If there ever was a need to reconfirm North Korea’s status as a rogue state, then its announcement on Thursday — that it planned to develop a nuclear missile capable of striking the US — made it all too obvious. The paranoid leadership in Pyongyang has proved itself to be inconsistent, intolerable and insane. Its latest knee-jerk reaction is in response to the decision to tighten sanctions and censure the neo-Stalinist isolationist state by the UN Security Council for its previous provocative missile launch in December. What is interesting this time is that China — for long the only ally that Pyongyang could rely on — is distancing itself from North Korea and has backed increased sanctions.
North Korean is removed from the reality of the rest of the international community. Its ideologically-driven Communist cadres believe that the entire world — led by its sworn enemy Washington — is out to topple the regime. The reality is the world, if given half a chance, will be willing to ensure that the North Korean people have enough to eat. The Pyongyang junta would rather feed its insatiable desire for regional dominance than feed its starving people. Further sanctions and increased isolation are the only way forward in dealing with Pyongyang. The sooner this regime crumbles upon itself, the better for all.
