New York Daily News October 17, 2006
Bush confirms Kim nuke test
Do it again and you'll be sorry, Rice warns N. Korea
By James Gordon Meek
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration yesterday grudgingly conceded that North Korea had successfully tested a small nuclear bomb and warned dictator Kim Jong Il he'll be in more trouble if he does it again.
Secretary of State Rice said a second nuclear test "would further deepen the isolation of North Korea, and I hope they would not take such a provocative act."
Rice repeated President Bush's latest finger-wagging threat, promising Kim that the U.S. will "hold North Korea accountable for the consequences" should he export nuclear know-how to terrorists.
She also said Iran - on its way to developing its own nukes - should take notice of the sanctions imposed against North Korea on Saturday by the United Nations.
This morning, though, the North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the UN effectively declared war on the country when it imposed those sanctions.
North Korea will "mercilessly strike" if its sovereignty is violated, said the statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
"We resolutely condemn and totally reject the UN Security Council resolution" approved Saturday, the ministry said.
The comments came as Bush took another swipe at former President Bill Clinton's direct negotiations in the 1990s with North Korea. "We tried that and it didn't work," Bush told Fox News' Bill O'Reilly, adding that he was referring to Clinton. Bush favors six-party talks with Russia, China, Japan and South Korea.
Critics note that Bush's threats since 2003 - that the U.S. wouldn't tolerate a nuclearized Korean peninsula - produced only weak sanctions when Pyongyang finally conducted a nuclear test Oct. 9.
Team Bush has issued "completely empty threats" since he accused North Korea, Iran and Iraq of being an "axis of evil," said defense analyst John Pike of GlobalSecurity.org.
Pike also said there was little Bush could do to stop Kim from making the bomb.
"Since 2003, they haven't had any viable options other than harsh rhetoric," he said.
But even Bush allies said he has been bullied by the Korean leader.
"How much more sand can this President have thrown in his face?" asked one former adviser, who was privy to administration strategy on North Korea.
Also yesterday, China began checking truck cargo crossing its border, but its UN envoy said it won't check ships.
With News Wire Services
© Copyright 2006, Daily News, L.P.
