It’s not like this is a priority on the Obama foreign policy docket, but North Korea isn’t interested in giving up its nukes … ever. The communist state, which is also one of the world’s largest prisons, said that their nuclear arsenal is a deterrent against the United States. North Korea is another country that’s been under heavy economic sanctions by the U.S. and its allies, but they remain defiant (via Reuters):
North Korea is not interested in an Iran-like dialogue with the United States to give up its nuclear capabilities, the isolated country's foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.The statement said North Korea's nuclear program was an "essential deterrence" against U.S. foreign policy toward the reclusive country, which the North views as hostile.
"It is not logical to compare our situation with the Iranian nuclear agreement because we are always subjected to provocative U.S. military hostilities, including massive joint military exercises and a grave nuclear threat," said the statement, which was carried by state media but attributed to a foreign ministry spokesman.
"We do not have any interest at all on dialogue for unilaterally freezing or giving up our nukes," it said.
The Obama administration imposed more sanctions in January, when evidence pointed to North Korea as the culprit of the infamous Sony hack. Yet, let’s be honest. The president has to continue to see this Iranian nuclear deal, which seems to look worse by the day, with a Republican Congress that hates his guts. Is he seriously a glutton for punishment that he would want to resume nuclear talks with North Korea when a) they already have the bomb b) the previous Clinton deal to prevent further proliferation ended in failure c) zero interest from North Korea in coming to the negotiating table? Speaking about skirting the terms, maybe the president could have learned something from Clinton’s failed deal when negotiating this Iranian agreement. The CIA exposed the North Koreans’ secret uranium enrichment program in 2002, which lead to the collapse of the agreement. With the Obama administration, there's little appetite to restart talks. After all, when the administration was governing full force by 2009, the Stimulus, Afghanistan, and health care reform were at the top of the agenda.
So, thank you, North Korea for giving us the heads up on something that probably was never going to happen under this administration anyway. You’re still an awful country, with an awful society, and an awful leader who seems to be going on a rampage regarding executing his officials. One of them–his defense minister–reportedly dosed off during a meeting and summarily executed by anti-aircraft fire. Nevertheless, you have nukes, but ultimately wouldn't it be the Chinese who decide if you could use them?
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