Kim Jong Il to Travel to Indonesia

Is this trip further evidence that the US financial sanctions are having an effect on North Korea?:

The weekly said no date has been revealed for a visit. It said the planned trip “reflects Kim’s willingness to break the impasse of long isolation in the global diplomatic arena with the help of Indonesia, one of a handful of nations in diplomatic relations with the country and a leading force in the Nonaligned Movement.” Kim has been to Indonesia before, accompanying his father, former leader Kim Il-sung, in 1965.

Pyongyang reportedly asked the special envoy to deliver a message to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressing hope that Jakarta will serve as a mediator in the six-party talks.

Meanwhile, President Yudhoyono will visit both Koreas next month to discuss ways of resolving the North Korean nuclear impasse and ease tension on the Korean Peninsula.

This trip is unusual for Kim Jong Il especially since he is doing it in a hope to restart the nuclear talks. Maybe now it has donned on Kim that the US is serious about sanctions and not giving him anything in return for ending his nuclear program.