Don't Recognize North Korea as Nuclear Power

It is nonsense to send the wrong signal to North Korea that the international community could acknowledge, or at least tacitly approve, the recalcitrant communist state as a nuclear power. If any country is willing to do so, it would be tantamount to playing into the North's hands and accepting its nuclear card. This would unquestionably jeopardize the global non-proliferation regime. That's why most nations stand fast behind their firm position that Pyongyang should not be allowed to become a nuclear weapons state.

Everyone knows that the U.S. government has long maintained a strong stance against the North's nuclear arms development program, calling for its complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization under the six-party process. However, recent remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton could be seen as controversial enough to raise suspicions that the Obama administration may acquiesce to Pyongyang's possession of nuclear warheads despite its official denials.