This has reinforced everything we feared about North Korea's promises, but no one expected them to shove it in everyone's faces within 24 hours. It doesn't mean they're ripping up the piece of paper, they just like to keep everyone guessing.

For now, perhaps the only goal all parties can agree on is avoiding a crisis, but more meaningful engagement is needed if, in the long run, North Korea is not to loom as a flash point in Sino-U.S. relations.

That's a non-negotiating point. It's demands like these that have me worried there may be a lack of progress in the peace process.

Any American who watches Korea in Washington will watch closely how it will unfold.

The two parties agreed to disagree and papered over the differences. It will take a long time before North Korea will be accepted as a responsible member of the international community, at least 2 years.

It sounds cliched but we live in a tough world at the moment and to jump away for two hours and look at some lovely costumes, hear a great band play with some great singers, to watch two people connect on the floor is a nice way to forget about all this other stuff.

It shows at least on the surface that the North would like to embrace China's reforms.

It's getting darker by the day. We are slowly moving towards a showdown with North Korea.

It looks like Tehran has taken a page out of Pyongyang's brinkmanship playbook.

I told him that if he wins, he'll still need to finish his homework... I'd hate to have to suspend a city official.