President Barack Obama on Sunday warned North Korea that its threats and provocations would only deepen its international isolation and jeopardize the resumption of U.S. food aid, and he called on the North to scrap its plans to launch a satellite next month.Squinting through binoculars from an observation post at the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, Obama got a firsthand look at North Korea, which had briefly tantalized the United States just weeks ago by raising the possibility of ending the standoff over its nuclear program with a new leader in place, only to resume its usual defiant stance with the recent satellite announcement.
“They need to understand that bad behavior will not be rewarded,” Obama said, referring to the North Koreans at a news conference with South Korea’s president, Lee Myung-bak, who is hosting a nuclear security summit meeting that will include Obama and 50 other world leaders.
Lee also demanded that North Korea “repeal” the decision to launch the satellite, which is to be mounted on a long-range missile. Both men said it would breach North Korea’s obligations, since missile launchings are barred by U.N. sanctions.
Despite the international condemnation, North Korea appears determined to press ahead with the satellite launching next month. On Sunday, the South Korean military said that North Korea had moved the main body of its Unha-3 rocket to the newly built launching station in Dongchang-ri, a village in northwestern North Korea.
Obama expressed frustration that China, as the main patron of the North Korean government, had not done more to curb the North’s behavior. He said he would raise the issue of China’s influence in a meeting today with the Chinese president, Hu Jintao. It was Obama’s first visit to this heavily fortified border.
The agenda for a nuclear security summit meeting, first held by Obama in 2010, is ostensibly about preventing nuclear materials from falling into the hands of terrorists. But the motives and ambitions of states like North Korea and Iran are likely to dominate the discussions.
North Korea’s talk of a satellite launching upended a fragile diplomatic opening to Kim Jong Il’s son and successor, Kim Jong Un. Analysts say North Korea appears to be reverting to a familiar cycle of provocations, perhaps as its untested leader tries to consolidate his power.
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