U.S. Considering the Seize of Airlines and Ships Out of North Korea

The Bush administration is developing plans for sanctions against North Korea, that would include halting its weapons shipments and cutting off money sent there by Koreans living in Japan, in the event that North Korea continues its march toward developing nuclear weapons, the New York Times reported Feb.17.

However, until the end of last week, U.S. senior officials said that the administration had no plans to push for the sanctions soon, since the United States` Pacific allies still oppose the idea and the United Nations Security Council is likely to remain focused on Iraq for weeks.

But, the Pentagon and State Department are developing detailed plans for sanctions, and perhaps other actions, so that the United States has a forceful response ready in case North Korea takes aggressive new steps toward developing nuclear weapons, the U.S. newspaper reported senior officials as saying.

The U.S. senior officials said, “The first step, which is likely to be taken in the next two weeks, will be to urge the Security Council to condemn North Korea`s recent steps toward nuclear weaponry, which have included withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and restarting a mothballed reactor at Yongbyon that can produce weapons-grade plutonium.

In addition, they also said that Russia and China, as well as South Korea and Japan, have been unwilling to support cutting off trade with North Korea, the U.S. is looking at more tailored sanctions that will focus on banned activities like smuggling drugs or proliferating weapons of mass destructions.

Pentagon planners are looking closely at using American military forces to stop, turn back or seize ships and aircraft from North Korea that are suspected of carrying missiles or nuclear weapons materials, the U.S. daily quoted Pentagon officials as saying.

The officials also added that the U.S. would continue pressing Russia and China, major trading partners and providers of foreign aid to North Korea, to take a more active role in pressing North Korea to dismantle its programs.

The New York Times quoted a U.S. senior official as telling, “If North Korea starts to dismantle its weapons programs, then we can talk about incentives. But if it continues pushing forward with nuclear weapons programs, sanctions against North Korea will become much more likely.”

Many U.S. administration officials have believed that it is just a matter of time before North Korea resumes testing long-range missiles or starts reprocessing nuclear fuel for weapons production. Many official have also worried that if the U.S. attacks Iraq, North Korea will use the opportunity to push forward with weapons productions.

maypole@donga.com