Asia/Pacific

The State Department's special envoy on North Korea ended a week-long trip to northeast Asia on Monday with an unusually stark warning about the repercussions of the reclusive country moving forward with plans to test a nuclear weapon.

Glyn Davies issued the warning in Japan after meeting with officials in China and South Korea as part of a U.S. delegation initially aimed at renewing diplomatic engagement. Those plans were scrapped, however, after North Korea vowed Thursday to conduct another nuclear test and threatened the United States in retaliation for a new round of U.N. sanctions.

“We came out to the region [hoping to find a way forward diplomatically] but instead we find a North Korea that seems bent on playing a game of risk,” Davies told reporters in Japan. “This is very dangerous. We'd like them to step away, step back from this kind of provocative stance and enable us to get back to a diplomatic process.

“But I have to be honest with you, as a diplomat I don't see any prospect for a diplomatic process in the immediate future, as long as North Korea continues this belligerent and provocative behavior and language.”

U.S. officials are set to meet with their Afghan counterparts in Kabul, beginning Saturday, to hammer out the final details of an immunity deal for U.S. forces remaining in the country after the 2014 withdrawal deadline. 

Japanese utilities and business groups are pressing U.S. regulators to approve natural gas exports at a time when Japan’s idled nuclear production has boosted its need for other energy sources.

New letters to the Energy Department (DOE) urge approval of an array of pending applications to export liquefied natural gas to nations that do not have free-trade deals with the U.S. – including Japan.

“We, as Japanese utilities, are in significant need of secure sources of energy supply,” states a Jan. 24 letter to DOE from Chubu Electric Power Co. and Osaka Gas Co. “Among new supply sources, we have increasing interest in U.S. LNG exports as economic and stable sources of supply with high liquidity and transparency.”

Their letter urges “expedited” action on the LNG export applications.

North Korea is still capable of running a series of nuclear weapons tests, despite reports from U.S. intelligence officials that there are no near-term indications the country is planning to conduct such drills, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday. 

Press secretary Jay Carney warned that a nuclear test would be a "significant violation" of U.N. resolutions.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey met with his NATO military counterparts in Brussels on Wednesday to flesh out the details of the administration's plan to accelerate the security handover in Afghanistan to local forces by spring. 

President Obama's deputy special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan on Wednesday made the case for peace talks with the Taliban.

Speaking to the public via a State Department Q&A on Twitter, James Warlick said the administration supports reconciliation with the insurgents it has been battling for the past 12 years. President Obama for the first time endorsed a proposal to open a “Taliban office” in Qatar when he met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai last week.

“At the Summit, the Leaders called on Taliban to join political process and take necessary steps to open office,” Warlick said on Twitter. “We agree that reconciliation is surest path to peace and ending violence in Afghanistan. As SecClinton has said, 'You don’t make peace with your friends, you make peace with your enemies.' "

“Starting this spring our troops will have a different mission -- training, advising and assisting Afghan forces," Obama said.

Fresh off of his visit to North Korea, former U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson said he is "worried" about a potential conflict in the region.

Richardson said the U.S. should increase engagement and dialogue with the isolated country before it's too late. 

Your morning global affairs speed-read

Afghan President Hamid Karzai meets today with President Obama at the White House at a time when the two leaders' ambitions for the future of the country are widely apart. Karzai is expected to urge Obama to retain a sizable U.S. presence in Afghanistan after 2014, while the U.S. leader has pared down his hopes of what can be achieved there.

The talks come as the Obama administration has significantly increased its drone strikes against militants in Pakistan in the early days of 2013, evidence that it plans a significant drawdown.

Group hug: U.S. and Russian diplomats meet today in Geneva with the U.N.'s special envoy to Syria to negotiate the next steps in the crisis. The talks with Bashar Assad ally Russia come as Syrian rebels claim to have seized a key air base.

Feisty French: France's Francois Hollande said today he's ready to stop the advance of al Qaeda-linked militants in Mali.

Trade talk: The National Foreign Trade Council unveils its international trade and tax outlook for 2013 this afternoon. Check back on Global Affairs this afternoon for coverage.