Hill comes a callin'

In the madcap mess of the six-party talks about North Korean nuclear disarmament, symbols mean more than substance. The visit of Christopher Hill to Pyongyang out of the blue is thus a surrender by the administration to the North Koreans, and the symbolism will probably be backed up by some substance.

But it probably will not work without further concessions. The bargaining chip of the 'state sponsor of terrorism' delisting, supposedly leading to NK accessing lines of credit becomes somewhat moot when lines of credit are going up in smoke. The tyrannical reign of the US Treasury on the world financial scene seems to be winding down, and NK is well aware of it.