Inspection Lockout

NORTH KOREA’S DECLARATION OF A STATE OF “SEMI-war” last Monday seemed like one more propaganda rant, triggered by joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises. A few days later, Pyongyang raised the stakes when it announced that it was pulling out of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. The decision was a response to growing pressure by the International Atomic Energy Agency to force inspection of two secret sites where Western intelligence officials believe evidence of nuclear weapons materials may be located. By withdrawing from the treaty, the Kim Il Sung regime removed the legal basis for the “special inspection” threatened by the IAEA. The pullout intensified fears that North Korea may now be capable of producing nuclear weapons; South Korea and Japan expressed particular alarm. International trade sanctions might be imposed, but that threat carries limited weight vis-a-vis North Korea, already one of the world’s most isolated economies.