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Category: Proliferation

May 28, 2009

Selected North Korea Commentary

The most depressing thing about North Korea’s April missile test wasn’t the test itself; it was the vacuousness of most of the reactions to it.  Many of the writers seemed poorly read on the facts, and conservatives and liberals had both stretched their credibility to defend the Bush and Clinton administrations, respectively, despite the general consistency of the policy through both administrations.  Recent events prove that both policies failed. This time around, the commentary seems smarter and better informed.  Part...
Categories Proliferation/Washington Views/WMD
May 26, 2009

And Now, the Fallout

Kim Jong Il has followed yesterday’s nuke test by firing two more short-range missiles, as a rudderless world tries to decide how to respond.  When you consider each of these developments, ask yourself whether Kim Jong Il could reasonably have anticipated that it would happen.  So far, everything I see happening fits within the range of Kim Jong Il’s calculation of “acceptable consequences.” FOR ONE THING, KIM JONG IL IS PROBABLY BETTING that John Kerry and Nancy Pelosi don’t possess...
Categories "United" Nations/Diplomacy/Proliferation/WMD
May 26, 2009

In ‘The New Ledger:’ Holding China Accountable

Here’s a quote: Afer the 2006 nuclear test, John Bolton pressured China into voting for U.N. Security Council Resolution 1718, which seemed to impose tough sanctions on North Korea. A detailed study by the economist and North Korea expert Marcus Noland later revealed that China also undermined the very sanctions it voted for in Resolution 1718 with increased cross-border aid and trade. China also instructed its banks to free up the movement of North Korean assets. Most recently, China blocked...
Categories China/Proliferation/WMD
May 25, 2009

Nuclear Groundhog Day in North Korea

[Welcome to the readers coming in from the Wall Street Journal, Gateway Pundit, Ed Driscoll, Patterico, and Little Green Footballs, and thanks to the authors of those sites for linking.] Well, all I can say is, thank God Christopher Hill’s ingenious diplomacy disarmed North Korea in time: “The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea successfully conducted one more underground nuclear test on May 25 as part of the measures to bolster up its nuclear deterrent for self-defence in every way as...
Categories Proliferation/WMD
May 20, 2009

Allison Kilkenny vs. John Bolton

Kilkenny may not like John Bolton, but she looks pretty foolish bashing him in her “Unreported” piece which was published today – especially since Bolton’s Wall Street Journal article accurately predicted nuclear intentions coming from Iran. To add to Ms. Kilkenny’s dismay, Bolton is also anticipating another North Korea nuclear test, something she feels Bolton is foolish for simply suggesting. Kilkenny writes: Experts on North Korea say Kim Jong-il’s motives center around receiving aid, and fear of the United States,...
Categories Media Criticism/Missiles/Proliferation
May 19, 2009

Another Nuclear Test in the Works?

I’m hearing rumors that North Korea has all the trappings set for another nuclear test. All that is missing is an order from Kim Jong Il to set it off. Presumably, the order will come if North Korea believes it has few other bargaining options left on the table. Talk has it that whenever and if that will ever be, the North does have the capability to quickly conduct a test on short notice. What can we expect will happen...
Categories Proliferation
May 15, 2009

S. Korea Tightens Controls on Dual-Use Technology Transfers to N. Korea

I’ve long suspected that technology transfers to Kaesong included many dual-use items, including American technology, that the North Koreans would easily put to destructive uses.  South Korea finally seems to be doing something about this: South Korea’s audit agency expressed concern Wednesday that materials used to develop weapons of mass destruction may enter North Korea due to Seoul’s lax monitoring and advised the Unification Ministry to tighten rules. The ministry, in charge of overseeing personnel and equipment exchanges with North...
Categories Proliferation/Sunshine/Technology/WMD
May 10, 2009

N.Y. Times: It’s Safe to Ignore North Korea Again!

It’s odd, though, how my mind can’t let go of what’s gone down the New York Times memory hole — alarmist warnings about North Korean nukes, peddled with the meme that George W. Bush transformed a contained North Korea into a grave national security threat.   I still remember Nick Kristof warning us of a nuclear 9/11 if the Bush Administration failed to appease North Korea with aid, in the same way that worked so brilliantly for Roh Moo Hyun. ...
Categories Media Criticism/Proliferation/WMD
May 4, 2009

N. Korea: Obama Just Like Bush!

Someone still isn’t feeling the hope and change: North Korea blasted U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday as no different from his predecessor in trying to “stifle” countries that are uncooperative with the U.S., referring to Washington’s move to punish Pyongyang’s rocket launch.  [….] “With nothing can the U.S. justify such illegal provocation as forcing the UNSC to table the issue of the DPRK’s (North Korea) launch of a satellite for peaceful purposes and issue ‘a presidential statement,’” the North’s...
Categories "United" Nations/Diplomacy/Japan/Missiles/Proliferation/U.S. Politics
May 2, 2009

N.Y. Times: It’s Safe to Ignore North Korea Again!

It’s odd, though, how my mind my mind can’t let go of what’s gone down the New York Times memory hole — alarmist warnings about North Korean nukes, peddled with the meme that George W. Bush transformed a contained North Korea into a grave national security threat. I remember Nick Kristof warning us of a nuclear 9/11 if the Bush Administration failed to appease North Korea with aid, in the same way that worked so brilliantly for Roh Moo Hyun,...
Categories Media Criticism/Proliferation/WMD
April 23, 2009

Telling Half the Story at Yongbyon

The Washington Post reassures us that North Korea’s threat to restart plutonium processing is mostly empty because of the current condition of its 5-MW reaction. Not only do I agree that the reactor is probably a wreck, I believe that was also true before the North Koreans sold us their scrap heap for such a high price. Funny, I don’t remember Siegfried Hecker telling us that in 2007 when the State Department was telling us what a breakthrough this deal...
Categories Media Criticism/WMD
April 21, 2009

Banzai for Nuclear Japan!

Japan should consider possessing nuclear weapons as a deterrent to a neighboring threat, former Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa suggested Sunday. In a speech in Obihiro, Hokkaido, in reference to North Korea’s rocket launch earlier this month that many believe was a ballistic missile test, the hawkish lawmaker said: “It is common sense worldwide that in pure military terms, nuclear counters nuclear.” In Sunday’s speech, Nakagawa said he believes North Korea has many Rodong medium-range missiles that could reach almost any...
Categories Asia/Geopolitics/Japan/Proliferation
April 19, 2009

Joining the Great North Korea Debate

I’m gratified to see that my latest New Ledger article has picked up so much linkage and circulation, including at Instapundit, Real Clear World, the Memeorandum, Pajamas Media, Rantburg, Google News, and even the Puffington Host.  I doubt that I’ve done much harm to Chris Hill’s chances of being confirmed, but it’s gratifying to see my ideas debated by people not necessarily predisposed to agree (which must be nearly everyone, given that I’ve been highly critical of Presidents Clinton, Bush,...
Categories Appeasement/Diplomacy/Missiles/Six-Party Talks
April 13, 2009

“United Nations,” “International Community,” and other oxymorons

“This provocation underscores the need for action–not just this afternoon at the U.N. Security Council, but in our determination to prevent the spread of these weapons,” Mr. Obama said. “Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something. [Barack Obama, April 6, 2009] It will soon be official: the rules are not binding, violations will not be punished, and our words mean nothing. It seems incredible that any American statesman still needs one more object lesson in...
Categories "United" Nations/Diplomacy/Missiles
April 11, 2009

China’s Fingerprints Are All Over North Korea’s Missiles

Not long before the United Nations went limp in the face of North Korea’s missile launch, our own high priest of Smart Diplomacy called on our friends the ChiComs to do their part to restore the rule of law we know them to treasure as we do: “China could do a great deal more,” [Vice President Joe] Biden said, without elaborating. [AFP] On the contrary, according to this report, it appears that China has done quite enough: The rocket launched...
Categories China/China & Korea/Missiles/Proliferation
April 10, 2009

Video: Kim Jong Il Greets the Rubber Stamps; Taepodong Launch

In the video, His Porcine Shriveled Majesty is noticeably gaunt as he shuffles stiffly onto the floor of the Supreme Peoples’ Assembly. He’s aged ten years in the last year. The video also appears to show North Korea’s most recent missile test, which is interesting, but not as interesting as the system of hillside pipes shown at 1:38. Google Earthers will recognize them instantly; contraptions like these are a common sight along North Korea’s east coast, but I’ve never figured...
Categories Kim Jong Il/Missiles
April 8, 2009

More Nork Missile Stuff

A DUMMY SATELLITE? That’s what some South Korean scientists speculate about the payload of last weekend’s missile. Not being a rocket scientist myself, I wasn’t personally overwhelmed by the scientists’ basis for that conclusion, but I’d think that if the whole thing went down in the Pacific, it should be possible for us to recover the thing and resolve the issue conclusively. I wonder what the psychological impact would be if photographs of the recovered payload make their way into...
Categories Anju Links/Missiles