Daily Kor for January 11, 2011:Welcome to the Greater (north)East Asian Co-Security Sphere

Has North Korean hijinks pushed Seoul and Tokyo to do something Beijing once thought unimaginable, a ROK-Japan military partnership? Sure, South Korea and Japan have both long been aligned with Washington, but now it looks like Pyongyang may actually be creating a real headache for China such that it can no longer turn a blind eye. Maybe.

Of course, any "trilateral" alliance would be opposed by the chinboistas, some of whom get their own marching orders from Pyongyang, so expect rallies like the one at right. With signs in perfect Japanese, held by someone who's ostensibly anti-Japan. Gee, I wonder who helped him make his sign.

1. Seoul and Tokyo seek to expand ties as they hold first military talks in two years (Yonhap, WaPo, AP via WaPo, UPI, Korea Times, Korea Herald)
2. North Korea makes official plea for unconditional talks (UPI, Yonhap, Korea Herald, Joongang Daily)
• South Korea wants talks on North Korean attacks and nukes (AP via WaPo, Yonhap)
3. Bank of Korea says rising producer price index adds to pressure to raise interest rates (Joongang Daily, Bloomberg)
4. Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon proposes citizen vote on contentious public funding of student meals (Yonhap, Korea Herald)
5. South Korean man indicted for pro-Pyongyang postings on Twitter and other social networking sites (Yonhap, Korea Herald)
6. North Korea bans import of South Korea meats over concerns of disease (Yonhap)
7. Ruling party urges nominee for chief state auditor position to resign over controversial wealth accumulation (Korea Times)
8. December LNG (liquefied natural gas) imports up 12 percent (Reuters)
9. Forget it. I couldn't come up with anything as ridiculous as real-life story #6