(EDITORIAL from the JoongAng Daily on Dec. 16)

North at it again

A cargo aircraft carrying tons of heavy weaponry from North Korea is tethered to
the ground, awaiting further inspection at an air base in Thailand after being
detained by security forces last Friday. The suspected illegal weaponry trade was
attempted just a couple of days after the United States and North Korea held
their first bilateral talks in Pyongyang under the new Washington administration.

Thai authorities raided the plane, which had stopped at a Thai airport for
refueling, reportedly on a tip from their U.S. counterparts.
The move suggests that the Obama administration plans to pursue a two-track
policy of keeping sanctions intact even as it engages in diplomatic talks to end
North Korea???s nuclear ambitions.
President George W. Bush had been less definitive, often soft-pedaling on
sanctions and rhetoric when North Korea returned to the dialogue table.
Circumstantial evidence seems to show that North Korea defied United Nations
Security Council Resolution 1874, this coming on the heels of its second nuclear
test in May.
The aircraft allegedly flew from Pyongyang loaded with 35 tons of North
Korea-made heavy arms, including 20 explosive missiles and 47 rocket-propelled
grenades.
The plane???s final destination is yet unknown, but observers expect that North
Korea was attempting to provide the weapons as part of a trade.
The UN Security Council approved Resolution 1874 in June banning the transport
and sale of certain types of North Korean weapons.
It calls upon all countries to inspect and destroy illegal weapons found from air
and ship cargo carriers to and from North Korea.
Thai authorities reportedly acted on a tip from U.S. intelligence officials. In
June, a U.S. navy vessel tracked a North Korean freighter suspected of heading to
Myanmar with banned cargo, forcing it to turn back. In August, the United Arab
Emirates seized a Bahamas-flagged cargo ship bound for Iran carrying North
Korean-made weapons.
The global community is joining forces, and its united front is making North
Korea???s weaponry trade more and more difficult. We hope the incident won???t
affect the anticipated outcome of recent U.S.-North Korean talks that concluded
with ???common understanding??? of the need to reopen six-party negotiations on
denuclearization. But North Korea must realize that the world no longer buys its
game of brinkmanship. If it really wants a way out of U.S. sanctions, it has no
other option but to return to the six-party platform and vow to abandon its
nuclear weapons program once and for all.
(END)