Obama's Worsening North Korea Woes
On Monday, North Korea's official news agency announced that the regime had "successfully" conducted an underground nuclear test. Although the test has yet to be fully verified, it was announced on the heels of a long-range missile launch on April 5, and it has the international community duly worried about what the opaque government of Kim Jung Il wants.
What is most remarkable is how fast the relationship of the government in Pyongyang has soured with the rest of the world after the highly visible destruction of their weapons-grade plutonium facility at Yongbyon.
That event took place after President George W. Bush lifted U.S. sanctions under the Trading with the Enemy Act and began the actions necessary to take North Korea off the state sponsors of terrorism list. The North then destroyed it's primary nuclear cooling tower — with U.S. media organizations watching. The North Koreans also turned over an inventory of some of their nuclear programs as part of the Six-Party Talks, with the U.S., China, Japan, Russia and South Korea, in order to complete the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
But then things went south. North Korea refused to verify the complete dismantling of its nuclear program, then the missile tests began, and now the underground nuclear test. After the April 5th long-range missile launch, the U.N. Security Council issued a Presidential Statement, which drew a quick and angry reaction from the North Korean regime.
Some analysts believe a power struggle within North Korea is behind the change of heart. There is talk that Jang Seong Taek, Kim Jung Il's brother-in-law, may be setting up a caretaker government in order to line up a succession for Kim Jung Il's youngest son, Kim Jong Un, if Kim Jung Il's health does not improve. Others believe it is to gain more concessions from the Obama administration.
The stated objective of the Obama administration is to get North Korea back to the bargaining table. Early Monday, President Obama said the North's behavior, "increases tensions and undermines stability in Northeast Asia. Such provocations will only serve to deepen North Korea's isolation. It will not find international acceptance unless it abandons its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery. The danger posed by North Korea's threatening activities warrants action by the international community. We have been and will continue working with our allies and partners in the Six-Party Talks as well as other members of the U.N. Security Council in the days ahead."
Although North Korea's announcement of a nuclear test is not an immediate threat to other nations, it is setting off alarm bells, particularly because of the recent long-range missile tests and because analysts believe North Korea has enough plutonium to make six to eight nuclear bombs. As a result of the North announcing the test, Japan called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Monday afternoon.
The Six-Party Talks have not yet succeeded and the U.N. Security Council was not able to pass a binding Resolution after the April missile launch. The international community is left with its hands a bit tied about what to do next to pressure the defiant regime of Kim Jung Il — as well as how to deal with the apparent succession struggle in Pyongyang.
This nuclear test does appear to be aimed at getting U.S. attention. It is certainly an interesting coincidence that North Korea's provocations always fall on U.S. holidays: the 2006 missile test took place on July 4; the first test of a nuclear weapon on Columbus Day, and this announcement of a "successful" nuclear test on Memorial Day.
Tibor T?th, Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) in Vienna, Austria echoed the concern of the international community.
"Today's nuclear test claimed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) constitutes a threat to international peace and security and to the nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime," said Toth. "It is a serious violation of the norm established by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and as such deserves universal condemnation."
North Korea may be looking for more aid, for diplomatic relations and perhaps even a formal end to the Korean War, but their actions Monday are more likely to unite the international community in its effort to bring Pyongyang back to the bargaining table —back on the path to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea violated the 2006 U.N. Security Council Resolution (1718) and has walked away from the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. The test of the Obama Administration's metal will be to bring unity to the U.N. Security Council - and Russia and China, in particular - in a perplexing and dangerous environment.
CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk is based at United Nations headquarters in New York.
© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved. What is most remarkable is how fast the relationship of the government in Pyongyang has soured with the rest of the world after the highly visible destruction of their weapons-grade plutonium facility at Yongbyon.
That event took place after President George W. Bush lifted U.S. sanctions under the Trading with the Enemy Act and began the actions necessary to take North Korea off the state sponsors of terrorism list. The North then destroyed it's primary nuclear cooling tower — with U.S. media organizations watching. The North Koreans also turned over an inventory of some of their nuclear programs as part of the Six-Party Talks, with the U.S., China, Japan, Russia and South Korea, in order to complete the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
But then things went south. North Korea refused to verify the complete dismantling of its nuclear program, then the missile tests began, and now the underground nuclear test. After the April 5th long-range missile launch, the U.N. Security Council issued a Presidential Statement, which drew a quick and angry reaction from the North Korean regime.
Some analysts believe a power struggle within North Korea is behind the change of heart. There is talk that Jang Seong Taek, Kim Jung Il's brother-in-law, may be setting up a caretaker government in order to line up a succession for Kim Jung Il's youngest son, Kim Jong Un, if Kim Jung Il's health does not improve. Others believe it is to gain more concessions from the Obama administration.
(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
The stated objective of the Obama administration is to get North Korea back to the bargaining table. Early Monday, President Obama said the North's behavior, "increases tensions and undermines stability in Northeast Asia. Such provocations will only serve to deepen North Korea's isolation. It will not find international acceptance unless it abandons its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery. The danger posed by North Korea's threatening activities warrants action by the international community. We have been and will continue working with our allies and partners in the Six-Party Talks as well as other members of the U.N. Security Council in the days ahead."
Although North Korea's announcement of a nuclear test is not an immediate threat to other nations, it is setting off alarm bells, particularly because of the recent long-range missile tests and because analysts believe North Korea has enough plutonium to make six to eight nuclear bombs. As a result of the North announcing the test, Japan called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Monday afternoon.
The Six-Party Talks have not yet succeeded and the U.N. Security Council was not able to pass a binding Resolution after the April missile launch. The international community is left with its hands a bit tied about what to do next to pressure the defiant regime of Kim Jung Il — as well as how to deal with the apparent succession struggle in Pyongyang.
This nuclear test does appear to be aimed at getting U.S. attention. It is certainly an interesting coincidence that North Korea's provocations always fall on U.S. holidays: the 2006 missile test took place on July 4; the first test of a nuclear weapon on Columbus Day, and this announcement of a "successful" nuclear test on Memorial Day.
Tibor T?th, Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) in Vienna, Austria echoed the concern of the international community.
"Today's nuclear test claimed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) constitutes a threat to international peace and security and to the nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime," said Toth. "It is a serious violation of the norm established by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and as such deserves universal condemnation."
North Korea may be looking for more aid, for diplomatic relations and perhaps even a formal end to the Korean War, but their actions Monday are more likely to unite the international community in its effort to bring Pyongyang back to the bargaining table —back on the path to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea violated the 2006 U.N. Security Council Resolution (1718) and has walked away from the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. The test of the Obama Administration's metal will be to bring unity to the U.N. Security Council - and Russia and China, in particular - in a perplexing and dangerous environment.
CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk is based at United Nations headquarters in New York.
Popular on CBSNews.com
- S. Korea: N. Korea launches short-range missiles
- U.K. police announce new leads in missing girl case
- Photos of the Week 21 Photos
- Plane catches fire landing in Moscow
- Plane catches fire on Moscow runway Play Video
- Drone technology myths, facts and future feats
- Dramatic video appears to show 747 crash in Afghanistan
- Russia strikes back after expelling alleged U.S. spy
Yeah well, that's what we get for voting in a community organizer. Don't blame me, I told you this socialistic idealist would be the biggest turkey that ever sat in the office...
The alternative was the Cheney factor...and he keeps popping up. Cheney should have jumped into the primaries for the Republican Party....he is their kind of dictator..running government from behind the name of Bush....
So, to a certain extent, the ONLY positive thing Bush was able to do while in office, was DENY Cheney's constant badgering to PARDON Scotter Libby before Bush left office....TATA!!
Posted by jgg00000008
Iran has tons of oil...but few refinerys. Do your homework. They still have to purchase their fuel from other countries.
Neocons are like cockroaches........hide and skulk in the dark and appear when they think there is a morsel out there for them. Shine the light on them..(the truth) and they scuttle and scramble back into the dark dank innerworkings of their feeble little minds...
Today looked pretty scrumptious eh cons??? LOL
You keep avoiding the elephant in the kitchen. That would be Obama's growing perception of being weak and lacking resolve. As long as that perception continues, the rogue dictators will continue to take full advantage. Instead of acknowledging this weakness, you revert to Bush-bashing and calling me a partisan, which doesn't get rid of that elephant. It merely shows how you are unable to refute the sad truth about Obama.
----
Any day now we should hear more Hillary "tough talk". All the "tough talk" to date has "stopped or saved" the world from hundreds of missile launches.
This is all phony and what journalism has become reduced to, but this problem is beyond Obama and Hillary. Under the phony PERCEPTION N. Korea and Iran are being reasonable the real problems will remain!
"And you know this how?"
Let's see... North Korea has a major nuclear test...North Korea sends out test missiles towards California...Iran continues it's nuclear weapons buildup...Iran continues to threaten Israel...Iran sends out warships...Cuba mocks Obama's peace overtures... What have I missed? What is Obama's answer??? More "negotiations" and more "UN sanctions". Is this enough proof? Obama's inactivity, his weakening of our military and his political correction of US policies to appease European socialists are signs of our weak, inefficient president.
You and your liberal ilk really don't get it. It is the perception of strength and resolve that acts as a deterrence. Obama does not project that kind of perception. He projects weakness and lack of resolve. Sorry, but it is true. He is fast becoming the 21st century Jimmy Carter.