Publication

This brief examines the April 2009 North Korean missile launch. The author argues that prior UN Security Council actions appear to have had little deterrent effect on Pyongyang. Moreover, according to him, China and Russia have proved unwilling to discipline North Korea, and have implemented economic sanctions grudgingly, if at all. Willingness to impose a comprehensive set of sanctions - trade, aid, travel, energy assistance and finance - the author states, might rein in reckless North Korean behavior before another provocation fundamentally destabilizes the situation in northeast Asia.