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North Korea: Bush Says Military Force Is Possible U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday suggested the United States might use military force against North Korea if the nuclear crisis is not solved through diplomatic means, the Baltimore Sun reported today (see GSN, March 3). “If they don’t work diplomatically, they’ll have to work militarily,” according to Bush, who said that a conflict is “our last choice” (Matthews/Greene, Baltimore Sun, March 4). Congressional sources and White House officials, however, said Washington would not respond with a military attack if North Korea restarts its nuclear fuel reprocessing facility, USA Today reported. The Bush administration has decided that at first, it “won’t do anything,” said an administration official. The White House will not rule out a military option, but officials have not said what it would take to begin such a scenario. Some experts believe that the White House would not be unhappy if North Korea restarts the reprocessing plant. “Some in the Bush administration think this (reprocessing) would not be a bad thing,” said a Senate staff member who is familiar with the administration’s stance. These officials believe that reprocessing would help the United States build an international coalition to alienate Pyongyang. Analysts fear, however, that the crisis could move toward conflict because of miscalculation, USA Today reported (Barbara Slavin, USA Today, March 4). Military Tensions Escalate Meanwhile, four North Korean fighter jets intercepted a U.S. Air Force spy plane near the Korean coast Saturday, the New York Times reported. The fighters came within 50 feet of the RC-135S Cobra Ball in international airspace about 150 miles from North Korea and a North Korean pilot apparently “locked on” to the U.S. plane with his radar, the Times reported. No shots were fired, according to Pentagon spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis. The surveillance flights will continue with armed U.S. fighter escorts, which raises the possibility of a confrontation, officials said. “This is serious stuff,” said a senior official. “It’s worrisome because they are creating their own drumbeat,” the official added. There were no radio communications between the pilots during the encounter, but a North Korean waved to the U.S. aircrew and indicated they should leave the area. “He was waving at them to get out of there,” said a senior military officer. A senior administration official said the issue is not over. “There was some real concern for a few minutes when they locked on. It’ll be taken up with other countries in the region. There will be a protest filed with the North Koreans,” the official said (Eric Schmitt, New York Times, March 4). Amid the tension, U.S. and South Korean forces began a joint military exercise today over protests from Pyongyang. The exercise will last one month and are “defense-oriented” and designed to protect against “external aggression,” the U.S.-South Korean Combined Forces Command said in a news release. “These unceasing U.S. war drills drive the situation on the Korean peninsula to such a dangerous pitch of tension that a nuclear war may break out on it any moment,” said a statement from the state-run Korean Central News Agency (Jong-Heon Lee, United Press International, March 4). Yang Sung-chul, South Korea’s ambassador to the United States, said yesterday that the U.S. policy is becoming a “self-fulfilling prophecy. If you have a confrontational approach, you get a confrontational response,” the ambassador added (Slavin, USA Today).
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