N. Korea plays nuclear chicken
Published: June 12, 2003, 07:20:42 AM PDT The crisis over North Korea's nuclear weapons program, aggravated by its repeated threats to use force in response to U.S. pressure to dismantle the program, may be moving toward a turning point. But Pyongyang's bellicose and unpredictable behavior makes it impossible to know what that might be.
The Bush administration, fearing the spread of nuclear weapons on the global black market, has sought, with some success, to form a consensus with China, Japan, Russia and South Korea to pressure Pyongyang. Even South Korean President Roh Moon Hyun, who favors a conciliatory approach, now says a nuclear-armed North Korea is not acceptable.
The U.S. idea is to keep holding out the prospect of a diplomatic solution that could include economic aid, security assurances and the normalization of North Korea's relations with the outside world. At the same time, concerted economic pressure would be exerted,which could succeed only if China, impoverished North Korea's economic lifeline, joined in. U.S. officials say they have no plan to use force but do not rule it out as a last resort.
So far, the North's response remains hostile. Now it says publicly for the first time that it has nuclear bombs and plans to build more, citing the need to deter a U.S. attack and to cut spending on conventional military forces.
Where this game of nuclear "chicken" will lead is anyone's guess. However, the United States has no choice but to take North Korea seriously and to work patiently to find compromise solutions. What's most heartening is that Washington appears to have persuaded North Korea's neighbors that the crisis must be addressed, and that all of them -- not just the United States -- must be part of the solution.