Word: korean
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...emptive strike is too risky. But if the U.S. is ever going to defend a line in the sand with North Korea, that is the least provocative way to do it, and next time it will only be riskier. Such a strike could be seen by the North Korean leadership for what it is: a limited act of defense of the U.S. homeland against a gathering threat, and not an overall attack on North Korea. Pyongyang tries carefully to cultivate the impression that it will lash out in response to any action against it, however limited. But would it truly...
...shield behind which it can pursue its interests with impunity. Worse, North Korea has a long history of selling its advanced weapons to countries in the Middle East, and it operates a black market in other forms of contraband. Like Pakistan's rogue nuclear engineer A.Q. Khan, North Korean officials might be tempted to sell the ingredients of their arsenal to terrorists. Finally, many expect North Korea's failed economy to lead one day to the regime's collapse. Who then might get its loose nukes...
...Japanese-North Korean relations are already at their lowest point in decades, having risen to a new level of tension after North Korea's last missile test, in 1998, when part of Taepodong-1 missile fell in Japanese waters...
...North Korean missile test appears to be an attempt by North Korea to break the diplomatic impasse - possibly out of desperation to relieve the financial stress on its sclerotic economy. But there's little agreement among the principals on how to respond. Russia and China have made clear they are unlikely to support any U.N. sanctions. Even though South Korean and Chinese leaders both warned the North Koreans, as friends, to refrain from test firing the missiles, they may be unlikely to translate their pique into punitive action. Both countries fear that if the regime is pressed to the wall...
...launching missiles in the hope of tipping the diplomatic balance in its favor. It has certainly drawn condemnation from all quarters, and squandered some of the advantage it enjoyed when Beijing and Seoul were becoming increasingly critical of the U.S. over the failure of the talks. But North Korean leader Kim Jong-il will certainly remember how his provoking of previous crises eventually brought diplomatic gains rather than punishment; North Korea's 1998 missile tests, for example, brought direct talks for Kim with South Korea and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Even the Bush administration, which rejected the Clinton...