Word: kim
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...made in an informal arena, may have been stereotypical Pyongyang disinformation calculated to gain bargaining leverage. The North's envoys "are certainly obnoxious," a senior U.S. State Department official said after the talks ended. But claiming to have joined the nuclear club is a dangerous gambit that could cost Kim the few allies he has - and it's an especially risky tactic to use against the take-no-prisoners Administration of U.S. President George W. Bush. Before the week was out, the White House said it would rally its allies to support international economic sanctions against the North...
...nuclear-armed rogue state seems unthinkable. A quick, clean surgical strike to take out the Yongbyon nuclear facility would not end the weapons threat - the North is thought to have a separate nuclear program hidden away in underground facilities. Besides, any military move would invite massive retaliation, and Kim has better hostages than Saddam. The capital of South Korea, the world's 12th-largest economy, is in artillery range, and Japan, the second-largest economy, could also be hit by the North's missiles...
...Kim's regime would ultimately be destroyed in a conflict with the U.S., but the impoverished pariah state is sinking into oblivion anyway and has little else to lose. "North Korea is ready for a suicide attempt," warns Yoo Ho Yeol, an associate professor at Korea University in Seoul. The U.S. will determine whether it is an assisted suicide. Here are Washington's options, and the special difficulties each presents...
...DIPLOMACY At least for now, Washington says it is resolved to talking Kim down from the ledge, using the promise of economic assistance backed up with the threat of force. In the best-case scenario, Kim will try to bluster his way through any negotiations, making outrageous demands until he is finally offered what he wants...
...nuclear arsenal, no matter what - meaning talks would merely be a stalling tactic to provide the North with cover to carry on N-bomb development. And although Washington has consistently expressed confidence that a diplomatic solution can be reached, its own motives are suspect. Bush has said he "loathes" Kim, and Republican hawks say they hate the idea of dickering with the North. The previous U.S. President, Bill Clinton, used economic blandishments to get North Korea to mothball its nuke program - but in October the North triggered the current crisis when it admitted it was violating that 1994 deal...