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If you’re following the diplomatic maneuverings leading up to the next (and possibly, last) round of six-party talks, here’s the latest. Regular readers know that I find the talks useful only to the extent that everyone sees that we’ve shown up and been reasonable, and because it usefully disguises the fact that we probably reached an impasse over the insurmountable issues of inspection and verification many months ago. Of course, even keeping up appearances is of little use when China and South Korea believe that everything less than a payoff and a non-aggression pact is inconvenient U.S. intransigence.