(EDITORIAL from the Korea Times on April 22)

No Nuke Status for NK: World Should Stand Firm Against Proliferation

It is important for the international community not to give the wrong signal to
such rogue states as North Korea as far as nuclear nonproliferation is concerned.
Countries around the world are required to stand firm against those trying to
develop or possess nuclear bombs. But Monday's reported comments by the top U.N.
nuclear official could be seen as controversial because he said North Korea is a
nuclear power.

Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA), said North Korea must be regarded as a nuclear power, according to the
German news agency DPA. He was quoted as saying, ``North Korea has nuclear
weapons, which is a matter of fact.'' He made the remarks on the sidelines of a
ministerial meeting on nuclear energy in Beijing.
ElBaradei said he doesn't like to accept any country as a nuclear weapons state.
But he added, ``We have to face reality,'' as he counted nine nuclear powers in
the world, including North Korea. His comments contradicted the official
positions of the United States, South Korea and other countries that do not
acknowledge the North as a nuclear power. For now, it is hard to grasp the real
intention of what the IAEA chief said. But one may think that he wants to take a
realistic approach toward the nuclear issue.
Recognizing the North as a nuclear state seems to be one way of finding a
solution to the standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear development program. A
``first-recognize-and-then-negotiate'' policy might work to lure the North back
to the deadlocked six-party denuclearization talks to end its nuclear program.
But this is easier said than done.
Last week, Pyongyang announced its withdrawal from the six-party talks in protest
against the U.N. Security Council's presidential statement condemning its April 5
rocket launch, which was disguised as a satellite launch. The North also expelled
IAEA inspectors and threatened to restart the operation of its nuclear
facilities. And some media reports said the North may be preparing for a second
nuclear bomb test following the first in 2006.
In January, the U.S. Defense Department's task force on nuclear weapons
management said in its report that North Korea, India and Pakistan have acquired
both nuclear weapons and missile delivery systems. In November, the U.S. Joint
Forces Command (USJFCOM) published an annual report listing North Korea as one of
five nuclear powers in Asia. These reports have given the impression that the
United States had better give nuclear status to the North and then focus on
preventing the communist state from selling nuclear weapons and technology to
other countries.
But the United States and its allies should not play into the hands of North
Korea, which proclaimed itself a nuclear power following the 2006 test. The
North's aim is to scrap the six-nation denuclearization talks and launch new
negotiations on nuclear disarmament on the Korean Peninsula to call for the
deactivation of the U.S. nuclear umbrella over South Korea. Against this
backdrop, the international community needs to send a clear message to Pyongyang
that it must abandon its nuclear ambitions.
(END)