North Korea is finally admitting to their plans for a nuclear arsenal composed of enriched uranium. For years North Korea has tried to convince the world that their uranium was simply for power purposes. Finally the nation stated on Saturday that they would begin a nuclear weapons program as a result of the stiff UN sanctions. In reality, their nuclear weapons program began years ago. They are simply using this event to come out and admit to their nuclear plan, in the hopes of scarring off UN sanctions. Ironically, sanctions will likely intensify as a result of this admission from North Korea.
How will this affect President Obama’s plans for a nuclear free world? It will certainly complicate matters. Before he was engaging a nation which had no pronounced nuclear ambitions. However now North Korea has stated their nuclear plans. If they back down now, they will forever be seen as a pushover nation. That is why the US and UN have their work cut out for them. We will have to grant North Korea a truly incredible deal by way of economic benefits if we hope for any cooperation now. The only other method to gain compliance would be by sheer force. If we are to pursue that route, it would be a road best traveled sooner rather than later. Once North Korea has developed their nuclear weapons fully, we will not have a safe route to attack the nation. If we attack once weapons are ready, we could find ourselves in a nuclear war.
