As reported by the Washington Post (and numerous other newspapers), the tensions between the U.S. and North Korea have reached an entirely new dimension - that of scolding parent and the I-hate-you-and-I-will-never-talk-to-you-again child who inevitably knows that time-out is coming but continues to throw a tantrum anyways. The latest installment featured the N. Korean Foreign Ministry referring to Secretary of State Clinton as “by no means intelligent.” This came in response to Clinton’s referring to North Korea as essentially an unruly child:
What we’ve seen is this constant demand for attention. And maybe it’s the mother in me or the experience that I’ve had with small children and unruly teenagers and people who are demanding attention — don’t give it to them, they don’t deserve it, they are acting out.
Of course, this prompted additional backlash from North Korea’s Foreign Ministry who said that:
We cannot but regard Mrs. Clinton as a funny lady as she likes to utter such rhetoric, unaware of the elementary etiquette in the international community. Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping.
Although this doesn’t entirely make sense, in all seriousness, verbal wars aside, the North Korean situation does not appear to be in terribly good shape currently. Under President Bush, the hardline stance failed and offering concessions (namely the removal from the state sponsors of terrorism list) failed. Thus far, the Obama administration has attempted to delicately thread the needle on this situation - maintaining a firm stance, while still reaching out diplomatically - unsuccessfully.
One must begin to ask - what other options are there? Of course, this is the million-dollar question. North Korea has proclaimed that “the six-party talks are over” - and for the time-being, this may be true. Perhaps the DPRK believes that, if it waits, eventually the world will accept it as a nuclear state - similar to India or Pakistan - and continue on accordingly. This is unlikely to happen though. The Obama Administration, and to a large extent, much of the international community, has staked a good deal of the nonproliferation regime’s future upon success in North Korea. Even though the world community was unhappy about India and Pakistan going nuclear - there was really no concerted effort to reverse the situation. So much time and attention has been paid to North Korea though that failure here could signal not only an unwillingness, but even an inability, to deal with nuclear proliferation. It seems difficult to believe that the U.S. or many other countries are willing to let this happen.
This still hasn’t answered the previously-stated question of “What other options are there?” - in part, because it’s unclear. For the current time though, there’s no reason why we can’t get a little amusement out of such stories as:
In a comical scene, North Korean officials showed up at a news conference venue that had been set up for Clinton, who as usual was running late. Although the North Koreans had booked the space, they retreated to a nearby hallway to meet with reporters and denounce the United States.