(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on Sept. 7)

Upping the ante

Pyongyang says it is in the final stage of enriching uranium for use in nuclear
weapons, heightening a security threat to neighboring countries and making it
more difficult to break the impasse over the communist state's nuclear ambitions.

The disclosure of progress in the uranium-enriching process is no doubt a
countermeasure by Pyongyang to the U.S.-led U.N. sanctions against North Korea.
The U.N. Security Council adopted an anti-Pyongyang resolution in the wake of
North Korea's second nuclear test in May.
"We are prepared for both dialogue and sanctions," the North Korean Central News
Agency said on Friday, adding that it would have to take "stronger
countermeasures" if no action was taken to put an end to the standoff. It called
the U.N. resolution a "wanton violation" of North Korea's sovereignty.
Of great concern to all parties concerned is what response the United States will
take. Washington, while insisting on a resumption of the six-party nuclear talks,
has been refusing bilateral dialogue with North Korea.
North Korea's uranium-enrichment program is no news. Back in October 2002, James
Kelly, then assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs, lodged a formal
protest against North Korea's possession of highly enriched uranium. But this
does not mean that the United States and other parties to the six-party talks can
afford to ignore the North Korean threat to use enriched uranium for the
manufacture of nuclear weapons.
In fact, enriching uranium poses a greater challenge to the nonproliferation
efforts of the United States than reprocessing plutonium. Experts say it is more
difficult to detect from the outside.
The latest North Korean action gives greater credence to the claim that
Pyongyang's offer of bilateral dialogue with Seoul is nothing but a tactical
change. South Korea, which promises to deal sternly with the renewed nuclear
threat, will do well to coordinate its actions with the United States.
(END)