North Korea edging towards nuclear button again

Claiming that hostile US policy was the cause of tension on the Korean Peninsula, he also accused Washington of abusing its power on the UN Security Council against North Korea. He was apparently referring to sanctions the UN Security Council imposed on the North after it conducted its third nuclear test in February.

North Korea, though it may have nuclear weapons in its possession, cannot be placed among “nuclear weapons states” – a legal term used in the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to refer to the nations that had detonated a nuclear device prior to 1967. Yet, Pyongyang desires to be treated as a new nuclear power like India and Pakistan, if not like a nuclear weapons state, given Pak’s proposal to hold nuclear disarmament negotiations with Washington.

Contrary to Pak’s claim that US policy must be held responsible for any conflict on the Korean Peninsula, it is North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme – which poses a grave threat to South Korea’s security – that is escalating confrontation on the peninsula. The North has also been testing long-range ballistic missiles, causing a potential security threat to the United States.

Under these circumstances, it is only natural for the South to lay claim to the right to launch pre-emptive strikes when the North is poised to launch missile or nuclear attacks. Washington appears to have endorsed Seoul’s strategy of detecting signs of impending missile or nuclear attacks and launching pre-emptive strikes. One such indication is an agreement with South Korea, as US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel put it on Wednesday, on “tailored deterrence against the threat of North Korean nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction”.

Neither Hagel nor his South Korean counterpart, Kim Kwan-jin, referred to pre-emptive strikes in unambiguous terms when they mentioned the “tailored deterrence” strategy. Instead, their joint communique said, “This strategy establishes a strategic alliance framework for tailoring deterrence against key North Korean nuclear threat scenarios across armistice and wartime.” Hagel added the United States reaffirms its commitment to support deterrence with its full range of military capabilities, including the nuclear umbrella, conventional strikes and missile defence.

North Korea will do well to read between the lines and act accordingly, instead of exposing itself to the danger of becoming the target of pre-emptive strikes by taking action that may be construed as an impending nuclear threat.