Last week proved to be a busy one for international efforts to negotiate a settlement to North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Although some progress occurred, longstanding obstacles persist while new impediments have arisen.
The policies of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) represent a major obstacle toward realization of U.S. President Barack Obama's Nobel Prize-winning nuclear arms control agenda. Obama delivered his well-received
April 5 speech in Prague just days after North Korea resumed testing long-range "rockets" despite a U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolution prohibiting such missile-related activities. More recently, the president also singled out North Korea, as well as Iran, as a major proliferation challenge
during last month's special UNSC summit on curbing nuclear proliferation. ...