COMMENTARY
Restore US nukes to South Korea
There's a simple, common-sense solution to the North Korean nuclear crisis: return US nukes to South Korea. That would neutralize the North's likely war strategy, deter any attack and maintain peace on the peninsula. It has advantages for China and Japan, too. - John Parker (Feb 22, '05)

Military holds the key
North Korea's recent nuclear declaration is fully in line with Kim Jong-il's "military first" policy, giving priority to military development. The army has accumulated more power and even supersedes the ruling Korean Workers Party. Kim depends on the military for his rule, and giving up nukes could jeopardize his grip on power. - Yoel Sano (Feb 17, '05)

Rights out of focus as science blinds
North Korea's escalation of the nuclear issue creates a convenient distraction from the leadership's clear indifference to the suffering and death of its citizens. Ongoing human rights abuses will likely receive less attention as the world and region play along with Kim Jong-il's choreographed nuclear crisis. - David Scofield (Feb 17, '05)

SPEAKING FREELY
Mr Kim goes to Hollywood?
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is a big fan of Hollywood movies. So, just as former Soviet leader Nikita Khruschchev loved Disneyland, maybe a trip for Kim to Tinsel Town, even a screen test, could be just the thing to ease US-North Korea political tensions. The nuke crisis could be an opportunity in disguise. - John Scherb (Feb 17, '05)

Why Kim hates George W
President George W Bush has attained a special place in the pantheon of North Korea's villains. Why the obsession? Could it be that Kim Jong-il's fear and hatred of Bush are tied to the ongoing nuclear saga? It's probably simpler than that, writes Sung-Yoon Lee. (Feb 16, '05)

Happy Birthday, Dear Leader, have a blast!
Every year around Kim Jong-il's birthday there's a torrent of fervid speculation about how long he will remain in power, who will succeed him and now durable his regime is. But despite rumors of coups, collapse or implosion, there's no solid evidence that Kim is out, nor that the regime will not endure. - Matt Rusling (Feb 16, '05)

Kim rains on 'Sunshine Policy'
Despite sagging popularity at home and in Washington, and undeterred by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's nuclear declaration, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun has clung tenaciously to a policy of openness and engagement with Pyongyang. But Roh has taken the so-called Sunshine Policy beyond its original intent, and run into storm clouds. - Jaewoo Choo (Feb 15, '05)

Tough test for Beijing's diplomacy
This is a time for testing Beijing's recently unfurled diplomatic skills. North Korea's declaration that it has nukes and won't join Beijing-hosted disarmament talks puts China in a humiliating bind. Beijing can turn some economic and political screws on its old ally, but that might make a bad situation worse. - Jing-dong Yuan (Feb 15, '05)

COMMENTARY
Pyongyang puts the ball in Seoul's court
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun has said Seoul "would not tolerate" nuclear weapons in the North. Pyongyang's declaration on nukes puts the ball squarely in Seoul's court. If Roh wasn't bluffing, he should immediately cut off all economic aid and cooperation with North Korea. - Ralph A Cossa (Feb 15, '05)

Best option is no action
The best response to North Korea's bomb-rattling and bombast is to do nothing. If Pyongyang really does have nukes, there's little or nothing the world can do other than talk tough. A worse threat than a nuclear North Korea would be a nuclear East Asia, including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the big existing nuclear power, China. - Andrei Lankov (Feb 14, '05)

Japan back to wait-and-see
Just as Japan was poised to impose economic sanctions on North Korea over the abduction of Japanese citizens, Pyongyang thwarted Tokyo's punishment plans by declaring that it has nuclear weapons and is withdrawing from talks on ending its nuclear program. Pyongyang's gambit has returned Japan to a cautious course. - Oscar Johnson (Feb 14, '05)

North Korea's long, subtle game
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is playing out a long, subtle game. Probably not a wise one, says Aidan Foster-Carter, adding that it's not the end of the world - not today, at least. What counts now is how others react, particularly Beijing and Washington. (Feb 11, '05)

Up goes the ante - again
Pyongyang, in suspending - not abandoning - its participation in six-way disarmament talks, may be using an old negotiating tactic to garner increased favors for its eventual return to the table: the ploy has worked in the past. - Bruce Klingner (Feb 11, '05)

 'We have nukes': The six-party failure
For the first time North Korea has publicly acknowledged that it does indeed possess nuclear weapons and is abandoning the six-party talks aimed at defusing the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula. Aidan Foster-Carter examines why those talks were going nowhere fast and why the forum failed to persuade Pyongyang to give up its weapons program. (Feb 10, '05)