Kenosha News

North Korea�"s underground detonation of a nuclear device on May 25 has rattled the global community and confronted President Barack Obama with a major national security challenge. It seems every so often that the regime in Pyongyang engages in provocative behavior, so as to bind world attention. �SWe are unpredictable and dangerous, so world, you better pay attention to us,⬝ appears to be the radioactive clarion call being uttered from North Korea. In the past, these unorthodox tactics on the part of the �SDemocratic People�"s Republic of Korea,⬝ or DPRK, have been employed as an effective means of blackmail. In the wake of the DPRK�"s first nuclear test, in October 2006, then U.S. President George W. Bush agreed to American concessions to North Korea that seemed inconceivable based on his prior rhetoric. Many of these concessions involved economic support for the ailing North Korean economy, especially with regard to the supply of energy and foodstuffs.

The latest nuclear escapade by North Korea is being interpreted as continuity with its longstanding policy of using its possession of weapons of mass destruction as a means to creatively employ economic blackmail. However, the North Korean political economy is so dysfunctional, I think there may be a much more radical calculation emanating from Pyongyang.

There are few countries on the planet that have economies as shattered as North Korea�"s. Officially a Marxist-Communist state, its reality is in fact much different. Peculiar for a nation supposedly based on Marxism, North Korea is ruled by a family dynasty. The founder of North Korea, Kim Il-Sung, is worshipped as a God, and his lifeless corpse is constitutionally still the president-for-life of the DPRK. The son of Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong-il, is the current ruler of North Korea and it is rumored that one of his sons is also being groomed for political succession. Like his father, Kim Jong-il is also deified, and referred to in every proclamation as �Sthe Great Leader.⬝ However, despite his exalted status, his people have endured repeated famines that have snuffed out the lives of millions, according to international relief organizations. Furthermore, with the demise of the Soviet Union and the termination of its subsidies to North Korea, the nation�"s industrial infrastructure has essentially collapsed. Men still show up for work in the factories, but nothing is produced, for the most part, and the pay is a pittance. It is the women who actually run the economy of North Korea, largely through the black market. Though theoretically illegal, this otherwise draconian police state largely tolerates the female-dominated black market, estimated by some observers to represent 80% of the DPRK�"s meager economic output. The women of North Korea are the breadwinners in that society, having rediscovered entrepreneurial skills and are engaged in craft production and trading goods smuggled into the DPRK from China.

Having a national economy largely based on the black market is actually in conformity with other aspects of North Korea�"s unique political culture. Another example is how its communist-indoctrinated diplomats are expected to engage in profitable capitalism while posted abroad, so as not to bother Pyongyang with inconsequential and mundane matters, such as paying the rent on their embassies. For that reason, numerous North Korean diplomats have been expelled by their foreign hosts for engaging in activity �Sincompatible with their status.⬝ That term usually means espionage; in the case of the DPRK, the diplomats were expelled for engaging in narcotics trafficking.

In this basket-case of an economy, North Korea has had only one export commodity that has consistently been a strong earner of foreign exchange; armaments. In the past, ballistic missiles have been a hot export commodity for the rulers in Pyongyang. However, many of North Korea�"s traditional missile buyers, including Iran, now manufacture their own rockets. With demand for its medium range missiles potentially drying up, North Korea must look at new products that will stimulate demand. Long range ballistic missiles that can strike targets in the United States are one example of product diversification that may explain the DPRK�"s recent test of a supposed satellite launch. However, the crown jewel in North Korea�"s product portfolio is its nuclear weapons capability.

Though most analysts believe that the recent detonation of a nuclear device by North Korea was just its traditional blackmail-driven saber rattling, I think there may be a far more dangerous motive behind the atomic weapons test. North Korea�"s first nuclear test in 2006 is widely viewed as being a dude. While the basic concept of creating a nuclear blast is relatively simple-bringing together a critical mass of fissile materials-the means of achieving full yield requires sophisticated physics and engineering. The small yield of the blast in 2006 revealed that the DPRK had not yet mastered the technique of �Sextending the generation,⬝ meaning prolonging the natural onset of a nuclear explosion by a ten millionth of a second. What seems like an insignificant time factor makes all the difference between an explosion that is in the same category as a large conventional bomb, and a blast on par with the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945. Until the DPRK had demonstrated its ability to �Sextend the generation,⬝ potential foreign buyers of nuclear weapons would have little faith in North Korean nuclear weapons technology.

The May 25 nuclear test by the DPRK was, by all accounts, successful. The Russians estimate that the device detonated by the DPRK had a yield of between 10 and 20 kilotons, on par with the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Potential customers, including both rogue nations and non-state actors such as Al-Qaeda, have now received a �Sproduct demonstration⬝ that is convincing.

While my theory that North Korea�"s recent actions are based on a policy decision to begin surreptitiously marketing nuclear weapons technology, and possibly fully assembled nuclear weapons to the highest bidder, may seem far-fetched, there are signs that key decision-makers in the U.S. national security establishment have adopted a similar viewpoint. Recently, the Department of Homeland Security has abandoned plans to place radiation detectors in most ports of entry to the United States. This decision was based on the conclusion that technology does not exists that would reliably detect a well-planned attempt to smuggle a nuclear weapon or its components into the United States. However, there is another area that the Department of Energy, in particular, is aggressively moving forward on. A new field has been invented, called �Snuclear forensics.⬝ It is based on the belief that a nuclear detonation is so unique, post-blast analysis can reveal the origin of the fissile materials that were used in the weapon. This seems to be the new deterrent doctrine; if a country such as North Korea sells a nuclear weapon to a terrorist organization that then used it to destroy an American city, the U.S. will be able to scientifically determine the point of origin of the nuclear device, and launch a retaliatory response against the offending nation. The Obama administration considers North Korea a major nuclear proliferation threat

As if the Global Economic Crisis was not enough to worry about, we now may be witnessing the emergence of nuclear proliferation as an export-based strategy for capital formation. It makes one hope that nuclear blackmail is all that North Korea is truly interested in. President Obama will have many sleepless nights worrying about North Korea.

The outcome of the Minnesota Senate contest now lies in the hands of five state Supreme Court justices who today heard oral arguments in ex-Sen. Norm Coleman's (R) appeal to overturn entertainer Al Franken's (D) 312-vote lead.

Atty Joe Friedberg -- a MN lawyer best known for his work in criminal, not election, law -- presented Coleman's argument for the counting of 4.4K additional absentee ballots, while Franken atty Marc Elias argued that the Coleman team had not met the burden of proving the trial court's ruling wrong.

On a conference call with reporters, Coleman atty Ben Ginsberg said that the Coleman team was "very encouraged" by the morning's arguments and praised the justices for their "probing questions."

"We feel very good about the arguments," Ginsberg said. "Joe did a great job."

Franken's team sounded similarly optimistic. "We're very confident in our case, in the arguments that Marc made this morning, and we're looking forward to the ruling from the court," said Franken spokesperson Jess McIntosh.

The justices peppered both sides with tough questions, but Duke Univ. Law School prof. Guy-Uriel Charles said he thought the Coleman camp faced "more extensive, more difficult and more skeptical" questioning given "the hand that Coleman was dealt."

"Coleman came into the contest behind, and he left the contest further behind," Charles told On Call in an interview. "I think he had an extremely tall pass, and that was very difficult to overcome. As valiantly as they argued, I don't think he was able to overcome it."

On the issue of an election certificate, which was not raised during today's arguments, Charles said that if Franken is ruled the winner, then he "is entitled to the election certificate."

"At that level," Charles said, Gov. Tim Pawlenty's (R) role is "ministerial." Pawlenty and MN Sec/State Mark Ritchie (D) must sign a certificate in order for the winner to be seated in the Senate.

It is unclear when the state Supreme Court will rule. Charles predicted that a decision would come in late June.

(FELICIA SONMEZ)

A reader writes:

My wife and I are/were staunch choice advocates; we'd both done our

share of marching on Washington for the cause. Actually enduring the

process gave us a much more nuanced opinion about abortion.

For us, it was Trisomy 21 -- Down Syndrome. The test came after my

wife awoke one night in a pool of blood screaming and thinking she'd

suffered a miscarriage. After she ran to the toilet, it fell upon me

to call her doctor and then scoop out the remains--that actually

turned out to be huge clots--and take them to the doctor the next day.

The geneticist said that because of all the bleeding and other

complications there was almost no chance the fetus would make it to 20

weeks let alone full term.

My wife says one of my finest moments as

her husband came when I somehow made her laugh while she awaited the

abortion. My wife doesn't talk about her feelings of the abortion and

the "failed" pregnancy. But we've been together for more than a decade

and I know she will always be crushed by it. I know we made the right

decision for us but it still hurts badly. This was the son we would

never have.