EDITORIAL
North Korea: ready to reform or just hungry?

What appears to be a welcome breakthrough in Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's trip to Pyongyang must be taken with a healthy grain of salt.

Certainly it's encouraging that the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, acknowledged and apologized for the bizarre kidnappings decades ago of Japanese nationals.

Healthy if hopeful skepticism seems in order. Pyongyang has warmed before, only to abruptly turn icy. And we forget at our peril that 37,000 American troops are stationed potentially in harm's way.

It is a situation that requires intense monitoring by U.S. officials who, we must hope, are not too distracted by rumblings in Southwest Asia. Kim Jong Il, arguably, is still a greater threat than Saddam Hussein.