"Her comments come a day after the UN unanimously condemned North Korea for conducting an underground nuclear test."
"'North Korea needs to understand that its actions have consequences,' she said."
This quote is my favorite. I completely believe that N Korea understands that their actions have consequences. The UN and political ambassadors have applied diplomatic pressure, and N Korea has consistently ignored the pressure, or escalated their nuclear/military arms race. This suggests one alternative. N Korea fully understands what it is doing and either doesn't care about the consequences, or is actually pleased with the consequences. Either way, it should be abundantly obvious that N Korea is not going to respond to diplomatic pressure, the UN (unanimously too) condemning their actions, or other such tactics.
If you are still not convinced, then make sure you've read that article thoroughly. The timeline is as follows:
- N Korea tests nuclear capabilities underground
- UN responds by unanimously condemning N Korea (what does that even mean/do?)
- US ambassador emphasized displeasure and consequences
- N Korea tests two short range missiles, hours later
It appears that N Korea is openly mocking the diplomatic pressure applied to them.
"Diplomats said they were seeking 'tough measures', including further sanctions."
Well, obviously the 'sanctions' thus far have failed. But what the h3ll, why not try more sanctions? I think the US foreign policy has failed to account for the possibility that a country might not respond to diplomatic pressure. Even more worrisome, there appears to be absolutely no plan to alter/change this approach foreign policy.
History has shown us that some countries, especially those with large amounts of power consolidated in few people (i.e. Dictatorship), can act irrationally at best and downright evil at worst. Until the US learns this concept and changes their approach to dealing with N Korea appropriately, I fear the pattern of escalation (we sanction more, they escalate their military testing) will continue with potentially devastating results.
Insightful commentary. Scary situation.