The Spotlight

Kim Il Jong is rattling the North Korean saber again

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that “the field of scientific research” in the North will conduct a nuclear test in the future “under conditions where safety is firmly guaranteed.”

The statement was published simultaneously via Korean Central Television Station, the North’s only nationwide TV network, the official Korean Central News Agency and Korean Central Broadcasting Station at 6 p.m. The ministry said the present situation, “in which the U.S. moves to isolate and stifle” North Korea has reached a stage “beyond extremity,” with the result that the North “can no longer remain an onlooker to the developments.” The statement says the U.S.’ “extreme threat of a nuclear war and sanctions and pressure compel [the North] to conduct a nuclear test, an essential process for bolstering its nuclear deterrent, as a corresponding measure for defense.”

It stresses several times that North Korea was compelled to conduct a nuclear test because of the pressures and sanctions from the U.S. but makes no mention of when and how.

US pressure and sanctions against the DPRK is nothing new. What was North Korea expecting after this the US and other nations to do after this act? Current sanctions are just an excuse for the actions of the North Korean leader.

I tend to agree with GI in Korea, the timing of this news is linked to the news that Ban Ki-moon will probably be the next UN Secretary General. Kim Jong Il feels a need to always be the center of attention. He really is a spoiled child masquerading as a world leader. That makes him barely rational, and therefore more dangerous for the US can't count on predictability when dealing with Kim.

What to do now? Captain Ed doesn't think the sanction route will work. I agree, North Korea is already isolated, what will increased sanctions accomplish? Very little in my opinion. The only other choice is escalation, and this comes at a mighty risk. Seoul and its almost 11 million residents are less than fifty miles from North Korea's border. The military option or the threat of one comes with the danger of thousands dying and a country's economy being ruined. Containing Kim Jong Il is the safest course, but what is to prevent the DPRK from selling missiles or an atomic bomb to terrorists?

There isn't an easy answer to the state of affairs on the Korean peninsula.

Linked to- Third World County, Adam's Blog, Outside the Beltway,