Signals from North Korea that it is preparing to test a missile capable of striking targets as far away as Hawaii and Alaska are to be deplored. The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery is causing concern throughout Asia, following the recent missile tests by India and Pakistan. For any country to follow this path arouses the justifiable anger of the international community; for a country on the brink of penury and famine, as North Korea is, to do so rather than devoting its resources to its people, would be doubly immoral.
The United States, Japan and South Korea, in a joint statement issued from the ASEAN forum in Singapore, have warned of "serious consequences" should the test launch take place. They have also urged North Korea to grasp the opportunity of increased co-operation with the West and to develop contacts with its neighbours following decades of isolation from the international community. Despite the calamitous state of its economy, North Korea launched a missile in August of last year. Pyongyang's claims that the missile launched a satellite and then fell into the sea close to Japanese waters have been discounted by western and Japanese experts.
An indication of how seriously the latest plans are being taken is that the aircraft carrier USS Constellation has left the naval base at Yokohama to begin patrolling the waters of the western Pacific. The launch of any missile by the North Koreans, whether carrying a warhead or a satellite, would have a highly-destabilising effect on an extremely volatile region. North Korea's border with South Korea is, despite the recent thaw, one of the most fiercely defended frontiers on earth. There are boundaries also with China and the Russian Federation. North Korea is also a short sea journey from Japan. All of its neighbours, even Russia which is experiencing economic decline, have provided far better standards of living for their citizens than the dynasty set up by the "Great Leader" Kim Il Sung and continued by his son, the "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il.
Its neighbours can help North Korea out of its current overwhelming internal difficulties and all of them, it would appear, are willing to do so. While calling on Pyongyang to show transparency on nuclear issues and to agree not to develop, export or test missiles, the US secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, has stressed that North Korea could bring a better standard of living to its citizens by ending its isolation. South Korea has already pledged aid to its northern neighbour, including the development of much-needed light-water nuclear reactors to provide cheap energy. It has also warned that a missile launch could jeopardise this and other projects. Japan may reconsider its promised contribution of $1 billion towards the nuclear energy project and may also restrict flows of goods, cash and expertise to North Korea should the launch go ahead.
There are those who believe that North Korea is forging ahead with its plans for the launch. There are others who see the threatened launch as a lever by Pyongyang for more aid. Either way it is in Pyongyang's interest and in the interests of its starving people that an accommodation be reached with its neighbours and with the West.