[Editorial] While South Was Aiding, North Was Developing Nukes

U.S. CIA released a report insisting that the North had kept trying to develop the nuclear technology last year and continued to export the technology and the facilities of the ballistic missiles. The CIA report also argued that the North has produced enough amounts of plutonium to make one or two nukes.

The evaluation of the U.S. CIA is quite different from the Korean governmet`s understanding of the North. However, considering the CIA`s accuracy and the capability of the information about the North, the accuracy of this report seems highly credible. The judgment of the government that had resorted to the illusion of the Sunshine policy and just followed the way the North pointed was a big mistake. While we are helping them with a good intention, the North was developing the nukes and carrying out a missile business.

It is understandable why U.S. President George W. Bush defined the North as an `axis of evil` and the U.S. administrative officials called the North `the trader of ballistic missiles`. It would seem more awkward if the Korean government explains that "the real intention of the U.S. was to describe the general phenomenon." To maintain the strong alliance between the U.S. and Korea, the government should read correctly the directions and the core ideas of the North Korean policy of the U.S.

North Korea is responding to the U.S. furiously, defining the remark of Bush as a declaration of war. However, the North may not acquire of any credibility from the international society with such responses. The international society still vividly remembers the unreliable acts of the North since the nuclear issue was raised in early 1990s. It would be a big mistake if the North believes that the cliff-hanging strategy might work as well as it did then. It will end up with the isolation of North Korea.

The international society is looking through the inside of North Korea much precisely than the Pyongyang administration might expect. Only when the North reveals everything transparently and sit in the negotiation table, there will be a way to go through.