Economic Sanctions Only Go So Far

May 27, 2009 at 7:11 am | Posted in American politics | Leave a comment

North Korea is proving that.

Choe Thae Bok, a high-ranking party official, was quoted by North Korea’s official news agency as saying that the nuclear test “was a grand undertaking” to protect the country against “the U.S. imperialists’ unabated threat to mount a pre-emptive nuclear attack and (put) sanctions and pressure upon it.”

A North Korean newspaper, Minju Joson, said in a commentary Wednesday that Pyongyang does not fear repercussions.

“It is a laughable delusion for the United States to think that it can get us to kneel with sanctions,” it said. “We’ve been living under U.S. sanctions for decades, but have firmly safeguarded our ideology and system while moving our achievements forward. The U.S. sanctions policy toward North Korea is like striking a rock with a rotten egg.”

What I don’t know is if China is truly mad at the North Koreans, or if it is a show. If they are truly mad at the North Koreans, then more potent action could be taken against North Korea. If it is merely a show, then we’re back to the norm.