朝鲜核问题是对奥巴马的考验

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A defiant North Korea, the reclusive state ruled by Kim Jong-Il tests its second nuclear device and follows with a test firing of several short-range missiles. The US on Tuesday said North Korea will pay a price if it does not reverse course. Bruce Klingner of the Conservative Heritage Foundation.

“But since the beginning of the year they’ve engaged in a rapid fire series of provocations with no time in between, which indicates that North Korea is no longer in a rest, at least in the near term, for negotiations. They are trying to achieve a viable nuclear weapon. ”

President Barack Obama used his inaugural address to offer an open hand if hostile nations unclench their fists. But that appeal has not worked with North Korea. Likewise condemnation from world powers and a series of sanctions have not stopped Pyongyang’s nuclear pursuit.

“We’ve tried sort of an all-sticks approach in the early part of the Bush administration, we tried an all-carrots, at the end neither one was successful.”

The UN Security Council condemned the nuclear test and is working on a new resolution. “The key for Obama may be the role of China,” says William Keylor of Boston University.

“If he really tries to persuade the Chinese leadership that it must do something to stop this program, and if he is successful in persuading the Chinese that it’s in their interest to bring this to a close, then I think the Nobel Peace Prize is waiting for him. It’s a long shot, but it’s the, I think, the most effective way of resolving this problem.”

Brushing aside the latest international outrage, Pyongyang said the United States was the aggressive one, its long-held argument to justify a nuclear arsenal.

Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters.