Sunken S. Korean warship overshadows Clinton Asia tour

North Korea's alleged sinking of a South Korean warship is set to dominate US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Asian tour after she leaves Washington on Thursday.
The culmination of the investigation into the corvette Cheonan's sinking has thrust its way to the top of Clinton's program, originally intended to center on the US-China economic and strategic dialogue in Beijing on May 24-25.
"The evidence points overwhelmingly to the conclusion that the torpedo was fired by a North Korean submarine," the team said in its report on the March 26 sinking that split the 1,200-tonne corvette in half near the two Koreas' disputed border.
"There is no other plausible explanation."
Kurt Campbell, the top US diplomat for Asia, said "a central issue of discussion" for Clinton's talks with Chinese officials will be "their assessments of developments in North Korea and their reaction to the report."
The ship's sinking is expected to be taken before the UN Security Council.
"One of the reasons Secretary Clinton is traveling to the region, to both Japan and South Korea, is to articulate and put in place a set of responses" to the investigation's findings, Campbell said of the chief US diplomat's fifth trip to Asia since taking office more than a year ago.
The responses could be presented on May 26 in Seoul, the last stop on Clinton's nearly week-long tour that will also take her to Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing.
The United States "strongly supports" the investigation's conclusions and "has a deep, enduring and profound (interest) in the maintenance of peace and stability on the Korean peninsula," he said.
According to South Korean media, South Korea could announce joint naval maneuvers in the Yellow Sea, where the ship was sunk.
When she arrives in Tokyo on Friday, Clinton will discuss the sunken ship and the future of the US base at Futenma during talks with her Japanese counterpart Katsuya Okada and Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
In Shanghai, she will spend most of Saturday visiting the US and Chinese pavilions at the World Expo.
The US pavilion tops the list of national displays Chinese visitors want to see, according to market research by Millward Brown.
That represents a major turnaround from just a year ago, when the United States looked like it would be an Expo no-show.
When it signed up for the event in July, it was among the last of the 192 participating countries to do so -- and only raised enough funds last month to meet its 61-million-dollar operating budget.
Part of the problem was that US law prohibits Expo pavilions from being taxpayer-funded without a special act of Congress.
On Monday, Washington and Beijing will open their second session of the economic and strategic dialogue, an innovation reflecting the importance that US President Barack Obama's administration attaches to its relationship with China.
Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will head a delegation of nearly 200 people who will discuss for two and a half days subjects of mutual interest: the economy, Iran's nuclear ambitions, efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and Pakistan, climate change and energy.
The start of the year was marked by disputes between the two giants over US arms sales to Taiwan, a reception at the White House for Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and US pressure for China to strengthen its currency, the yuan.
Ma Zhaoxu, the Chinese foreign ministry's spokesman, said US-Chinese relations have improved recently thanks to efforts from both sides.
China overcame months of reluctance this week when it joined the United States and other major powers in supporting a draft resolution to impose tougher sanctions against Iran.

Without A Trace Seasons 1-7 DVD Boxset


Detailed DVD Info
Category:Crime Drama Mystery Thriller
Name:Without A Trace (D9)
Season:1 2 3 4 5 6 7
TV Series Release Date:26 September 2002
Aspect Ratio:1.78: 1
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital
Language:English With Removable Subtitles
Format:Support Both NTSC and PAL
Discs:21 pcs
TV Series Info
Leading Role: Anthony LaPaglia, Poppy Montgomery, Enrique Murciano, Eric Close, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Roselyn SanchezDirector: Hank Steinberg

Screenshot from Without A Trace DVD Box Set


Plot Summary

Without a Trace is an American television drama which originally ran on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009. The series is set in New York City and is about a fictitious full-time FBI missing persons unit.As any detective can tell you, investigating missing property or deaths is comparatively easy compared to elusive missing people. However in New York City, there is a special unit of the FBI that is designed to find them. Using the vast resources of their bureau, the team, lead by Agent Jack Malone, race against time in the tight 72 hour window after a disappearance while hope for a recovery is still typically possible. www.dvdorderonline.com