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They simultaneously announced they are leaving the Six Party talks, which began in 2003 to address concerns about a possible North Korean nuclear weapons programme. Those talks have been stalled since last September.
The talks have been marred by hypocrisy and fault on all sides.
China, Russia, and the US fail in their international obligations to pursue nuclear disarmament, and are actively upgrading their nuclear arsenals.
South Korea has been embroiled in controversy over its own experiments with nuclear weapons materials.
Japan is sitting on a massive 5-ton domestic stockpile of plutonium. They plan to open a reprocessing facility at Rokashu-Mura capable of separating much more, and the capacity to turn that stockpile into weapons is well within their reach.
Nuclear brinkmanship is inevitable in a climate of nuclear hypocrisy. Only when all countries pursue nuclear disarmament in good faith can we begin putting the nuclear genie back in the bottle by banning the use and manufacture of fissile materials.
North Korea's decision means troubled waters ahead for all of us. A new nuclear arms race in Asia all but guarantees a global response of more weapons, more sabre-rattling from the US, and more borderline nuclear powers deciding it's time to do as George Bush does and not as he says: i.e. join the global love affair with weapons of mass destruction.
North Korea can turn that tide by doing the right thing. They should immediately set aside their weapons and rejoin the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) regime. They should advocate for the disarmament of the US and other nuclear weapons states from within the treaty system, not from without.
There must be one rule for all: no nukes.
Take Action
Ask North Korea to do the right thing: rejoin the NPT and advocate for the complete nuclear disarmament that the nuclear weapons states agreed under the treaty.
Play Nuclear Solitaire, a fun and educational way to while away the time while the NPT unravels.
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