Word: pyongyang
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...also pleased to see how President Obama has handled this challenge from the reclusive autocracy in Pyongyang. When confronted with the reality of the North Korean launch, the President renewed his calls for continued nonproliferation efforts, based on the reduction of current nuclear stockpiles, the prevention of further proliferation, and the securing of loose fissile material. In the days prior to the crisis, Obama had also deployed two AEGIS-capable destroyers to the East Sea—which can track and shoot down missiles if needed—in order to demonstrate American resolve. These actions demonstrated a combination...
...Though the Taeodong II does not have the range to hit the continental United States, and the North has not yet mastered the technology to miniaturize a nuclear warhead that could fit on the rocket, the launch is, as Obama said, a "provocative act." To be seen as rewarding Pyongyang by engaging in direct talks is, for now, unlikely...
...best Obama can hope for now is to get North Korea to return to the six-party talks (hosted by Beijing and including South Korea, Japan and Russia.) Washington has tried to signal Pyongyang in advance of the launch that it was still interested in talking, "because," says one Western diplomat, "the big picture remains the same, missile or no missile: getting them to abandon their nuclear weapons program...
...North Korea, the successful firing of the Taepodong II likely had two purposes: at a moment when the Obama administration has indicated it is willing to engage with hostile regimes - Iran and Syria specifically - Pyongyang "just threw a big rock at the White House, and said, 'We're here, too,'" says one Western diplomat in Seoul. Internally, the launch comes at a critical moment. Kim Jong Il had a stroke late last summer, and there is intense speculation as to the state of Kim's health and his level of control over his regime. "The launch says to North Koreans...
...opening gambit to test a new administration in Washington, Pyongyang is being typically audacious. The North Korean government probably noted with interest that in its immediate reaction, the White House insisted that the North "abandon the development of weapons of mass destruction." It said nothing about destroying the small arsenal of nuclear weapons the North already possesses. Analysts in Seoul wondered whether that was deliberate - a signal that Washington not only still wanted to talk, but that it might be flexible about how the North can stand down its weapons program. Because at some point, new talks, despite the launch...