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Analysis: North Korea Faces 'Punitive Actions'

Council on Foreign Relations

October 10, 2006
Prepared by: Carin Zissis

North Korea’s announcement that it conducted a successful underground nuclear test has set off a scramble to contain the regime’s weapons ambitions and steady global nerves (FT) over the detonation. Concern was such that even Pyongyang’s top ally, sanctions-averse China, believes “there has to be some punitive actions" (Reuters) taken by the UN Security Council. The list of sanctions proposed by the United States would cut off trade (WashPost) in all materials that could be used to make weapons of mass destruction and any financial transactions that could support such a program. The Security Council, though united in condemnation of the tests faces intense negotiations about how tough it should be. North Korea may agree to return to multilateral talks now that it's shown its "nuclear hand," Alan D. Romberg, an Asia expert at the Henry L. Stimson Center and a former senior State Department official, told CFR.org's Bernard Gwertzman.

Pyongyang's test coincided with diplomatic talks in Northeast Asia, where Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun met in Seoul within hours of the underground test and agreed it warranted a stern response (Japan Times). South Korea will not agree to a UN Security Council resolution that includes military force (Korea Times), but OhMyNews, a South Korean blog, warns the “first victim” of the nuclear test will be South Korea’s “sunshine policy,” adopted in the late 1990s to warm relations with the North. The position of China, one of Pyongyang’s main donors, is of pivotal importance, says CFR Vice President Gary S. Samore.

Read the rest of this article on the cfr.org website.

Copyright 2006 by the Council on Foreign Relations. This material is republished on GlobalSecurity.org with specific permission from the cfr.org. Reprint and republication queries for this article should be directed to cfr.org.