North Korea's provocative acts missile and nuclear tests, cutting various ties w ith the south, and

renouncing the 1953 armistice, among other things are not the actions of someone who wants peace. Seen through the lens of diplomatic signali ng, they are highly provocative and destabilizing. N Korea continues to violate its international obligations and commitments, incl uding to denuclearize. Its human rights record remains deplorable. Its economy i s stagnant. Its people are impoverished. It pours significant sums into nuclear and ballistic missile programs that are forbidden by the United Nations. The lea dership s choices are isolating North Korea from the international community. Inte rnational outrage against North Korea and its provocative and threatening action s, meanwhile, continues to grow. The DPRK has consistently failed to take advantage of the alternatives available . The United States offered and has continued to offer Pyongyang an improved relatio nship with the United States and integration into the international community, p rovided North Korea demonstrated a willingness to fulfill its denuclearization c ommitments and address other concerns. The DPRK rebuffed these offers and instea d responded with a series of provocations that drew widespread international con demnation. Sanctions are not a punitive measure, but rather a tool to impede the developmen t of North Korea s nuclear and missile programs and proliferation-related exports, as well as to make clear the costs of North Korea s defiance of its international obligations. Working toward our endgame the verifiable denuclearization of the Ko rean Peninsula in a peaceful manner will require an openness to meaningful dialogu e with the DPRK. But the real choice is up to Pyongyang. The United States remains committed to authentic and credible negotiations to im plement the September 2005 Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks and to bring N orth Korea into compliance with its international obligations through irreversib le steps leading to denuclearization. We will not accept North Korea as a nuclea r-armed state, nor will we reward the DPRK for the absence of bad behavior, or c ompensate the DPRK merely for returning to dialogue. We have also made clear tha t U.S.-DPRK relations cannot fundamentally improve without sustained improvement in inter-Korean relations, which we support. Many of the DPRK s provocations in recent months from its missile launch in December to its third nuclear test in February and subsequent bellicose rhetoric have dir ectly targeted the United States and the Republic of Korea. Let me be clear: the United States remains fully committed to the defense of the Republic of Korea, and we will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our ally in the face of these North Korean provocations, including through extended deterrence and the f ull range of U.S. military capabilities, both conventional and nuclear. But there is little evidence that North Korea poses a threat to the United State s. It is unclear whether Pyongyang's embryonic nuclear program has produced even one deployable weapon. It certainly has not produced sophisticated, compact "cu tting edge" warheads that can be married to ICBMs. Nor is the country's missile program likely to be mistaken for those of first-ra te military powers. The successful December launch followed several spectacular failures over nearly a decade, and a single successful test is a long way from c reating a fleet of reliable missiles. Someday the United States may confront the reality of a North Korea possessing b oth a nuclear arsenal and reliable, long-range delivery systems. But that is not the situation today. The danger of an attack on the U.S. homeland is minuscule. North Korea's leaders are thuggish and weird, but they are not suicidal even if they had the capability to launch such an attack.

What is the real Korean threat? The real Korea threat is the threat to the US econ omy by over-reacting to saber rattling by a third world country with another bil lion dollars in military spending. We cannot afford this empire, and sooner or l ater it will end.

North Korea's message seems to be: If you have nuclear capabilities, it doesn't matter how outrageously you behave; it doesn't matter how horribly you mistreat your people; it doesn't matter how flimsy your economy is. When you have a nuclear arsenal, countries that could topple your regime with a tiny fraction of their power suddenly become afraid of making you angry. This is a pernicious reality with tragic and hazardous consequences. North Korea can be deterred. The young Kim's use of nuclear weapons would destro y the regime. The North Koreans might have everything to lose, but we -- as rich and comfortable societies -- have much more to lose. That is the leverage the N orth seeks to exploit. - Republican Talk