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Sherman Oaks, CA. - Congressman Brad Sherman on Monday condemned North Korea’s nuclear test, but he also branded the development a “colossal failure” of U.S. diplomacy and called for stepped up international pressure on China, North Korea’s powerful neighbor and closest ally.
“North Korea is now the most dangerous and unstable nuclear state,” said Sherman, a senior member of the House International Relations Committee and the Ranking Democrat on the Terrorism and Nonproliferation Subcommittee.
“It is dangerous because they’re going to keep the first 12 nuclear weapons to defend themselves against Rumsfield, but the 13th is going to go up on E-Bay – and there are some well financed terrorist organizations lining up to bid,” Sherman said.
Despite years of warning signs, Sherman added, the United States failed to exert meaningful diplomatic and economic pressure on China to rein in its impoverished neighbor.
“The Bush administration has hardly even tried to convince China that continued improvement in economic relations with the United States depends on Beijing putting real pressure on Pyongyang to curb its nuclear program,” Sherman said. “Unless you put trade issues on the table with China, you are not going to change the Chinese policy.”
At the same time, Sherman said the United States should be more forthcoming in discussing incentives for the North Koreans to dismantle their nuclear weapons program. “Our approach to North Korea has been to refuse to provide the type of security guarantees – including a non-aggression pact – sought by Pyongyang,” Sherman said. “Because some in our government dream of a military invasion of North Korea, we have failed to seriously discuss a very important carrot.”
He also voiced sympathy for the North Korean people and the need to ensure any sanctions policy minimizes their suffering to the greatest extent possible. “Kim Jong-il has 23 million hostages – the innocent people of North Korea – and in imposing sanctions we have to keep that in mind. However, we can turn off the luxury goods for his upper crust,” Sherman said, “and it may be necessary to turn off their supply of oil.”
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