N.Korea may stage atom test to boost heir: think-tank

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/NKorea_may_stage_atom_test_to_boost_heir_think-tank_999.html Seoul (AFP) Dec 24, 2010 North Korea may carry out another atomic test next year to bolster the status of leader-in-waiting Kim Jong-Un, a Seoul state think-tank said Friday, a day after the North threatened a nuclear attack. Tensions remain high on the peninsula a month after the North bombarded a South Korean border island and killed four people including civilians.
The North may stage a third test "to demonstrate Kim Jong-Un's military prowess, to improve plutonium-based nuclear weapons and ratchet up military tensions", the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security said.
A new test is needed to improve its plutonium-based bombs using data from the second test in May 2009, the institute, which is affiliated to the foreign ministry, said in a report.
The North has been working for decades to build plutonium-based weapons and last month also disclosed a new uranium enrichment complex -- a potential new way to make bombs.
The report said the North is likely to build up its atomic arsenal next year and might test a uranium-based weapon "to maximise the shock to the outside world".
While six-party nuclear disarmament talks may well resume next year, chances of any progress are slim, it said.
The North is thought to have enough plutonium for maybe six to eight weapons but it is not known whether it can fit them to missile warheads. Nevertheless, it frequently raises the prospect of nuclear war.
On Thursday the North vowed readiness for a "sacred war" using its nuclear weapons.
"The revolutionary armed forces... are getting fully prepared to launch a sacred war of justice of Korean style based on the nuclear deterrent at any time necessary to cope with the enemies' actions deliberately pushing the situation to the brink of a war," said armed forces minister Kim Yong-Chun.
The North accuses the South of provoking its November 23 bombardment of Yeonpyeong island, near the disputed Yellow Sea border, by holding a firing drill there.
The South Monday staged another drill on Yeonpyeong but the North did not follow through with threats of a new and deadlier attack.
On Thursday Seoul deployed tanks, artillery and jet fighters in a show of force on the mainland.
And the South's defence ministry announced Friday that a giant Christmas tree near the North Korean border would stay lit until January 8.
The move is likely to anger Pyongyang since the date marks the birthday of Jong-Un, youngest son of leader Kim Jong-Il. The communist North sees the tree topped with a glowing cross as a provocative propaganda symbol.
The ministry said it hoped to send "a message of peace to the North" and the timing was just a coincidence.
An international think-tank urged the two Koreas to accept international arbitration to redraw the flashpoint sea border and lessen the possibility of all-out war.
The International Crisis Group, like many other analysts and the Seoul government, said the North's attacks are linked to moves to install Jong-Un as eventual successor.
They are an apparent attempt "to give the inexperienced heir some appearance of military and strategic prowess", the ICG said in a report.
"They also signal to potential rivals among North Korean elites that Kim Jong-Il is willing to take on the South to promote his son and he would therefore have no problem confronting domestic opponents."
There is "a real danger" the North will continue its attacks, it said.
The South's military, accused of a feeble response to last month's attack, has vowed to hit back harder next time by using air power.
The North offered apparent nuclear concessions to US politician Bill Richardson, who ended a visit to Pyongyang this week.
Richardson said it agreed to readmit UN atomic inspectors and negotiate the sale of nuclear fuel rods to a third party.
The New Mexico governor said Thursday a resumption of six-nation talks -- grouping the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan -- could help prevent a new escalation of tensions.
If "they don't react militarily again to this recent drill, then maybe the time has come for the six-party talks," he told CNN, referring to the South Korean exercise staged Thursday.
The North's news agency blamed the United States for the "alarming developments" on the peninsula this year.
It said Washington had orchestrated clashes to test a new military alliance it was forging with Japan and South Korea "to hold hegemony in the Asia-Pacific".

China, North Korea stand fast despite US anger

China, North Korea stand fast despite US anger
Seoul (AFP) Dec 9, 2010 Communist allies North Korea and China proclaimed their unity Thursday as the North's leader Kim Jong-Il held his first meeting with a senior Chinese envoy since the region's worst crisis in years erupted. China's most senior foreign policymaker Dai Bingguo visited Pyongyang as pressure intensifies on Beijing to rein in its neighbour, after North Korea's deadly shelling of a South Korean island inflamed tensions on the peninsula.
The top US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, accused China of aiding and abetting the hardline Kim regime's "reckless behaviour".
Pyongyang and Beijing, allies during the Korean War, stand firmly together, their official media said.
"The two sides reached consensus on bilateral relations and the situation on the Korean peninsula after candid and in-depth talks," said a brief report from China's Xinhua news agency, datelined Pyongyang, after Kim and Dai met.
North Korea's official news agency said the delegations discussed "issues of mutual concern" and efforts to improve friendly relations.
It marked the first time that Kim has met a senior foreign official since the North's shock artillery attack on the border island, and since his regime startled the world by showing off a sophisticated new nuclear programme.
China is North Korea's sole major ally and sustains its shaky economy with fuel and food aid. More at link.

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North Korea’s Newest Weapon: Nuke Torpedo?

• By Spencer Ackerman  
• http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/12/is-north-korea-developing-undersea-nukes/

Just when you thought it was safe to take a dip in the West Sea, a report from North Korean dissidents claims that Pyongyang has already developed sea-borne nuclear weapons.
If you read Korean, you can find their report here, but if not, Bill Gertz at the Washington Times has the gist. Citing a Pyongyang government official, the defectors claim that in March 2009, North Korean military units called “Thunder” and “Lightning” began technical nuclear torpedo and mine research to blunt the superiority of U.S. and South Korean naval weaponry. They claim that the “nuclear mines are technologically at a stage of completion, and the plan [is] to finish [developing] nuclear torpedoes by 2012.” North Korea is believed to have fewer than ten nuclear bombs.
Now the caveats. U.S. intelligence officials have yet to check out the claim, Gertz reports, and Gertz’s reporting can be rather alarmist about east-Asian threats. The North’s record at testing nuclear weapons is spotty at best. Defectors have been known to inflate the threat from their home regimes. According to the defectors, one of the reasons Pyongyang wants the deep-sea nukes is to deter the U.S. from interfering in a potential Korean war. But it hasn’t boasted about developing them — even as U.S. warships recently drilled with the South Koreans after the North’s artillery attack three weeks ago, and the top U.S. military officer just left Kim Jong-il’s backyard on a trip to bolster the anti-Nork coalition. Hard to see how the U.S. could be deterred by something it doesn’t know about.

Still, over at the U.S. Naval Institute’s blog, Raymond Pritchett observes that a recent WikiLeaked cable cited a Chinese diplomat’s claim that Pyongyang kept “critical information about secret underwater nuclear facilities located on North Korea’s coast” hidden from Kim’s big Chinese patron. (Although that cable is from 2008, from 2008, seemingly before the supposed launch of the North’s nuke torpedo and mine program.)
These weapons are familiar to the U.S. Starting in the 1960s, its subs carried the Mark 45 and Mark 48 nuclear torpedoes, 19-foot-long weapons designed to take out Soviet nuclear subs with 11-kiloton yields. Moscow’s family of countermeasures, known as the Type 53-68 HWT, had 20-kiloton yields. Gertz notes that the Chinese navy has been intrigued by nuclear torpedoes lately, leading him to collect this awesome quote from defense wonk Richard Fisher: “China’s strategy is simply to have us negotiate with North Korea and Iran until its nuclear weapons start to kill us.”
OK then. It’s possible we may get some clarity on the alleged nuclear torpedo and mine programs. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a frequent diplomatic backchannel to the North Koreans, is headed to Pyongyang at “the invitation of key people in the nuclear crowd over there,” according to the Washington Post Presumably they’ll want to talk about the North’s recent declaration of a new uranium-enrichment facility, but it’s the perfect opportunity to make additional nuclear boasts.

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US: too early for military action after North Korea assault

US: too early for military action after North Korea assault

N.Korean attack related to succession: analystLondon (AFP) Nov 23, 2010 - North Korea's artillery attack on South Korea is likely linked to the eventual power transfer from leader Kim Jong-Il to his youngest son, a leading analyst said Tuesday. Mark Fitzpatrick, a fellow of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London and formerly a senior official at the US State Department, said however that it was unlikely to lead to full-scale conflict. "It's hard not to draw the conclusion that this, like the Cheonan sinking, was related to the succession," Fitzpatrick told AFP, referring to a South Korean warship in March that Seoul said was hit by a North Korean torpedo. Both incidents were ways to give North Korean heir apparent Kim Jong-Un "some accomplishments," he said. "He has had little time to do anything at age 27, but given a general's title the North would like to gird him with some military victories and this is one that will surely be ascribed to his military leadership," he added. North Korea was, however, also trying to force South Korea back into talks on the disputed Yellow Sea border, said Fitzpatrick, the senior fellow for non-proliferation at IISS and ex-former US deputy assistant secretary of state. "One reason North Korea took this provocative step is to get the South's attention, to say: 'Look, unless you're willing to negotiate on this line of demarcation, you're going to draw military consequences,'" he said. World powers condemned Tuesday's attack on Yeonpyeong island near the Yellow Sea border, which killed two marines , but nuclear-armed North Korea accused South Korea of firing first. Fitzpatrick said the clash was a "serious escalation" in tensions, especially after North Korea's disclosure at the weekend of an apparently operational uranium enrichment plant. But he added: "I don't think it will turn into a full-scale war, South Korea will be very careful not to escalate its response." Seoul would, though, seek diplomatic responses -- even though they may have no lasting effect on changing Pyongyang's thinking. They would include "responding diplomatically through the United Nations, working with the United States to get China to tighten up implementation of previous Security Council measures," he said.

by Staff Writers Washington (AFP) Nov 23, 2010 The United States said Tuesday it was too early to consider a military response to North Korea's attack on a South Korean island, while President Barack Obama was "outraged" by the deadly assault. Obama was awakened before dawn with news of one of the worst border crises in 60 years and the White House immediately demanded Pyongyang respect an Armistice agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean war.
The US leader, who visited Seoul this month, was expected to speak to South Korea's President Lee Myung-Bak shortly.
US envoy on North Korea Stephen Bosworth, who was in Beijing, meanwhile said the United States and key regional player China agreed on the need for restraint, after he discussed the Yellow Sea incident with Chinese officials.
The Pentagon was closely monitoring the latest flashpoint with the nuclear-armed Stalinist state, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke by phone with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-Young, officials said.
"At this point it's premature to say that we're considering any action," spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan told reporters.
He said no additional US forces had been deployed to the region as a result of the North Korean artillery barrage.
"We're still monitoring the situation and talking with our allies," Lapan said, adding that Washington was "mindful" of which actions might exacerbate or cool tensions on the peninsula.
Obama, woken by his national security advisor Tom Donilon at 3:55 am (0855 GMT) as the crisis broke, left as planned on a trip with Vice President Joe Biden to a Chrysler auto plant in the state of Indiana.
White House deputy spokesman Bill Burton told reporters on Air Force One that though Obama would speak with Lee, there were currently no plans for him to make an on-camera statement.
"The president is outraged by this action. We stand shoulder to shoulder with South Korea," Burton said.
In an early morning statement, White House press spokesman Robert Gibbs said Washington was in close and continuing contact with its ally South Korea after the attack on Yeonpyeong island, which killed two South Korean marines.
"The United States strongly condemns this attack and calls on North Korea to halt its belligerent action and to fully abide by the terms of the Armistice Agreement," Gibbs said.
"The United States strongly condemns this attack and calls on North Korea to halt its belligerent action and to fully abide by the terms of the Armistice Agreement."
Officials appeared to be taking care not to adopt any actions that could further inflame the situation, or reward Pyongyang's latest provocation, following a long showdown over its nuclear program.
Mindful of difficulties in dealing with North Korea's volatile leadership amid an apparent political succession, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell told MSNBC the Pyongyang regime was "extremely unpredictable."
"They do things you could not possibly have predicted in a rational world," Morrell said.
Bosworth meanwhile said the shelling came up "in my conversation with the Chinese and we both share the view that such conflict is very undesirable and expressed firmly the desire that restraint be exercised."
China is seen as the only state which has any influence on Pyongyang, and Washington has in the past exerted behind-the-scenes pressure on Beijing to press North Korea to avoid inflammatory actions.

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N.Korea justifies nuclear 'treasured sword'

Seoul (AFP) Oct 24, 2010 North Korea said its nuclear arsenal "serves as a treasured sword", amid reports the secretive state could be preparing for a third nuclear test. The bellicose claim came amid a visit by a Chinese military delegation, as well as intense world interest after Pyongyang lay the ground work for the future succession of ruler Kim Jong-Il's youngest son Kim Jong-Un.
North Korea was "entirely right when it opted for having access to nukes", the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a commentary, adding the communist country needed to protect itself.
The North has long justified having the weapons saying they are to counter a similar threat from the United States.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a global nuclear safeguard accord, was not doing its job properly, the official commentary late on Saturday said.
"This compelled (North Korea) to pull out of the NPT and have access to nuclear deterrent legitimately in order to protect the sovereignty and security of the country," it said.
The isolated and impoverished North withdrew from the NPT in 2003.
Chosun Ilbo, South Korea's biggest-selling newspaper, reported Thursday that the North appeared to be preparing for another nuclear test, citing an unidentified government source.
US satellites had detected movements of personnel and vehicles at the site where Pyongyang carried out its first two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, the report said.
US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Thursday that another atomic weapons test would be "provocative" but said he did not have any evidence to support the South Korean report.
Pyongyang said on Saturday it was willing to resume stalled six-nation nuclear disarmament talks but would not be "hasty" because the United States and some other parties were "not ready".
China, the North's sole major ally and economic lifeline, is pressing to restart the forum, which groups the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia, and began in 2003.
But prospects for renewed negotiations have been clouded by South Korean and US accusations that the North torpedoed one of Seoul's warships in March with the loss of 46 lives, a charge Pyongyang denies.
The Chinese military delegation paid tribute to the North's late president Kim Il-Sung Sunday on the second day of a four-day trip to mark the 60th anniversary of Chinese forces' intervention in the Korean War, KCNA said.
After arriving in the capital on Saturday, Guo Boxiong, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission, said close ties between the two countries would be handed down through the generations.
Jong-Un's status as leader-in-waiting was effectively made public after Pyongyang made him a four-star general and gave him key ruling party posts late last month.
Kim Jong-Il has visited China twice this year. The last visit, in August, was seen by many analysts as a bid by the North Korean leader for Chinese support for the dynastic succession.
Beijing fears the collapse of North Korea and resulting instability on its borders and thus provides heavy aid and trade support to its neighbour, experts say.
The South's Yonhap news agency meanwhile reported that Seoul and Washington have shelved a plan to stage a joint exercise involving a US aircraft carrier later this month in the Yellow Sea.
The exercise was cancelled over fears that it could heighten regional tensions ahead of the upcoming G20 summit in Seoul, it said.
China has bristled at the idea of a US aircraft carrier group patrolling waters near its coast.

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US says another NKorean nuclear test would be provocative

Another atomic weapons test by North Korea would be provocative, a State Department spokesman said, adding he could not confirm reports that Pyongyang was preparing for such a test. "I'm aware of the reports. They obviously go into intelligence matters so I can't really go into any detail commenting on them," spokesman Mark Toner said when asked to comment on a report in South Korea's newspaper Chosun Ilbo.
"But this hasn't changed our position vis-a-vis North Korea. We said all along that they need to adhere to their commitments and they also need to refrain from provocative actions," Toner said.
"Another nuclear test would certainly fall into the rubric of provocative actions," he added.
He said "no" when asked whether he had evidence to support the details of the news report.
According to Chosun Ilbo, South Korea's biggest-selling newspaper, US satellites detected movements of personnel and vehicles at the site where the the North carried out its first two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
Chosun quoted an unidentified government source as also saying that the North also appears to be restoring tunnels demolished during the first two tests.
"However, it is unlikely (the North will) carry it out soon. It is expected to take another three months (to complete preparations for a third test)," the source said.
But a spokesman for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said there was no evidence of any such preparations.

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North Korea Reported to be Readying New Nuke Test

A U.S. satellite has reportedly spotted heightened operations at a nuclear weapons test location in North Korea, possibly indicating the Stalinist state is readying for a third nuclear test blast, Reuters reported today (see GSN, Oct. 20).

(Oct. 21) - North Korean soldiers stand guard yesterday at Panmunjom, near the Demilitarized Zone dividing the Koreas. Increased activity at a site in North Korea suggests Pyongyang could be preparing to conduct a third nuclear test, a South Korean official said (Park Ji-hwan/Getty Images).

The South Korean Chosun Ilbo newspaper cited a government official in Seoul as the source of its information. The report follows satellite photographs from last month that point to renewed construction or excavation activities at the site of a destroyed cooling tower in the North's plutonium-producing Yongbyon nuclear installation.
Fully aware it is monitored by satellites, Pyongyang could be simply shifting equipment around in a ruse to suggest test preparations. The United States last spring rejected reports that the North was preparing to detonate a third test device.
North Korea carried out nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. Those tests were used by autocratic ruler Kim Jong Il to increase his standing domestically and to build support for his military-first policy.
Another test would bolster the Stalinist state's capacity to build strategic arms while also reducing its quantity of weapon-ready material. The North is believed to have fissile material stores adequate for building six to eight weapons (Jeremy Laurence, Reuters, Oct. 20).
The anonymous government source told Chosun that "hectic movements of personnel and vehicles have recently been detected in Punggyeri," Agence France-Presse reported.
North Korea also seemed to be repairing tunnels destroyed by the previous two nuclear tests, the source said.
"However, it is unlikely (the North will) carry it out soon. It is expected to take another three months (to complete preparations for a third test)," the source said.
A South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman, though, said there were no sure signs of groundwork for another nuclear test.
"We have no concrete evidence to support the news report," the spokesman said. "We're watching closely any development concerning the North's nuclear facilities and sharing information with countries concerned."

An unidentified South Korean Defense Ministry official indicated activities like those reported by newspaper were fairly standard, potentially for the regular upkeep of important strategic installations. More at:

http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20101021_7499.php

North Korea Has Large CW Production Capacity, Report Says

from GSN Daily News

A new report says North Korea has the ability to manufacture as much as 12,000 metric tons of chemical warfare materials, which could kill or injure large numbers of civilians if used against South Korea, Agence France-Presse reported today (see GSN, June 18).

North Korean Uranium Enrichment Progresses, Analysts Say

Friday, Oct. 8, 2010

South Korean activists demonstrate at a rally in Seoul last week against plans for North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to pass power to his youngest son. Pyongyang appears to be acquiring new uranium enrichment capabilities, says an independent analysis released today (Jung Yeon-je/Getty Images).

North Korea seems to be making progress in its military uranium enrichment program, which would give the nation another pathway to building nuclear weapons and a valuable technology to sell on the black market, a U.S. think tank said in a report today (see GSN, Oct. 7).
The Institute for Science and International Security report, "Taking Stock: North Korea's Uranium Enrichment Program," asserts that the North "has moved beyond laboratory-scale work" and is equipped to erect a centrifuge "pilot plant" for uranium enrichment. The report relies on information from news reports, the intelligence community and government officials, according to the Washington Post.
Drawing on information about North Korean equipment acquisitions abroad, report co-author and ISIS President David Albright said the Stalinist state might have between 500 and 1,000 centrifuges. Most specialists think the North would require 3,000 centrifuges to enrich enough uranium for one weapon (see GSN, Jan. 6).

See Full Article...

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North Korean Nuke Program a "Serious Concern" for IAEA Head

North Korean Nuke Program a "Serious Concern" for IAEA Head

from GSN Daily News

North Korea's nuclear program is "a matter of serious concern," the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said today (see GSN, Sept. 17).
U.N. nuclear watchdog Director General Yukiya Amano called on "all parties concerned to make concerted efforts for a resumption of the six-party talks at an appropriate time," the Associated Press reported.
The six-party talks involve China, Japan, the two Koreas, Russia and the United States. Nuclear negotiations were last held in December 2008. Since then, Pyongyang has carried out missile and nuclear tests and been punished with heightened U.N. Security Council sanctions (Associated Press/New York Times, Sept. 20).
"The agency has had no inspectors in the country since April last year, and I therefore have nothing to report on any activities of the IAEA in relation to the D.P.R.K," Amano said at the beginning of this week's IAEA General Conference. "The D.P.R.K. has not permitted the agency to implement safeguards in the country since December 2002 and it has not implemented the relevant measures called for in Security Council resolutions 1718 and 1874" (International Atomic Energy Agency release, Sept. 20).
U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to address worries about the North's nuclear-weapon program during meetings with world leaders this week at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
"The president, I think, has a number of important meetings," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. "One with China, one with Japan and one with a larger group of Asian nations. I think many of the issues that we talked about last year at the United Nations remain on the docket: concern about Iran, concern about North Korea."
Obama is expected to speak with with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao about the aspiring nuclear power and other matters, U.S. special envoy for North Korea Stephen Bosworth said last week while concluding a series of meetings in Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said U.S. officials would not have direct contact with North Korean officials at the General Assembly meeting. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, though, would be meeting with the foreign ministers of other participants in the six-nation talks, he said (Hwang Doo-hyong, Yonhap News Agency, Sept. 17).
China, North Korea's historical ally and international defender, was said to concur with the Obama administration that Pyongyang must demonstrate its commitment to a 2005 denuclearization pledge before multilateral nuclear negotiations can be relaunched, Agence France-Presse reported today.
Following a recent conversation with Beijing's senior envoy to the stalled talks, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said today, "I think that there is a recognition that there is simply little value in moving forward without some very concrete indication that the North Koreans are interested in implementing the 2005 statement."
"And the Chinese were very clear on that. There was no disagreement at all," Steinberg told a Washington audience.
"They realize that given what's happened on a number of fronts -- both with the actions of the North Koreans last year and then following the Cheonan -- that we are not simply going to go back to talking," he continued (Agence France-Presse I/Google News, Sept. 20).
Meanwhile, Seoul yesterday offered to hold one-on-one military talks with the North on Sept. 30, but said it wanted only to consider matters related to the March sinking of the South Korean warship. Forty-six South Korean sailors died in the incident that badly damaged relations between the two longtime antagonists, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Pyongyang last week proposed holding military talks with the South this Friday at a village in the border between the nations. Such discussions were last conducted in October 2008.
In its communication to Pyongyang, Seoul said the talks should center on "responsible measures" the North should pursue to improve inter-Korean relations, the South Korean Defense Ministry announced in a release (Xinhua News Agency, Sept. 19).
Elsewhere, a South Korean official yesterday said the North in 2009 increased deployments of armaments along its southern frontier even though the country was dealing with a financial crisis, thus proving "that its intention of military threat to the South remains unchanged," AFP reported.
Roughly 200 extra units of 240-millimeter rocket launchers were fielded near the border. The rocket launcher can fire as many as 22 rounds in a 35-minute period and can hit targets at a distance of 37 miles. It is considered a "core threat" to Seoul and the surrounding area, Yonhap reported.
In a 2008 analysis, the South Korean Defense Ministry said the North had some 3,900 tanks and 8,500 munition guns (Agence France-Presse II/Google News, Sept. 19).
In Pyongyang, the North Korean regime might have postponed a key political conference as the result of unresolved concerns over a widely reported plan to transfer power from ailing leader Kim Jong Il to his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, the Korea Herald reported yesterday.
"There is the possibility that the issues of publicly anointing Kim Jong Un as the heir and personnel appointment for the son

U.S. Announces New N. Korea Sanctions - Council on Foreign Relations

U.S. Announces New N. Korea Sanctions

The White House announced new sanctions against North Korea (WashPost), which target weapons providers, luxury goods producers, and financial services involved in money laundering, counterfeiting, and narcotics trafficking. The sanctions come in response to the March sinking of a South Korean warship, which an international investigation blamed on North Korea. The announcement came days after former president Jimmy Carter visited North Korea to secure the release of an American activist. The sanctions would make it illegal for U.S. companies to do business with firms found to be helping North Korea with illicit activities. The sanctions may complicate the relaunch of talks on North Korea's nuclear arms program, which the Obama administration said it is still hoping to resume. The U.S. announcement came hours after North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il told Chinese President Hu Jintao during a four-day visit to China that North Korea wanted to rejoin Six Party Talks (KoreaTimes) on denuclearization. South Korea, a member of the talks, has said the talks can only resume after North Korea admits to the March 26 attack (Bloomberg) and apologizes.

Analysis:

On ForeignPolicy.com, Weston Konishi, associate director of Asia-Pacific studies at the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis, says there have been so many rounds of sanctions against North Korea that there's not much added benefit to additional measures.

In an interview with CFR.org, Marcus Noland, of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said that Washington's new sanctions against North Korea, focusing on international financial institutions and banking systems, are likely to have more impact than trade sanctions.

This CFR Analysis Brief examines heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, in part fueled by U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises.

Background:

This CFR Crisis Guide examines politics on the Korean Peninsula.

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