North Korea deploys more dirty tactics

North Korea has rattled the world again with its underground nuclear test. It sent another shock wave through the international community, which already has to deal with multiple problems on the economic and diplomatic fronts. It is evident that of late, the "Hermit Kingdom" has been very aggressive, following the UN Security Council's condemnation of its recent missile launch across the Sea of Japan. The latest test's success is a psychological boost for this beleaguered and belligerent nation.

At the moment, nobody can guess what the future holds as far as the security of the Korean Peninsula is concerned. However, one thing is clear: Pyongyang will not stop with its nuclear ambition and the country will continue to use its nuclear potential to bargain for its place in the international community. Of course, it will do this through blackmail and intimidation.

Through negative diplomacy and nuclear threats, North Korea has, for decades, been able to keep the international community focused on the country. Such regular diplomatic crises work well for North Korea. They help to camouflage the serious problems confronted by the country and its people.

But the international community knows the reality of the situation inside the world's most isolated country. Uncertainties over the country's leadership as well as economic hardship have rubbed salt into the wounds of the people. Causing an international crisis galvanises the public and is a natural tactic for such a regime. Indeed, North Korea has perfected the art of negotiation - or rather, non-negotiation - via the Six-Party Talks that began in 1994. The country has been able to maximise its demands for assistance and food aid over the past decade without fail.

Meanwhile, the country's military leaders spend their money on defence and trying to build up a nuclear arsenal that will help them to attain superiority.

Over the years, North Korea has continually promised to dismantle its nuclear facilities. When the Yongbyon facility was dismantled, international media crews were called in to witness the historic moment. But after a brief lull, North Korea was back to its old tricks, spurning all efforts from the members of the Six-Party Talks to return to the negotiating table. Now, nuclear experts believe the country might want to return to Yongbyon and rebuild its nuclear facilities. Within a year, the plan to extract graded plutonium could be operational.

Beyond the nuclear threat, North Korea also wants to disturb its southern neighbour and generate further fear of armed attacks. The suicide of former South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun last week was a big blow to Pyongyang, who considered the deceased ex-leader as a friend. During his presidency, he visited North Korea in an attempt to cement relations but no tangible result was ever reached that would reduce the threat on the Korean Peninsula. Roh was so accommodating to the demands from the North during his presidency from 2003 to 2008 that South Korea's relations with its traditional allies such as the US and Japan were weakened.

The nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula will certainly feature in the upcoming Asean Regional Forum, the region-wide security meeting scheduled for July in Bangkok. The forum has yet to jump-start its discussions on this serious issue. In the past, the members of the Six-Party Talks refused to discuss the issue within the ARF framework, even though all of them are ARF members, including North Korea, which joined in 2000.

The Six-Party members wanted to be an exclusive forum for issues for the Northeast Asian region. However, with Pyongyang's ongoing intransigence, the ARF could be an alternative forum. If the ARF members can take up the issue this time, it would be a welcome development. In the process, it would strengthen and upgrade the Six-Party Talks, which are currently attended by senior officials at deputy foreign ministerial level. Without such an initiative, the Six-Party process will not be able to revitalise at this critical moment.

North Korea has set a good example for other pariah states in the world to emulate: If they want to be pariahs, they have to aim at being extreme pariahs. Otherwise, the world will not pay attention, and in the process will refuse to negotiate with them. Within the region over the past few years, Burma has certainly learned this trick from North Korea. The hardening of the international community's attitude and response works all the better for the Rangoon junta to rally its rank and file at home.

Albeit it can talk tough and threaten more severe sanctions, the international community has its limitations and cannot go very far during this economic and financial crisis. There are simply too many burgeoning problems at home.