North Korea is once again, it seems, trying to extort concessions from the international community by using its developing nuclear capabilities as a club.
Its recent underground nuclear test and a follow-up series of missile launches are troubling, to say the least.
It is in no one’s interest for a country as unstable as North Korea to have advanced nuclear capabilities. But it’s important for the U.S. and its allies not to react rashly to this game of nuclear brinkmanship.
It is hard to fathom an alternative worse than the totalitarian regime in power now in Pyongyang. Nevertheless, the United States must try to avoid policies that would increase the hardship and oppression endured by the long-suffering North Korean people.
The Obama administration, so far, has struck the right tone in its measured response to the latest outburst from the Korean peninsula. Officials have made it clear that North Korea’s actions were unacceptable and have made overtures to get China involved in applying pressure.
The latest actions by Pyongyang drew quick condemnation from the United Nations Security Council, including China, a key player. Long an ally of North Korea, Chinese exports of food, fuel and other goods to North Korea recently were estimated at $2 billion annually.
North Korea, which analysts say isn’t able to pay for such goods, essentially takes this “trade” as aid.
A sure way to snuff out the regime lording over North Korea would be to cut off such support, but with millions of the country’s residents already on the brink of starvation, it’s pretty clear who would pay the price for such actions.
So-called “smart sanctions” might help. Those include actions that target the ruling elite, such as limiting their access to international banking. However, North Korea already occupies an isolated position in the world, so it’s unclear whether such sanctions would inflict much pain on the intended victims.
The international community must press China to use back-channel efforts to get its long-time ally to return to six-party talks designed to curb North Korea’s nuclear program.
Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s “Dear Leader,” is obviously in poor health since suffering what intelligence experts believe was a stroke last August.
As jockeying for power within the country intensifies, it’s important to maintain communication channels with North Korea on terms that best serve U.S. interests, and the six-party talks do just that.
What the U.S. and its allies do not want is for North Korea to develop nuclear technology that it could sell to countries without nuclear capabilities or to rogue bands of terrorists.
China wants stability in the region, and does not want North Korean refugees streaming over its border.
While the U.S. and China do not have exactly the same reasons for wanting to keep North Korea from developing a sophisticated nuclear arms program, the interests of the countries overlap enough to make cooperation palatable.
However frustrating it has been over the years to engage North Korea in six-party talks, which started in 2003, it is the best way to keep alive the possibility of tamping down the nuclear ambitions of this dangerously unstable country.
