Should President Obama Have Focused More On Making A Nuclear Deal With North Korean Than Iran?

Washington Post: North Korea got less attention as Obama focused on Iran nuke deal

As President Obama focused intently on locking in a high-stakes nuclear deal with Iran, his administration pursued a decidedly less-clear strategy on containing North Korea, a rogue state that already possesses an atomic weapon.

This week, Pyongyang rattled the United States and its Asian allies by claiming to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, an act that, if confirmed, would represent a major step for that nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal. Even if the bomb turns out to be less powerful than advertised, the test alone highlighted a conundrum for a president who has made nuclear disarmament a cornerstone of his foreign-policy agenda.

The White House quickly condemned the test as a “provocative and flagrant” violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and promised to pursue punitive sanctions. But the unwillingness of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un to respond to international pressure in a fashion similar to the government in Iran has left the Obama administration with few obvious options and opened the president to criticism Wednesday that he has been too cautious in his approach.

WNU Editor: I personally doubt that any U.S. action would have made a difference .... North Korea is one unstable and unpredictable country. But having said that, there is going to be some political blow-back for Hillary Clinton .... Political fallout for Hillary Clinton after North Korea's nuke test (CNN) ... albeit this is a story that the voters will probably forget by November.