RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events Obama Condemns North Korea's Nuclear Test, Promises 'Action'

Obama Condemns North Korea's Actions, Saying Country Poses a 'Grave Threat'
President Obama Blasts N. Korea Nuclear Test, Test-Firing Missiles
By JOOHEE CHO and KIRIT RADIA
LONDON, May 25, 2009

President Obama responded with strong words today to North Korea's announcement that it has conducted a nuclear test and its decision to attempt a short-range missile launch.
North Korea


"North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs pose a grave threat to the peace and security of the world and I strongly condemn their reckless action," the president said in a statement in the White House Rose Garden. "North Korea will not find security and respect through threats and illegal weapons."

"We will work with our friends and allies to stand up to this behavior," the president said and pledged to "never waver" from the commitment to protect the American people.

Noting that Russia, China, South Korea and Japan have all condemned North Korea's actions, the president says the country is "inviting stronger international pressure" and as a result, we will "redouble our efforts toward a more robust international non-proliferation regime that all countries have responsibilities to meet."

North Korea's underground nuclear test and later, reportedly, test-firing the launch of a series of short-range missiles, was confirmed by South Korean officials, citing detection of an artificial earthquake -- magnitude 4.5 -- in Gilju, at the northeastern tip of North Korea.

North Korea's Actions Confirmed

A few miles away, off the country's east coast, North Korea test-fired three short-range missiles during the day, according to South Korea's Yonhap News agency. The first short-range missile was fired from Musudan-ri, 300 miles north of Seoul. The second set of two short-range missiles were fired from Wonsan, Kangwon province, only 45 miles north of the North-South border.

This is the region where North Korea had conducted their first underground nuclear test in 2006 and had launched a long-range missile on April 5 that drew censure from the U.N. Security Council. President Obama called for global action saying the communist nation is "directly and recklessly challenging the international community." In a statement from Washington, he said, "These actions, while not a surprise given its statements and actions to date, are a matter of grave concern to all nations."

The Chinese foreign ministry also said that it was "resolutely opposed" to the test. Japan placed its own set of sanctions against North Korea three years ago, when the North conducted its previous nuclear test. The ban included imports of North Korean goods and port calls by North Korean vessels. After North Korea launched a long range missile, which North Korea called a communication satellite, last April, the Japanese government extended the duration of the ban by one year. The U.N. Security Council is expected to hold an emergency meeting today and the U.S. is hoping for swift condemnation of North Korea. But U.S. officials said a push for sanctions against North Korea will depend on the willingness of China and Russia, which hold Security Council vetos.

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was conferring with her counterparts in Japan, South Korea, China and Russia.

"In her conversations, the secretary stressed the importance of a strong, unified, approach to this threat to international peace and security," Kellys said.

The State Department also said that North Korea gave the U.S. an advance warning of less than an hour that it would detonate a nuclear device. Analysts in Seoul say the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is trying to mark his country's presence as a full nuclear power.

"North Korea is making a very clear statement that we are a nuclear state. Now deal with us, as such," said Lee Jung-Hoon, professor of international relations at Yonsei University in Seoul. "It's a wake-up call to the international community that we shouldn't pretend as if somehow North Korea would negotiate dismantlement."

Is Another Launch in the Works?

Although it was expected, the timing came as a surprise. U.S. officials did say last week that they were monitoring activity at the nuclear test site but said it was difficult to determine whether a test was imminent given that a lot of that work was underground. Officials also detected activity at the nearby Musudan-Ri, where the long-range Daepodong 2 missile was launched April 5. No missile has been seen there, but the work that's been under way indicates another launch is in the works, according to U.S. officials. "You can tell that Kim Jong-Il seriously feels that there's not much time left. He'll use whatever means he could to increase the bet," said Choi Jinwook, senior researcher at Korea Institute for National Unification. "North Korea is a bully. If you concede, it will continue to push, and it's pushing and pushing to the point where now, we can't almost go back," said Lee implying that a harder stance on North Korea is needed to get it to give up the nuclear program. "It's going to be a huge headache, not only for the U.S. but also for the international community as a whole."

S. Korea: North Has Launched More Missiles

(CBS/AP) A South Korean news agency reported Tuesday that North Korea had test-fired two short-range missiles, one day after conducting an underground nuclear test and other missile launches that drew unanimous condemnation from the United Nations.

The Yonhap news agency cited unnamed government sources as saying the missiles, fired from an east coast launch pad, had a range of about 80 miles.

The reports said one was a surface-to-air missile and the other was a ground-to-ship missile. Both were fired Tuesday afternoon.

South Korean intelligence officials said the North appeared to be preparing to fire at least one more missile on Tuesday. If they carry out the test launch, it would bring the total number of missiles fired in just 48 hours to six.

CBS News correspondent Barry Petersen reports that South Korea agreed on the heels of Monday's nuclear test and missile launches to join U.S. efforts to enforce a strict maritime blockade on all nuclear and weapons related materials entering North Korea. Pyongyang declared Tuesday that if the South joins that effort, it will be viewed as a declaration of war.

Petersen adds that U.S. military surveillance planes flying out of Japan may have witnessed the test launches on Tuesday, but the Pentagon has yet to confirm that missiles were fired.

The U.N. Security Council swiftly condemned North Korea's nuclear test on Monday as "a clear violation" of a 2006 resolution banning them and said it will start work immediately on a new one that could result in stronger measures against the reclusive nation.

Speaking to CBS Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice said the North Korean regime, "needs to understand that its actions have consequences. The international community, the United States, Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, we're not going to walk away and just throw up our hands and say, let them pursue this path. They will pay a price for their actions."

Rice said she expected the coming meeting of the Security Council to yield a new resolution on Pyongyang which she believes "will have teeth in it."

"I expect additional sanctions. The pressure will increase on North Korea, economically and otherwise," the ambassador told Smith.

Asked whether the reclusive communist nation's defiance during the previous 48 hours had prompted the Obama administration to more seriously consider a military response, Rice told CBS News the government would " take the steps that are necessary to protect our country and our people."

"We are still focused on what united pressure we can continue to muster and mount to make North Korea recognize that the path it's on is self-destructive and unacceptable," she added.

I expect additional sanctions. The pressure will increase on North Korea, economically and otherwise.
Susan Rice,
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
Hours after North Korea defiantly conducted its test on Monday, even its closest allies, China and Russia, joined Western powers and representatives from the rest of the world on the council to voice strong opposition to the underground explosion.

After a brief emergency meeting held at Japan's request, the council demanded that North Korea abide by two previous resolutions, which among other things called for Pyongyang to return to six-party talks aimed at eliminating its nuclear program. It also called on all other U.N. member states to abide by sanctions imposed on the North.

Rice said the 15-member council agreed that work on the new resolution would begin Tuesday.

"What we heard today was swift, clear, unequivocal condemnation and opposition to what occurred," she said. "The United States thinks that this is a grave violation of international law and a threat to regional and international peace and security and therefore the United States will seek a strong resolution with strong measures."

North Korea's reclusive communist regime reacted by declaring the impoverished nation's people ready to defend against any American invasion.

The Tuesday missile launches could not be immediately verified, but North Korean officials had issued warnings for ships not to enter specific areas off the country's coast - a measure often taken before a missile test-launch or other military maneuvers.

I just dont see how this happened, not water boarding the mastermind of 9-11 was supposed to make the world a safe place, did they not get the memo?

I don't get what point you're trying to make.

Obama has insulted and attacked his own intelligence service, demoralized the military. i think that everyone from Russia, to Iran, to Chavez, to N Korea, to possibly even Cobra will test this guy big time.

A North Korean nuclear- weapons test, taken in iso lation, is bad enough. But put into a wider context, the underground blast over the Memorial Day weekend is worse than many realize.

A lot worse.

First, on the political front, North Korea's Kim Jong Il has challenged President Obama more in four months than he did President George W. Bush in eight years.

Since Obama has taken office, North Korea has kicked out UN nuclear inspectors, launched both short- and long-range missiles and tested a nuclear weapon.

It's not clear why the dictator has chosen to badger Obama, especially considering the president's promises of a kinder, gentler touch when it comes to rogues. But it's definitely not good news for Uncle Sam -- and the conclusion has to be that more provocations are coming in our direction.

The question is: When and how big will the next one be?

Second, this nuclear test appears to have been more successful than North Korea's first in October 2006.

The analysis of the test continues, but we already know that this plutonium-based weapon's yield (that is, its explosive power) was greater than that of the first, running perhaps in the 2- to 8-kiloton range. (A kiloton equals the explosive force of 1,000 tons of TNT.)

The situation appears even darker upon consideration that the blast comes in the shadow of North Korea's launch just last month of a Taepodong -- a missile thought to have intercontinental-range potential.

The missile shot, conducted under cover of a satellite launch, wasn't a complete success. But it did demonstrate some key ICBM building blocks, such as using multiple stages for long-range flight.

Adding to that concern, US intelligence believes that "North Korea may be able to successfully mate a nuclear warhead to a ballistic missile."

In other words, the threat that a North Korean nuke could reach us is on the horizon. We don't know how distant that horizon is, but it appears to have moved closer last weekend.

Third, North Korea's successes make it a popular merchant for those that want to obtain nukes and missiles, raising concerns that technology, material and know-how will proliferate among anti-American actors.

Pyongyang was caught red-handed once by the Israelis, who in September 2007 destroyed a nuclear facility the North Koreans were building for the Syrians.

North Korea, which has been trading ballistic missiles with Tehran for some time now, could help move along the Islamic Republic's atomic ambitions, too.

We certainly don't want that pair training ICBMs on us.

Sure, some Western analysts are saying this blast is but another of the irascible Kim's "I will not be ignored" moments, but it's really a lot more serious than that.

In light of the string of setbacks experienced since Obama took office, his policy of engaging with North Korea (and other rogue regimes) has to be considered under severe strain, if not failing.

Sure, you can try more diplomacy, more UN resolutions and even more economic sanctions to get North Koreans back to the negotiating table. But time isn't on our side.

We must be able to defend ourselves from a position of strength against the prospect of more North Korean belligerence, including a nuclear-capable ICBM arsenal.

Unfortunately, changes in our defense posture and budget, such as declining efforts on US missile defense, appear to be putting that goal in jeopardy.

With the North Korean missile and nuclear threat growing, the need for a more robust missile defense has never been greater.

It's time the Obama administration realizes this -- and makes the continued development of missile defense integral to any strategy for dealing with the North Korean challenge.

You need to learn to read an entire thread, not just one or two posts. BSAMS went on to say:


Clearly, therefore, his point was that Obama naively thinks that being everyone's "buddy" will make the world a safer place when, in reality, it tends to embolden the bad guys.

Obama's diplomatic skills will bring them much further than the threats from Bush.

obama can't even give a speech without a teleprompter. What makes you think he's some great negotiator?

That's like saying jimmy carters peace talks created world peace.

I don't know in what hole you have lived for the past 8 years if you think Bush was a better speacher then Obama, especially from a US resident this is unbelievable. It's quite simple really, USA already took a better path with Venezuela, Cuba and Iran since Obama is in office. Bush just made enemies, being the most unpopular person to ever lead the US.

It's really not.

I don't know in what hole you have lived for the past 8 years if you think Bush was a better speacher then Obama, especially from a US resident this is unbelievable. It's quite simple really, USA already took a better path with Venezuela, Cuba and Iran since Obama is in office. Bush just made enemies, being the most unpopular person to ever lead the US.

I don't know in what hole you have lived for the past 8 years if you think Bush was a better speacher then Obama...

how old are you 8? Cuba and Iran have been US enemies for decades. Perhaps you thought Bush was always President?

Since you are such a good student of history, how did being cordial with Hitler work out? It's quite simple really.

Winston warned them for years about Hitler. Britain and France could've put Hitler in his place by saying no in 1936. Instead, they sought to appease him to secure "peace in our time." Now, you want to talk about someone not ready for war in 1936 then look no where else than Adolf Hitler. For the allies, it wasn't a matter of not being able to fight, it was unwillingness. They could've stopped him when he went after Austria, the Sudetenland, the rest of Czechoslovakia...at any point all they had to say was no and Hitler would've been forced into a fight he didn't want. Instead, they pussied out for three years and allowed Hitler to not only build his war machine, but to also bring in millions of more Germans to fight for his cause. WWII was not inevitable save for the unwillingness of Britain and France to say no to Hitler before it was too late.

Easy. The reoccupation of the Rhineland by Hitler in violation of the Versailles treaty. Try again.