North Korea is strutting
(From The Japan Times May 30 issue)

核実験で挑発を重ねる北朝鮮

The provocations and rhetoric from North Korea are escalating. On May 25, the same day it carried out its second nuclear test, it fired two short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan. The next day it launched three more short-range missiles. There is a report that it has restarted reprocessing nuclear fuel at the Yongbyon nuclear complex.

After Seoul decided, following the North's nuclear test, to join the Proliferation Security Initiative, a U.S.-led network of more than 90 nations aimed at stopping and inspecting ships suspected of transporting banned weapons and nuclear materials, Pyongyang said it was no longer bound by an 1953 armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War.

Saying that Seoul's decision is tantamount to a declaration of war, Pyongyang threatens to take "substantive actions corresponding to wartime." It also says it cannot guarantee the safety of U.S. and South Korean ships in the Yellow Sea.

The international community should not be swayed by North Korea's provocations and rhetoric, and should send a strong message that the North cannot get concessions from the other participants in the six-party talks for denuclearization of North Korea through provocative and belligerent threats and acts.

Apparently, Pyongyang seeks direct talks with Washington to get assurance that its current regime will continue. But for the United States to agree to such talks now would only mean bowing to North Korea's tactics. The international community should cleverly apply pressure on the North and make it realize that sticking to its present line will push it into further isolation.

At the same time, the international community should make clear that if the North stops its dangerous tactics and returns to the six-party talks, the door is open for more talks to find solutions acceptable to the North and the other members of the talks — the United States, Japan, China, South Korea and Russia.

China, which chairs the talks, and is the main supplier of fuels and consumer goods to North Korea, can play an important role. Japan, the United States and South Korea need to make serious efforts to form a unified front with China.

北朝鮮の挑発と威嚇が激しさを増している。2度目の核実験の同日に短距離ミサイルを2発、翌日に3発を発射し、寧辺の核再処理施設を再稼動したとも報道されている。

5月26日に韓国が米国主導の「大量破壊兵器拡散防止構想」への参加を決めたことに対し北朝鮮は、朝鮮戦争休戦協定にこれ以上拘束されない、韓国の参加は宣戦布告に等しく「戦時に相応した実質的な行動で対応する」、黄海における米国と韓国の航海の安全を保障できないと表明した。

米朝交渉につなげるための北朝鮮の策に米国が屈するわけにはいかない。国際社会は北朝鮮にうまく圧力をかけ、現在のような暴挙を続ければ孤立を深めるだけだと認識させると同時に、6カ国協議に復帰すれば全参加国が納得できる解決法を探ることが可能だと明言する必要がある。

議長国であり、燃料や消費財を供給している中国は大きな役割を担っている。日米韓は中国と緊密に連携していくことが重要だ。