Defiant North Korea challenged the international community again last Sunday when it tested yet another missile, and no one has yet discovered a clear way to stop tensions mounting on the peninsula. Two missile tests in as many weeks underscored Pyongyang’s resolve to ignore international warnings and concerns. It aims to achieve its stated objective at all costs -- the ability to strike back at any aggressors.

The latest test -- the 11th this year -- likely involved a medium-range ballistic missile. It flew 560 kilometers before falling into the East Sea. The previous test, on May 14, covered 800 kilometers, but still dropped short of Japan’s offshore Exclusive Economic Zone. That one involved the new Hwasong-12 missile, which can reportedly reach an altitude of 2,000 kilometers, making it both more accurate to aim and more difficult to detect or shoot down.

All indications suggest North Korean armament technology is well advanced and becoming more sophisticated all the time. The country still lags far behind the big powers but it has reached a stage where the potential mass destruction and lethality of its rockets cannot be underestimated. Add to this the far greater threat of the North’s nuclear capabilities. It is believed its missiles will soon be able to deliver nuclear warheads considerable distances. The nuclear program began in the 1950s, but has made significant progress since Kim Jong-un came to power half a decade ago.

Amid such grave concerns, it is deeply worrying that the international community has no cohesive strategy for dealing with the threat. The same three approaches are discussed endlessly -- deterrence, sanctions and dialogue. All three could be pursued at the same time, but none can be effective unless they’re implemented systematically and with unity. For now, the United States and its allies in Northeast Asia favor applying pressure through political and economic sanctions. Other nations, notably China, want to get Pyongyang back to the negotiating table.

Washington and Seoul have already ramped up pressure on the North by bringing to the peninsula the US-built Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, designed to knock down incoming rockets. The deployment has dismayed Beijing, which responded by threatening economic retaliation against South Korea. Nor does Beijing support additional financial sanctions against Pyongyang, which buys more than 90 percent of its foreign goods from China.


(The Nation / Asia News Network)