalk up on rations, water, and batteries anymore since a global war over the Dokdo Isles has been officially adverted:
Two Japanese Coast Guard vessels that were to embark on a hydrographic survey near Korea¿s Dokdo returned to Tokyo on Sunday. It was the result of Korea and Japan reaching a compromise on Saturday to defuse tensions sparked by Japan¿s plan to send the ships into Korea¿s exclusive economic zone without permission from Seoul.
In a two-day meeting in Seoul, Vice Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan and his Japanese counterpart Shotaro Yachi reached a three-point agreement. Japan will stop the hydrographic survey in the East Sea it had planned to complete by June 30; Korea will temporarily put on hold a plan to register Korean names for seabed topography near the Dokdo islets with the International Hydrographic Organization until an ¿appropriate time¿; and the two neighbors will resume talks to demarcate the boundary between their EEZs as early as next month.
Though the Japanese appear to have gotten the better end of this deal, the Japanese Ambassador to Korea may not think so after having to withstand this verbal abuse. (Hat Tip: Nomad)
The Japanese Ambassador to Korea has got to be one of the world’s toughest and most thankless jobs.
