O'HANLON: Quarantine possibilities

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By Michael O'Hanlon

COMMENTARY:

In the effort to understand North Korea's decision to test a nuclear weapon this week, several theories have been advanced.

The North Korean military probably wanted to test and prove a weapon it had spent years developing and that had performed very poorly in its first test in 2006. Kim Jong-il, probably fading from the scene and hoping for one of his sons to succeed him, wanted to please his country's powerful military at a crucial time in the transition process.

North Korean hard-liners in general, perhaps somewhat worried by President Obama's pledge of openness as well as his international popularity, may have preferred to rekindle tension in the U.S.-North Korean relationship - believing they must portray the United States as a bully when it reacts to North Korean provocations in order to stay on good terms with China and Russia. North Korean leaders also may have been frustrated by Mr. Obama's relative lack of attention to their part of the world to date.

All these theories probably have a kernel of truth. In addition, while North Korea risks some tightening of sanctions as a result of this test, on balance it probably will not pay a huge and enduring price for its provocation. After all, it has tested before and suffered only modest consequences.

Other countries that have tested the bomb have generally been penalized for only a relatively short time as well. This is not good news, of course - but it does suggest there is a certain logic, however unfortunate and however twisted, to North Korean behavior.

In shaping the U.S. and international response, the Obama administration need not worry too much about political criticism at home. Partisans on both sides will attempt to portray the nuclear test as a vindication of their own approach and a referendum on the other side's failed philosophy. But in fact, both sides and all approaches have failed over the past decade or so. The Clinton administration did a good job with the 1994 Agreed Framework, but in its second term, it generally failed to pursue a broader agenda except to send Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright to Pyongyang on a visit.

Meanwhile, it appears that during that time, Pyongyang began to develop a secret uranium-enrichment program and also sold nuclear-related technology to Syria. President George W. Bush's hard-line policies, especially during his first term, led to the breakout of North Korea from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and its decision to reprocess enough plutonium to build six to eight weapons, roughly quintupling the size of its arsenal. Mr. Bush's new approach in his second term, particularly under chief negotiator Christopher Hill, was more flexible but in the end did not fare very well, as evidenced by where we are today.

Let's face it: It's tough to deal with the North Koreans. Not only is North Korea perhaps the most brutal government on Earth toward its own people, but it also is Machiavellian in its dealings with the outside world.

What North Korea should want, in my view, is to strike a deal in which it surrenders its nuclear capabilities and begins to reform its country as Vietnam has done - in exchange for outside aid, trade and recognition.