North Korea Threatens to Sell Nukes

from the February 05, 2008 eNews issue

Not only has North Korea not stopped its nuclear activities, but according to a US intelligence report made public this week, North Korea threatened to sell nuclear weapons to terrorists in 2005. North Korea told US officials that they "could transfer nuclear weapons to terrorists if driven into a corner." The report also contains information on North Korea's enrichment and proliferation activities, Syria's nuclear ambitions, and al-Qaeda's plans for developing chemical and biological weapons to be deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The report paints a vivid picture of the challenges we face as nation.

This past year evidence was uncovered that North Korea may be helping Syria develop nuclear weapons. The news was made public after Israel conducted a mysterious nighttime raid deep into Syria to destroy what some say was a clandestine nuclear facility. Syria's nuclear ambitions and its cooperation with North Korea will undoubtedly complicate the six-party talks over North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Officials warn that the secretive and often unpredictable regime has not yet ceased all of its proliferation activities.

North Korea has shown some willingness to cooperate, but US government officials are skeptical. US diplomats won't be able to rest easy until all of North Korea's nuclear facilities are not only shut down, but dismantled. Experts suspect that North Korea currently possesses between six and eight nuclear weapons. However a report by the Institute for Science and International Security claims that North Korea has enough radioactive material to build as many as 13 bombs.

The standoff with North Korea began in October of 2002 when the communist regime announced its plans to build nuclear weapons. North Korea subsequently withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Four years later, in October of 2006, North Korea shocked the world when it conducted its first-ever test of a nuclear warhead. It had long been suspected that North Korea possessed such weapons; however the test laid to rest any lingering doubts about North Korea's nuclear capabilities.

The US has long hoped that pressure from the international community would motivate North Korea to continue with six-party talks and eventually abandon its nuclear program. For almost six years the six nations have tried to reach an agreement, without much success. North Korea's eccentric dictator, Kim Jong-Il, has a history of unpredictable behavior and has proven to be a fickle negotiating partner. Further complicating matters is the fact that the six parties involved in the peace negotiations have such divergent interests. The US and Japan, concerned about security, have taken a hard-line approach. Meanwhile, South Korea wants to avoid war and has increased aid to the North while Russia and China - afraid of sparking a refugee crisis - have been hesitant to back harsh sanctions.

Jesus warned us that as we approach the end times there would be "wars and rumors of wars..." and that "nation would rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom..." This knowledge, that we are in living in the last days, should give you a renewed sense of urgency and determination in pursuing God’s plan for both your life and mine. It is a plan in which we are called to be ambassadors for Christ bringing the light of life and hope into a world full of darkness, death, and decay.