North Korea is again testing the patience of the United States by continuously refusing to agree on the verification protocol for its declared nuclear activities. Nuclear envoys of the U.S., China, Russia, Japan and South Korea were disappointed at the North's failure to allow inspectors to take samples from its nuclear facilities during a new round of six-party talks in Beijing this week. The North' refusal is seen as a move to play for time to start a new negotiation with incoming U.S. President Barack Obama who is to take office on Jan. 20.
The recalcitrant North might believe that it can deal more easily with the Obama administration than with the conservative government of President George W. Bush. However, the North must realize that Obama and his policymakers will never play into the hands of intransigent leaders of the world's last Stalinist country. Obama is no doubt liberal and open-minded. He once said during his campaign trail that he is ready to meet with any leaders of friends and foes to solve important global issues.
It is nonsense for the North to interpret Obama's remarks as his willingness to make more concessions to the reclusive communist country than Bush did. The settlement of the nuclear issue is totally dependent on how Pyongyang should behave. Five members of the six-nation talks have tried to please North Korea to persuade it into sincerely making good on its denuclearization commitments. They have promised to provide energy aid, economic assistance, diplomatic incentives and security guarantees to the dictatorial regime of Kim Jong-il in return for nuclear disarmament.
But, Pyongyang has repeatedly resorted to its notorious brinkmanship policy to bring about a deadlock to its denuclearization process. This has only exhausted the patience of the U.S., South Korea and others. It is really regrettable that the North has played a dangerous game of nuclear blackmail, frequently threatening to go back to square one. According to U.S. officials, the North agreed verbally to the sampling in October when U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill visited Pyongyang. But Kim Kye-gwan, the North's chief nuclear negotiator, refuted the agreement in Beijing on Wednesday by saying that his country has a different understanding on that issue.
Now, the U.S. hints at suspending the supply of promised heavy fuel oil to the North in response to its continued refusal to budge an inch. ``Obviously, one of the things people think about is energy assistance," White House spokesperson Dana Perino said Thursday. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack also said, ``This is an action-for-action negotiations. I don't think you're going to see much action from other parties until North Korea acts."
North Korea has played an endless game of chicken in a bid to put forward their irrational demands by using the logic of ``action for action." But, now it is time for the U.S. and its allies to take a step on an action-for-action basis to force the nuclear pariah to comply with its denuclearization pledges. For now, the U.S. is not thinking of putting the North back on the list of terrorism-sponsoring states. But it will have to devise a powerful instrument of leverage for denuclarization and nonproliferation.