Between One and Six
No Reason to Recognize North Korea as Nuke Power
It is nonsense to send the wrong signal to North Korea that the international community could acknowledge, or at least tacitly approve, the recalcitrant communist state as a nuclear power. If any country is willing to do so, it would be tantamount to playing into the North's hands and accepting its nuclear card. This would unquestionably jeopardize the global non-proliferation regime. That's why most nations stand fast behind their firm position that Pyongyang should not be allowed to become a nuclear weapons state.
Everyone knows that the U.S. government has long maintained a strong stance against the North's nuclear arms development program, calling for its complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization under the six-party process. However, recent remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton could be seen as controversial enough to raise suspicions that the Obama administration may acquiesce to Pyongyang's possession of nuclear warheads despite its official denials.
In a speech at the University of Louisville in Kentucky on Friday, Clinton said the United States knows that North Korea has ``somewhere between one and six nuclear weapons." It marked the first time that any U.S. official has disclosed the number of atomic bombs the North may develop and possess. It is unusual that the top American diplomat has come up with such figures although they are in the broad range. Her remarks came after she told reporters on March 31 that North Korea already has nuclear weapons.
It is not easy to grasp exactly what Clinton meant by such remarks that were made before and after the U.S. announced its Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) on April 6. In fact, the NPR report drew much attention as Washington announced for the first time that it will renounce its use of nuclear arms against non-nuclear weapons states in compliance with international nonproliferation obligations. But the new policy will not apply to North Korea, which conducted two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2008, and Iran, which is allegedly seeking to produce nuclear weapons.
The core of the NPR is certainly designed to ensure the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons. However, it should not provide an excuse for North Korea and Iran to go nuclear. Therefore, it is imperative that the international community should set up a firmer regime to prevent such incompliant states from developing, possessing and transferring nuclear weapons and related technologies. In an angry reaction last Friday, the North threatened to bolster its nuclear weapons and modernize them as a deterrent against an attack from the U.S.
Such a threat is likely to make it more difficult for the North to return to the stalled six-nation denuclearization talks. Even if it comes back to the negotiations, it may not easily give up its nuclear development programs. In her April 7 contribution to The Guardian newspaper of the United Kingdom, Clinton said, ``With respect to North Korea, we continue to send the message that simply returning to the negotiating table is not enough." She urged Pyongyang to move toward complete and verifiable denuclearization through irreversible steps, if it wants a normalized, sanctions-free relationship with the U.S.
It is certain that Pyongyang will continue to play a nuclear card in a bid to get the international recognition of a de facto nuclear power resembling India and Pakistan. The U.S. and other countries ought to send a clear message to the North that the military regime should no longer harbor a delusion of nuclear proliferation. Now, the question is how to lure the North back to the six-party process and encourage it to take the path of denuclearization.