Main focus of Thursday, May 28, 2009

North Korea threatens war

In the wake of international criticism of its nuclear tests, North Korea is now openly threatening military action. The country considers the planned participation of South Korea in a US-led initiative against weapons of mass destruction as a "declaration of war", the regime in Pyongyang said on Wednesday.

Diário de Notícias - Portugal

After North Korea's war threats the daily Diário de Notícias calls for the UN to take measures: "The threats of North Korea are usually just empty rhetoric to get concessions from the international community. The communist regime has thus induced the US to send the country crude oil and South Korea to send it food. This is Kim Jong-il's way of feeding the people and preserving the dynasty founded by his father Kim il-Sung. But as well as its aggressive statements North Korea possesses a powerful military machinery - encompassing not only conventional weapons but also nuclear weapons, as the tests this week have proven. Therefore North Korea's threats must be viewed with caution. A rash reaction could lead to a war or the fall of the regime, which would have dramatic consequences for the whole region. But the international community cannot remain silent, and North Korea continues to insist on defying everyone and everything. The US must state its position clearly - with the support of Russia and China." (28/05/2009)

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Die Welt - Germany

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il is clearly afflicted with attention deficit syndrome, writes the conservative daily Die Welt: "The crisis is an embarrassment for China as well as for the US - and could become a decisive test for them both. China has always been quick to boast about its influence over North Korea, and viewed its participation in the six-party talks as a matter of prestige. With the onset of the financial crisis numerous foreign policy analysts were already heralding an 'Asian century', with Beijing as the new global leader. Now China is experiencing what Europe went through with the Balkan crisis: it can't even clean up in its own back yard, even though the regime in Pyongyang depends on it entirely. But Barack Obama also finds himself at a turning point. His outstretched hand policy runs the danger of being interpreted by problem states as a sign of weakness. And the messages of provocation coming out of Pyongyang for the last two weeks are in fact an attempt to see how far the US can be pushed." (28/05/2009)

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All available articles from » Clemens Wergin

La Tribune de Génève - Switzerland

The daily La Tribune de Genève analyses North Korea's threat of war: "These provocations are subject to the twin constraint of domestic and external causes.They coincide with the numerous and persistent speculations about Kim Jong-il's health. The victim of a heart attack last summer, the 'dear leader' is said to have lost part of his authority over the army. ... The nuclear test allowed him to show his aptitude at wielding power. ... Nothing has been left untried ... neither sanctions nor direct talks with the US after November 2006. Both attempts have failed. Pyongyang's escalatory actions are an embarrassment to the US administration, because they may oblige it to reverse its priorities at the expense of Iran. And they could be a major exasperation for Beijing." (28/05/2009)

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All available articles from » Jean-François Verdonnet

Dnevnik - Bulgaria

"North Korea poses a host of problems to democracies: it is unpredictable, it has nuclear arms potential, its population lives under conditions that can only be guessed at by external observers, and there's no way to exert pressure on it as a countermeasure", the daily Dnevnik writes, asking how the international community should respond. "North Korea has chosen such an extreme form of isolation that one can say it has imposed sanctions on itself - even military ones. The sole power whose sanctions could make themselves felt is China. The problem is that such sanctions would only hurt the population - which is already suffering enormously - without harming the regime. To make matters worse China itself is a delicate matter, because it doesn't acknowledge human rights - an old topic which has still not been adequately addressed." (28/05/2009)

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All available articles from » Tatyana Vaksberg

La Stampa - Italy

In the liberal daily La Stampa Enrico Bettiza writes that North Korea's threat of war casts doubts on the wisdom of US policy: "It may be that the sick tyrant is waving the nuclear flag as part of the succession war that is to pave the way for the rise of his favourite son Kim Jong-un to power. Whatever the case, the uncertainties that accompany the tactics of the scandalous David are as infinite as the powerlessness of Goliath and the international community to decode and pre-empt them. … As far as US presidential novice Barack Obama is concerned, one can safely say that the nuclear issue is now at the centre of his foreign policy. In addition to the Korean scandal, which is more a symbolic than a real threat, there's the dangerous situation in Pakistan with its nuclear arsenal under threat from the Taliban and Iran with its obsessive struggle to become a nuclear power. The policy of the outstretched hand doesn't seem to work where uranium and plutonium are at stake." (28/05/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Asia, » U.S.
All available articles from » Enzo Bettiza

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