Today's Reading Assignment

Michael Auslin of the American Enterprise Institute, on opportunities likely to be missed during next week's meeting between President Bush and South Korea's new president, Lee Myung-bak. Between the State Department's latest carrot for Pyongyang, and plans to scuttle a U.S.-ROK free trade agreement, Mr. Lee faces an uphill battle in his Washington talks.

And that's a pity, as Mr. Auslin notes. President Lee is exactly the kind of leader the United States has been looking for in Seoul, after a decade of appeasement policies toward the north. Too bad he won't get the support he needs from a lame duck administration that has grown increasingly short-sighted toward Korea.

An important and timely read, from The Weekly Standard.