The United States has called on its two allies in Northeast Asia for a trilateral response to North Korea's November 23 shelling of South Korea. Last week, top diplomats of the US, South Korea and Japan huddled together in Washington and pronounced "solidarity" among themselves and promised "consequences" for North Korea in the event of further provocations.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, on a visit to Seoul and Tokyo, even called for "trilateral action", meaning combined military exercises among the three nations.
Indeed, the three countries should counter North Korea's choreographed cycle of aggression with a long-term, tripartite strategy of their own. However, beyond diplomatic rhetoric or politically sensitive military drills, the three nations should establish a Trilateral Task Force to put pressure on Pyongyang over time with the view toward seeking a peaceful, stable, single, free Korea - if only for the sake of gaining greater leverage vis-a-vis the Kim Jong-il regime in the short term...