Is North Korea Trying To Follow Pakistan’s Nuclear Example?
US negotiators are talking tough with North Korea which is better than appeasement, but still there has been nothing that has changed significantly that in my opinion would cause the North Koreans to change course on their nuclear and missile programs:
North Korea is trying to follow Pakistan’s example in the hope of winning recognition as a nuclear state, but such a situation will never happen, U.S. Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Friday.
Speaking at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington think tank, Sherman also said that the communist nation cannot obtain the security, prosperity or respect it wants “without negotiating an end to its provocative nuclear and missile program.”
“They see in Pakistan, a country whose nuclear program was first protested, then accepted, and hope to follow that example, which also isn’t going to happen,” Sherman said.
North Korea has conducted three nuclear tests, in 2006, 2009 and 2013. Earlier this week, the U.S. raised an alarm with a projection that the North’s nuclear arsenal could expand from 10 to 16 nuclear weapons now to up to 100 in five years.
Sherman said diplomatic pressure on Pyongyang keeps mounting, including U.S. President Barack Obama’s executive order authorizing fresh sanctions on the regime early this year, China’s firm opposition to the North’s nuclear program, and the U.N. Security Council’s first-ever review of the North’s human rights record.
“They are apparently under the illusion that the best way to conceal a weak hand is with a clenched fist,” Sherman said. “Despite its bluster, the North’s strategy has failed utterly. Instead of gaining acceptance, the country is increasingly isolated.” [Yonhap]
You can read the rest at the link.
