Obama: U.S. Will 'Stand Up' to NKorea Provocation

WASHINGTON, May 25, 2009 -- President Obama made his strongest denunciation yet of North Korea today, just hours after the country confirmed that it had carried out yet another nuclear weapons test.

"We will work with our friends and our allies to stand up to this behavior and we will redouble our efforts toward a more robust international nonproliferation regime that all countries have responsibilities to meet," the president said.

But even he acknowledged that all the previous sanctions, and United Nations resolutions had done virtually nothing to stop North Korea from pursuing its nuclear program.

"As a result, North Korea is not only deepening its own isolation, it's also inviting stronger international pressure," Obama said.

The president could impose tighter sanctions, ask for additional U.N. resolutions or try to pressure North Korea back to the negotiating table.

But according to a South Korean official, Pyongyang is carrying its latest provocation even further.

North Korea is planning to launch a short-range missile off its west coast either Tuesday or Wednesday, the official told the Yonhap news agency.

The tensions in the region also got a jolt from South Korea, which today announced that it would join the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative, which was started in 2003 to keep nations like North Korea and Iran from getting missile and nuclear technology. Pyongyang has said that if South Korea joins the initiative, it would consider that a declaration of war.

Obama Briefed on Mounting Korea Threat

A senior administration official said the president was briefed "several times" over the past week "with regard to potential North Korea actions," and was informed in the middle of the night by White House staff of a U.S. Geological Survey report of "likely seismic event in North Korea at 11:15 p.m." Sunday.

"On May 24, North Korea notified the State Department of its intention to conduct a nuclear test, without citing a specific timing, less than one hour prior to 9 p.m. EDT," the official said.

The official said the United States "immediately" notified Japan, South Korea, China, and Russia.

The president spoke with national security advisor Jim Jones about North Korea around midnight, and convened an interagency meeting at 9 a.m. today, followed by Oval Office meetings with national security personnel and Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., according to the official.

Another interagency meeting on North Korea was scheduled for 6 p.m..

Though the exact size of the explosion was not known, the United States downplayed Russian claims that it was a 20-kiloton blast.

"The characteristics suggest a man-made event with an explosive yield of approximately a few kilotons TNT. Additional analysis will continue for the next several days," the senior official said. "U.S. technical agencies are working to confirm the details of what took place."

In an agreement reached last year, North Korea did destroy part of a nuclear plant. Yet soon after, the government broke that deal and kicked out nuclear inspectors -- a pattern it established in its dealings with the past two U.S. administrations.

"They want survival above all, and they want a strategic relationship with the United States which gives them absolute security from any fear that we will attack them," said Donald Gregg, former U.S. ambassador to South Korea.

Kim Jung Il, North Korea's erratic leader, has long demanded direct talks with the U.S.

Gregg said the president should send a new message.

"A message saying we take you seriously, we want to talk, we want to dissolve the nuclear problem on the Korean peninsula, but we don't respond to provocation," he said.

North Korea now has what appears to be effective short range and medium range missiles that could reach some American military bases, but not that could hit the West Coast of the United States.

Hans Kristensen at the Federation of American Scientists, said North Korea is "some years" away from being able to arm a missile with a nuclear warhead.

"We are probably talking about some years, we don't know. It would be much more effective to put it on a container ship and sail it into the harbor in downtown Tokyo," Kristensen said.

Many experts -- even some within the Obama administration -- believe there is still no consensus on how to deal with North Korea and its leader.

This test blast may quicken efforts to lay out a policy. The administration did signal that for now, it will work with other countries to try once again to pressure North Korea to stop its nuclear program.