North Korea’s admission that it

North Korea’s admission that it has violated its 1994 undertaking to abandon nuclear weapons development prompts several thoughts. First, it shows the wisdom of President Bush’s inclusion of North Korea in the Axis of Evil. Second, it reveals the hollowness of Jimmy Carter’s diplomatic “triumph”–he negotiated the deal whereby the U.S. gave North Korea nuclear technology worth $4 billion in exchange for a worthless promise. But don’t expect the Nobel Prize committee to reconsider. Third, it demonstrates, once again, the infinite gullibility of the “peace” crowd. The advocates of treaties and multilateral resolutions remind me of Charlie Brown trying to kick the football. They never learn; hope always triumphs over experience. Even the usually-sensible Washington Times wrote: “The surprise disclosure that a nation would brazenly lie to international bodies suggests that Bush’s criticism of arms inspections as a way to assure compliance may be valid in Iraq.” Surprise disclosure? Who in this godforsaken Year of our Lord 2002 could be surprised that a mad dictator would “lie to an international body”? Then again, maybe that sentence was supposed to be ironic. I’ve lost my ear for irony. And finally, this incident raises the question of why North Korea would now admit to its violations. Apparently U.S. diplomats confronted the North Koreans with evidence of their continuing program which was first denied, then admitted to. But why? Glenn Reynolds suggests that “North Korea, whatever its other faults, has both an excellent intelligence service and close ties with Iraq. Maybe they have some idea what’s going to happen, and don’t want to be associated with Iraq when it does.” Maybe. Perhaps this is related to North Korea’s equally puzzling admission that twenty-five years ago it kidnapped a number of Japanese citizens in order to force them to teach the Japanese language to its spies; it released the survivors last week. Something is going on in North Korea, but I have no idea what.