26 May 2009

Something's gotta be done, but what?

Choe Sang-Hun has an article in The New York Times about the Korean problem:
One day after a surprise nuclear test drew angry and widespread condemnation, North Korea continued its defiance of the international community on Tuesday by test-firing two more short-range missiles, according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap, which cited unidentified government sources in Seoul. The reported missile firings came just hours after South Korea said it would join an American-led operation to stop the global trafficking in weapons of mass destruction, an action bound to further damage the South’s already deteriorating relationship with North Korea.
The missiles launched Tuesday were surface-to-ship and surface-to-air projectiles, each with a range of 80 miles, according to the Yonhap sources. They were apparently launched from a base on the central eastern coast into the sea opposite Japan, further rattling nerves in the region. The South Korean Defense Ministry declined to confirm the report.
After its nuclear test on Monday, the North test-fired three short-range missiles. An intelligence official in Seoul said that move indicated Pyongyang was “getting its back up” at U.S. military aircraft that might fly close to North Korea in an attempt to collect radiation data and gauge the size of the North’s nuclear blast.
South Korea’s long-delayed participation in the Proliferation Security Initiative, or P.S.I., followed a statement by the United Nations Security Council that unanimously condemned the nuclear test on Monday, calling it a “clear violation” of an earlier council resolution. The council also vowed to craft a new resolution that could impose further sanctions on the increasingly isolated North.
North Korea appeared unfazed by the swift condemnation, including strong rebukes from allies such as China and Russia. In Tuesday’s editions of Rodong, its main party newspaper, Pyongyang declared that it was “fully ready for battle” against the United States, accusing President Obama of “following in the footsteps of the previous Bush administration’s reckless policy of militarily stifling North Korea.”
North Korea has previously threatened South Korea with war if it joined the Proliferation Security Initiative, an effort begun in 2003 by the Bush administration to deter countries like North Korea and Iran from trafficking in missile and nuclear technologies. Russia, Britain, France, and Israel are among the 95 signatories, although India, Pakistan, and China are not.
South Korea decided to join the P.S.I. to “counter the grave threat that the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and missiles poses to global peace and security,” Moon Tae-young, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said in a statement. The P.S.I. protocols emphasize the interdiction of shipments— especially at sea— of suspected weapons of mass destruction, their related materials, and delivery systems.
North Korea has called such interdictions “terrorism” and sees the initiative as proof of US bias. Exports of missile parts to countries in the Middle East remain a key source of revenue for the impoverished North. American officials also suspect that North Korea has shipped nuclear technology to Syria.
South Korea had wavered on joining P.S.I. for fear of provoking the North. But on Tuesday, President Lee Myung-bak, who came to power with a promise to take a tougher approach toward Pyongyang, spoke with Mr. Obama about the North Korean threat and the South’s decision to join the anti-proliferation effort.
On the phone, Mr. Lee emphasized to Mr. Obama that the United States and its allies “should not repeat the pattern” of “rewarding” North Korea’s provocations with dialogue and economic aid, as they did after the North’s first nuclear test in October 2006. Over the years, North Korea has gained confidence through its brinkmanship, Mr. Lee’s aides said, enough that it asked the Security Council to apologize for the sanctions it imposed following the North’s long-range rocket launch in early April. Mr. Lee’s tougher approach to the North marks a sharp departure from the conciliatory gestures that were prevalent in Seoul during the 10 years of liberal rule under his two predecessors, and the current posture is more closely aligned with Washington and Tokyo.
On Monday, Mr. Lee’s defense minister, Lee Sang-hee, told a parliamentary hearing that a “very effective tool” to stop the North’s nuclear and missile programs would be to “cut off the money”. The effectiveness of any UN sanctions will also depend, in large part, on the willingness of China, the North’s key ally and trading partner, to carry them out.
Even before the Security Council met, Monday’s nuclear test drew swift and widespread international rebukes. Mr. Obama criticized North Korea’s reckless action. “The United States and the international community must take action in response,” he said.
At the Security Council, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said Washington would seek a “strong resolution with strong measures.” Britain, France, and Japan were expected to push for new sanctions. Russia and China are likely to remain reluctant to punish Pyongyang too harshly, although China on Monday said it was “resolutely opposed” to the nuclear test. The Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, told reporters that the North’s action was “very serious and needs to have a strong response.”
North Korea has a history of flouting such international condemnation, especially recently: It launched a long-range rocket on 5 April despite international calls for restraint; quit nuclear negotiations; restarted its nuclear plants, and threatened more nuclear and long-range missile tests.
Rico says sanctions aren't gonna work; there needs to be a small tactical nuclear explosion (to be blamed, by the US and others, on some mysterious North Korean technical failure) right on top of their nuclear facility...

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