Diplomatic intrigues swirling around the Korean peninsula in advance of next week's historic north-south summit formed a backdrop to the solemn memorial service in Tokyo yesterday for the former Japanese prime minister, Keizo Obuchi.
The Japanese Prime Minister, Mr Yoshiro Mori, under fire for a series of verbal gaffes, made an error of etiquette at the memorial service for his predecessor when he failed to bow properly. In contrast, President Clinton bowed correctly, and deeply, three times.
Mr Clinton and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung held a hastily arranged meeting in the Japanese capital to discuss the agenda for the first top-level contact between North and South Korea, countries which are still technically at war. Mr Clinton pledged that as the process went forward the United States would do all it could to help, a US official said.
Washington is concerned that the all-Korea initiative could have a negative impact on the political, diplomatic and security aspects of the traditional US-South Korea alliance, according to analysts in Seoul.
The Clinton-Kim meeting was seen widely as a counter-balance to last week's encounter in Beijing between President Jiang Zemin and North Korea's reclusive leader, Mr Kim Jong Il, who was making his first trip outside the authoritarian communist country in 17 years.
The South Korean president told Mr Clinton yesterday that the summit would be "a turning point" in relations between the two parts of the Korean peninsula. Mr Clinton told Mr Mori there was "no daylight" between the United States and South Korea on the proper approach to North Korea.
The North Korean leader has intrigued observers by also establishing ties with Italy and Australia, and praising China's reforms, suggesting an opening-up policy. "We view North Korea's engagements with various countries in the region in a very positive light," said White House spokesman Mr P.J. Crowley, who announced the promised lifting of sanctions against North Korea would take place soon.
President Kim let it be known through officials in Seoul however that he believes the summit, which will take place in the North Korean capital Pyongyang from Monday to Wednesday next week, will send a clear message to the four powers surrounding the peninsula that North and South Korea can handle their problems on their own.
This raises the question of the future of the 37,000 American troops stationed in South Korea, which the North is demanding should leave. While not on the immediate agenda, sentiment in South Korea against US troops has increased recently with the murder of a bar hostess in Seoul in February, and demonstrations this week by villagers in Maehyang-ri against a US Air Force practice bombing site nearby.
In Seoul yesterday protesters gathered signatures in the street calling for the truth to be told about the alleged killing of refugees by US forces during the 1950-53 Korean War. On Monday the American network, CBS, reported the discovery of a memo indicating that the US Air Force, at the request of the army, strafed civilian columns approaching American lines during an advance by Northern communist troops.
In the memo, dated July 25th, 1950, an air force colonel wrote: "The army has requested that we strafe all civilian refugee parties that are noted approaching our positions. To date, we have complied with the army request in this respect." The document came to light during an investigation of an earlier report by the Associated Press of a massacre by US troops of scores of Korean refugees sheltering under a bridge at the village of No Gun Ri on June 26th, 1950."