Editorial: North Korea's nukes

Two weeks ago, North Korea admitted it has been covertly running a nuclear weapons program in defiance of a 1994 arms control accord that pledged American and European energy in exchange for a North Korean freeze on nuclear weapons development. That North Korean leaders spend their already-pitiful revenues to build a nuclear program and not to feed a population paralyzed by famine and stagnant economic growth is a human tragedy.

North Korea's about face should come as no surprise--policymakers in Congress and in the White House have known for a long time that Kim Jong Il, North Korea's dictator, has had an interest in making his otherwise-crippled nation a nuclear power.

In response to the recent revelation, the United States has so far acted in a responsible, sober-headed and deliberate manner. The decision to withdraw from the 1994 accord makes sense. Additionally, the United States should use diplomatic influence to seek the support of the international community in rebuking North Korea and imposing even harsher economic aid sanctions on the autarchic North Korean government, squeezing possibly the world's worst economy into compliance. The United States must lead the global community in delivering North Korea's leaders a choice��either continue building nuclear weapons or get the energy they need to power their blackout-prone country.

American leaders should appeal especially to China, whose economic interests in Asia are threatened by the destabilizing actions of a nuclear despot. A unified international response would do more to convince North Korea to halt its nuclear program than would bombing Yongbyon, the nuclear testing facility.

At the same time, South Korea's efforts to work productively with North Korea should not be halted. The progress Kim Dae Jung has made over his term as South Korean president is significant, perhaps most importantly allowing North Korea a path to eventual international engagement as a responsible nation.

Kim Jong Il, less than a decade in power, has been more accommodating than his father to South Korean concerns and recently established a capitalist investment zone. But the North Korean regime has much work to do before it can be accepted into the global society��ending its nuclear weapons program is at the top of that list, along with instituting greater human rights and democratic reform.

Many critics of President George W. Bush's policies regarding Iraq have drawn comparisons with North Korea's attempts to build nuclear weapons. The Bush administration should treat the two problems as they are��separate problems with their own idiosyncrasies��although the situations do have some similarities. As it further develops its policies toward Iraq and North Korea, the administration should not let the approach in one situation tie its hands in the other, but the president should strive for consistency. One approach should inform the other.

The final result of American policy should be that both nations end their programs to create weapons of mass destruction and that neither country has the capability to threaten regional or global security.